SIUC swimmers look for gradual improvements every week, and Friday night was another big step in the right direction.

Both the Saluki men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams dominated Missouri Valley Conference rival Evansville with nine first-place finishes each at the Recreation Center. The men’s team claimed a 139-90 victory while the women defeated the Aces 136-99.

Though Evansville did not give SIUC much of a challenge, the flu bug wreaked havoc on the team. Men’s coach Rick Walker said about three-fourths of the team was sick, half of those getting better and the other half still fighting it.

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Our times weren’t spectacular, though some were, Walker said. We stepped it up and swam the way we are supposed to.

SIUC dominated the 200-meter freestyle with Scott Scofield leading the way in with a first place time of 1:44.87, followed by Gavin Anderson (1:45.40) and Craig Quarterman (1:46.26). Anderson also finished first in the 100-meter freestyle at 47.57 seconds.

Liam Weseloh (9:42.29) and Nathan Stooke (9:48.27) placed first and second in the 1,000-meter freestyle. Chuck Shaw (22.01) claimed first place in the 50-meter freestyle, followed by David Parkins (22.26). Troy Sayers (54.00) and Jasson Velez (54.01) led the SIUC to first and second place in the 100-meter backstroke.

This was mentally a big step for us, Walker said. Tonight we have seen benchmarks that need to be seen.

The women’s team also considered Friday’s meet a positive step, but coach Mark Kluemper feels it was only a small step forward.

I’m satisfied we swam well, Kluemper said. There’s just a few little things we need to work on.

One area the women did not need much work on was in the 1,000-meter freestyle, where the Salukis claimed the top four spots in the event. Leanne Conn led the way with a time of 10:40.66, followed by Dena Gerardi (10:53.19), Daniela Muniz (10:58.50) and Mary Beth Wehner (11:23.39).

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Niki Michalidou finished first in the 200-meter freestyle at 1:58.22, followed by Merry Smith (1:58.48) for second place. Michalidou also won the 100-meter freestyle in 54.71 seconds. Nicole Freda (2:13.63) took first in the 200-meter individual medley while Katie Foell (1:00.78) won the 100-meter backstroke. Katie Burns placed first in the 100-meter butterfly in 59.46.

On the diving boards, both the men’s and women’s teams contributed with first- and second-place finishes in the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions. Karla Gerzema finished first in both events with scores of 259.57 on the 1-meter and 273.45 on the 3-meter boards. Colleen Reardon followed in second with scores of 217.50 and 238.57, respectively.

Alex Wright claimed titles with a score of 288.75 in the 1-meter dive and a score of 296.85 in the 3-meter competition. Randy McPherson followed Wright in both events with scores of 239.10 in the 1-meter and 255.30 in the 3-meter competitions.

Winning is fun, but you have to have fun to win, diving coach Dave Ardrey said. Fun equals winning.

FACTOID:The Salukis honor the seniors Saturday against the University of Illinois-Chicago at the Recreation Center for their final home meet of the 1997-98 season.