NIU men’s swimming coach Dave Clark wants the Huskies to remember every sensation from Saturday’s 141-82 dual-meet victory over UIC’s Flames at the Illinois-Chicago Aquatice Center. Why? Because in two weeks, NIU returns to that facility for the three-day Midwest Independent Regional Championships—which is also doubling as the AMCU conference championship meet as well.

“It was really good to swim so well at UIC because we’ll be back there. Everyone can feel comfortable with the set-up and be confident that they can do well at that place,” Clark noted. “It was also a good meet to end the dual-meet season with. We had some really good times in several events.”

Among the most notable was Steve Sanders’ 1:56.83 effort which was just seven-tenths off a school record. In addition to that win, the Huskies claimed blue ribbons in eight other events including a lifetime-best (9:56.34) performance by Ralph Sprake-Jones in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Mike Gotkowski was also a double-winner capturing both the one and three-meter board titles.

“Mike really didn’t miss—he dove very consistently and that’s what we’re looking for,” NIU diving coach Chris Chelich explained. “It’s not who can hit one dive, but who can score the best over six dives. I also think Matt deserves a pat on the back for this third-place effort on three-meter; that was his best showing this year on that board.”

In addition to the win over UIC, the Huskies dealt with scheduling mix-up by stopping in Milwaukee, Wisc. to take part in the three-day University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Midwest Invitational. Although NIU only competed as a whole in Friday’s events plus some limited Saturday events, NIU managed to score enough points to finish fifth among eight schools.

From the Friday portion, NIU’s highlights included Mark Oostman’s winning 1:00.26 in the 100-yard breaststroke plus third-place showings by Jason Pettit and Scott Adams in the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard butterfly, respectively. Pettit also had the Huskies’ best performance among the remaining Saturday competitors as he touched second in the 100- yard backstroke with a :54.89.