EVANSVILLE, Ind.- University of Southern Indiana Men's Swimming and Diving dropped a tightly contested battle against Summit League rival, Eastern Illinois University in the home finale, 164.5-129.5.
 
The loss marks the Screaming Eagles first head-to-head meet against the Panthers as the series moves to 2-1. However, USI will have another opportunity to outperform the Panthers at the Summit League Championships on February 19-22.
 
Sophomore Nathan Deputy highlighted the Eagles day on the three-meter diving board as he continues to improve meet by meet. The Evansville native broke into the 300's for the first time in his career with a monstrous score of 304.20 points. The mark reset his own school record, along with setting a new pool record. As of today, Deputy's score ranks him in third among Summit League divers.
 
The Eagles finished strong winning the final two events, but struggled earning event victories with only four total. Freshman Justin Knauf (52.39) and sophomore Joey Smith (52.44) finished second and third in the 100 butterfly. Freshman Jude Winnington impressed in the 50 freestyle (21.65), dropping 0.73 seconds for a second place finish.
 
Winnington continued to spark the Eagles with a blistering 100 IM (52.98) victory. The freshman finished the day contributing two first place finishes and two second places. The Eagles finished their final home meet strong with a 200 freestyle relay (1:26.79) victory featuring junior Gabriel Groves, sophomore Sam Smith, Joey Smith, and Winnington.
 
UP NEXT:
Saturday's meet marked the regular season finale for swimmers as they shift focus to the Summit League Championships on February 19-22. The diving squad makes another trip to University of Illinois-Chicago, competing against the Flames in a diving only competition on February 8.