ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita Baptist University men's and women's swimming and diving teams competed in their first respective duel meets of the season on Saturday at home.

The Ouachita men's team came away with a 144-113 win, while the Ouachita women lost by a slim margin of 139-133.

"Both teams swam surprisingly fast for the amount of work we did this week," said Head Coach Steven Bostick. "Its always important to get a little extra out of them during fall break. We showed up ready to race and gave a great OKC team all they could handle. My hats off to OKC and TJ Armin for a new pool record in the 100 Breast. I would also like to thank all the fans that showed up today. It was our first home meet without COVID restrictions, and they created an amazing atmosphere." 

Noah Smith highlighted the men's performances with wins in the 100-yard backstroke (54.38), the 200-yard backstroke (1:57.81), and the 200-yard individual medley (1:58.11). Also collecting individual event wins for the Tigers were Elijah Christenson in the 200-yard butterfly (1:54.07) and the 100-yard butterfly (50.90), Miles Schulze in the 200-yard breastroke (2:13.73), and Hayden Jestes in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:13.69) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:53.42).

Kate McCown highlighted the Ouachita women's performances with a win in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:57.29), a second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (2:00.44), and a second place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (5:21.69). Other individual wins for the Tigersharks were Ariana Rizo the 100-yard breastroke (1:09.59), Anna Kate Velasquez in the 200-yard butterfly (2:16.19), Lenna Conard in the one-meter diving (154.65), Lilia Clark in the 100-yard freestyle (56.58), Elise Henderson in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:32.82), and Sydney Parker in the 100-yard butterfly (1:01.32).

Up next for Ouachita is a tri-match this upcoming Friday, October 15 at home against Incarnate Word and Little Rock.