SIU VS MCKENDREE
- January 16, 2026
- Carbondale, Ill.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: SIU Athletics
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Today was the penultimate home meet for Southern Illinois swim and dive as the Salukis welcomed McKendree to Shea Natatorium. Led by Olivia Herron and her two record-breaking performances, the Salukis took down McKendree, with the men’s team winning 193-107 while the women’s squad won 208.5-50.5.
How it Happened
First up at the meet was the 200-medley relays. The women’s squad pulled off a clean sweep of the podium while the men’s “A” and “B” teams took first and second. Moving to individual events, Ale Hoyos Horvath and Kathryn Chavez took the top two spots in the women’s 1000 freestyle, while Joshua Aceves was the only men’s swimmer on the podium.
Another SIU win came in the women’s 200 freestyle when Susy Hernandez came in first, and Alex Cimera took the top spot on the men’s side. Southern then swept the women’s 100 backstroke before Willem Huggins took gold in the men’s event. Madalyn Booker won the women’s 100 breaststroke as did Tiago Faleiros.
Herron’s first record-breaking performance came in the 200 butterfly, as she broke a 43-year old record with her time of 1:58.54. The men’s 200-butterfly went to a Saluki as well, with Carter Ruthven winning the event. The women’s 50 freestyle podium was full of Salukis as well. Moving to diving events, Audrey Leno took care of business in the one-meter dive with her score of 249.53 while Lucas Lauzon, Ron Latwis, and Graham Arteta filled up the podium in the men’s event.
Back to swimming events, Hernandez won another event, taking the crown in the 100 freestyle. Benedek Andor then won his first event of the afternoon in the men’s 100 freestyle. Tia Jankovics claimed first in the 200 backstroke, and Huggins did the same in the men’s event. Another SIU podium sweep came in the 200 breaststroke, and the men’s team came close to replicating as Maddax Thompson and Faleiros were first and second in the men’s 200-breaststroke.
Livia Munkacsi-Nagy led the way in the women’s 500 freestyle, and Liseska Gallegos Gutierrez bagged another win for the women’s team in the 100 butterfly. Ruthven stood atop the podium again in the men’s 100 butterfly. Back at the diving boards, the men’s team performed another sweep in the three-meter dive.
The final individual event of the day was the 400-IM, where Herron broke another school record with her time of 4:12.81. On the men’s side of the event, Juraj Barcot grabbed gold. The meet concluded with the 400 freestyle relay. The women’s “A” team came in first, while the men’s team did the same.
Up Next
Southern is back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 17, with their final home meet of the season. At 1 p.m., the women’s team takes on Vanderbilt in what is also Southern’s Special Olympics meet.
Courtesy: McKendree Athletics
CARBONDALE, Ill. – McKendree Women’s Swim and Dive traveled to Southern Illinois University for a dual meet last Friday at Shea Natatorium.
The team started out with a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with Helena Kurtz, Beatriz Souza, Chiara Fuerst, Tumi Macdonell, combining for a time of 1:46.33.
Elena Argabright came in third in the 1000-yard freestyle swimming 10:55.09 in the event.In the following event, Jocelyn Zgola who tied for second in the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:51.33, right behind her, was Luiza Dias in fourth place swimming 1:52.32.
Fuerst and Macdonell earned a third-place spot on the podium in the 100-yard breaststroke and freestyle with times of 1:05.54 and 51.81 in their respective events.
Dias and Zgola came in second for the Bearcats with a time of 2:09.30 and 5:03.16 in the 200-yard backstroke and 500-yard freestyle.
Kurtz found the podium in the 100-yard butterfly finishing with 56.46 on the clock.
The squad of Zgola, Kurtz, Dias, and Macdonell finished the day out with a strong finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. They finished with a time of 3:31.26.
Next, the team will have its senior day meet at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex at 1:30 p.m. They will be taking on Lewis University and UMSL on January 24th with the senior day festivities starting at 1:20 p.m.
CARBONDALE, Ill. – McKendree Men’s Swim and Dive held its own against division one competition at Southern Illinois University last Friday at the Shea Natatorium.
Starting off with a strong showing in the 200-yard medley relay, the group of Joey Ovanic, Nojus Bertulis, Daniel de Oliveria and Tyson Upton narrowly missed on the top spot, finishing with a 1:27.79, only 0.7 seconds from tying first.
Jakub Rynkiewicz earned the first win for the Bearcats in the 1000-yard freestyle by a 12 second margin ahead of second with a time 9:12.62. Noah Brereton had a third-place finish in the event finishing with 9:30.99.
Miguel Carvalhosa had a good third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle swimming 1:40.25 in the event. Caden Brooks followed that up with a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke. Brooks also went on to finish second in the 200-yard backstroke and 400-yard individual medley as well.
Newcomer, Tyler Bardak made an immediate impact in his first meet as a Bearcat. He got a third-place finish in both the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke with times of 56.67 and 2:03.06. Atticus Sternke finished right behind him with a 56.79 in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Phin Theall also had a third-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly finishing with a time of 1:49.97. Carson Olson swam 1:50.24, landing him fourth in the event.
Vova Gavrysh got another win for McKendree in the 50-yard freestyle finishing with a 20.23; de Oliveira earned a third-place finish in the event, stopping the clock at 21.16.
Upton had a third-place podium finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 44.65. It was a close race for first as the top three finishers all finsihed within 0.20 seconds of each other.
Rynkiewicz and Carvalhosa claimed the top two spots in the 500-yard freestyle with times of 4:29.34 and 4:30.11 respectively. De Oliveira followed that event with a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly.
To end the day the squad of de Oliveira, Theall, Patrick Cramer and Rynkiewicz came in with a third-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, combining for a time of 3:04.78
Next, the team will have its senior day meet at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex at 1:30 p.m. They will be taking on Lewis University and UMSL on January 24th with the senior day festivities starting at 1:20 p.m.
