Division 2 McKendree Upsets Southern Illinois

McKendree at Southern Illinois

• Oct. 6, 2018
• Men: McKendree def. SIU 161-138; Women: McKendree def. SIU 152-146
• Results

Courtesy: McKendree Athletics

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The McKendree University swimming and diving program swept Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in a meet on Saturday afternoon. The women’s team won 152-146 and the men’s team won 161-138.

Women’s Swimming and Diving
McKendree took the top two honors in the 1000-yard freestyle when freshman Hallie Dixon (Jeffersonville, IN/Jeffersonville High School) and junior Magdalena Knapp (Bolzano, Italy/Gymnasium Walther von der Vogelweide Bozen) finished first and second with times of 10:39.20 and 10:52.22. Junior Sydney Rey (Columbia, IL/Columbia High School) took first place in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke with a time of 58.49 and 2:05.06. Sophomore Victoria Sananikone (Cedar Park, TX/Cedar Park High School) finished first in the 100, 200-yard butterfly and 200-yard IM with times of 57.23, 2:04.93 and 2:09.54. Junior Milica Sostarac took first place in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles with times of 24.37 and 53.30.

McKendree took top honors in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a team of Sostarec, Sydney Rey (Columbia, IL/Columbia High School), Hayley Rey (Columbia, IL/Columbia High School), and sophomore Meredith Geyer (Germantown, TN/Germantown High School) finished with a time of 1:36.39. Geyer won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:07.31. Sophomore Caitlyn Canadi (South Lyon, MI/South Lyon High School) finished fourth in one-meter diving with a score of 233.72 and third in the three-meter diving with a score of 231.74.

Men’s Swimming and Diving
Sophomore Throstur Bjarnason (Reykjanesbær, Iceland/Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurnesja) finished first in the 500, and 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 4:42.84 and 9:35.35. Sophomore Alexander Skinner (Namibia, Africa/Windhoek Afrikaans Private School) took top honors in the 50, 200-yard freestyle with a time of 21.26 and 1:42.61. Senior Daniel Buijs (Amersfoot, Netherlands) touched the wall in 51.30, 1:53.02 and 1:55.02 to finish first in the 100, 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard IM. Junior Matija Pucarevic (Belgrade, Serbia/Sixth Belgrade Grammar School) took the number one spot in the 100, 200-yard butterfly with a time of 50.38 and 1:53.35.

McKendree took the top spot in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a team of Pucarevic, sophomore Luca Simonetti (Sassari, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Gulielmo Marconi Sassari), Bjarnason, and Skinner with a time of 1:24.63. Freshman Ethan Larson (Anchorage, AK/Paideia High School) took third and second in the one-meter and three-meter diving with scores of 287.93 and 337.80.

McKendree swimming and diving returns home on October 20 when they host Saint Louis University, Missouri S&T, and Maryville University at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex.

Courtesy: Southern Illinois Athletics

The Southern Illinois swimming and diving program opened the 2018-19 campaign with narrow defeats to McKendree at Shea Natatorium. The woman fell to the Bearcats 146-152. On the men’s side, the Salukis lost 138-161.

Despite absences due to injury, the Salukis racked individual personal bests and 12 first-place finishes.

For the men, they opened up the dual-meet on a high note. In the first event of the season, the 200-medley relay team of Ryan Lehane, Chris Phillips, Tamas Hajtman and Robert Chelberg cruised to a win. Jimmy Dooley also proved that his breakout sophomore season was no fluke, as he swam to victories in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke. His time of 58.01 in the 100-breast was a personal best.

In the men’s 100-yard freestyle, Hajtman added another victory, swimming 46.45 to hold off a McKendree competitor. He also placed second in the 100-yard butterfly to cap off a successful start to the season.

In both the 500 and 1,000-yard freestyle, Chris Cole and Kevin Kluge finished second and third. Cole swam 9:36.22 in the 1,000-free, just one second behind winner.

On the women’s side, they also commenced the meet with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay. The leading pack consisted of Deven Speed, Samantha Parsons, Emma Brazeau and Rita Naude.

Standout swimmers on the women’s side were Jordan Ries and Parsons. Ries began her last season as a Saluki in winning fashion as she took the 200-yard freestyle, with the closest Bearcat finishing more than a second later. Parsons, a 2018 first team All-MVC honoree, won both the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke to total her meet wins at three. Right behind Parsons, placing two-three-four in the 200-breast was Laura Carver, Abby Kresal and Jess Peck.

An impressive performance came from Brazeau as well. The three-time All-MVC selection placed second in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly. In the 100-fly, she fell just .29 short of the winning time.

In diving, the Salukis won all four events. On the women’s side, Beibei Ji swept the meet, with victories in the one and three-meter dive. Her twin, Baobao Ji, placed second in both events. Last season, the Ji twins placed first and second in all eight dual meets.

On the men’s side, Eli Mercado, placed first in the one-meter dive, with a score of 339.05. He fell just short of his career-best, 340.27. In the three-meter dive, Kai Hoffman-Dussome took first with a personal best score of 343.68. His former career-best was 336.85.

Newcomers Robert Chelberg and Speed also delivered noteworthy performances in their collegiate debuts. Chelberg sprinted his way to a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle, while Speed managed to place second in the 200-back and third in the 100-back.

The Salukis will be back in action on October 20 at Shea Natatorium for a tri-meet against Illinois and Illinois State.