Courtesy: Missouri State Athletics
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Head men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach Dave Collins announced the upcoming 2019-20 schedule for the Bears, highlighted by four home meets at Hammons Student Center (HSC) Pool.
“We are very excited to get this season started with a large group of newcomers to our program,” said Collins. “I feel we have a very good mix of home and away competitions that are spaced out nicely for our training cycles and preparation toward the championship part of the season.”
Kicking off the Bears 2019-20 campaign is an annual stop in Columbia, Mo. for the Missouri Show-Me Showdown (Oct. 4). Competition consists of a mix of in-state institutions from the Division I, II, and III levels.
Collins’ squad remains on the road, heading to Lawrence, Kan. for a dual meet against Kansas and South Dakota (Oct. 11-12). The men face the Coyotes while the women face both opponents. The following weekend, MSU travels to Missouri Valley Conference rival Indiana State to participate in the two-day ISU Invitational (Oct. 19-20).
MSU hosts its annual Alumni and Intrasquad exhibition at HSC Pool on Oct. 26 as part of homecoming festivities.
Back-to-back home meets begin November, as the Bears welcome Missouri (Nov. 2) and Southern Illinois (Nov. 9) to HSC Pool.
MSU’s dual against the Salukis marks its senior day celebration.
Up next, the Bears trek to the Lone Star State to compete in the Southern Methodist University Invitational taking place Nov. 21-23 in Dallas, Texas.
A home meet against crosstown rival Drury (Dec. 14) completes the 2019 portion of the Bears’ schedule.
The Bears resume competition at HSC Pool against conference foe Evansville (Jan. 11) before making a trip to Drury (Jan. 20) the following week for their dual meet finale.
Rounding out the regular season, the men make an additional stop at the Shamrock Invitational (Jan. 24-25), hosted by the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Ind.
The women hope to capitalize on a home pool advantage and claim their fourth straight title as MSU hosts the 2020 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship in Columbia, Mo., Feb. 19-22.
Opening March, the men head to Carbondale, Ill. to compete in the 2020 Mid-American Conference Championships taking place March 4-7.
Collins returns seven all-conference athletes – three men and four women – from his 2018-19 squad, highlighted by freshman swimmer of the year pair Alex Thorson and Pawel Krawczyk.
Go bears. Excited to see who fills the shoes of the studs that have graduated.