The Missouri State women’s swimming and diving team heads to Houston, Texas, for its first event of the New Year in a dual against the Rice Owls at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3, at the Rice Aquatics Center Natatorium.
The Bears’ women’s squad will compete for the first time since the conclusion of the Louisville Invitational on Nov. 23, 2014. MSU and Rice will have their second all-time meeting Saturday, with the Owls hosting their final home meet of the 2014-15 season on Senior Day. Rice is coming off back-to-back Conference USA titles and has won a conference championship in three of the previous four seasons.
Last Meet Overview
The Missouri State swimming and diving teams finished with strong performances in their last competition of the 2014 calendar year at the Louisville Invitational from Nov. 21-23. The No.5/17 Louisville men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams took first place, but MSU concluded a solid showing in the Invite with a third-place finish for the men and a fourth-place finish for the women.
Senior Paul Le and juniors Miguel Davila and Uvis Kalnins earned B-cut times to lead the Bears’ men’s side on the final day of races. Le and Kalnins, along with Isaac McKnight and Will Brand, combined forces for a runner-up finish and top time for the Bears in the 400 free relay this season. MSU was able to move into third and narrowly fall to runner-up Western Kentucky with a variety of individuals earning critical points in A- and B-Final appearances.
The Bears’ women’s team secured fourth place in the Invite thanks to a strong end to the three-day event. Kate Gately swam a personal-best time in the 100 free finals (50.27) for fourth in the event. Dora Kiss earned another season-best time for the third-consecutive day, placing fourth in the 200 fly after posting a 2:00.20 time in the prelims. The 400 free relay team of Megan Holthoff, Anna Bump, Sydney Zupan and Gately swam an MSU-best 3:25.99 in the 400 free relay for this season.
In the Rankings
The Missouri State men’s swimming and diving team is currently 43rd in the CollegeSwimming.com Division I team rankings. Following their third-place finish at the Louisville Invitational from Nov. 21-23, the Bears moved up to as high as 26th in the rankings.
Weekly Honors Update
The Missouri State swimming and diving team has had six individuals during the 2014-15 season earn conference swimmer of the week honors.
MSU’s Dora Kiss, Miguel Davila, Uvis Kalnins, Garrett Nevels, Lauren Pavel and Paul Le make up the contingent of MSU student-athletes to be recognized this season.
Dora Kiss and Miguel Davila are the most recent additions to the conference honoree list after Missouri State’s strong performance at their most recent event, the Louisville Invitational.
Missouri State men’s swimmer Miguel Davila was honored as the Mid-American Conference Men’s Swimmer of the week on Nov. 24, while Junior Dora Kiss was named the Missouri Valley Conference Swimmer of the Week the following day on Nov. 25.
On the first day of action on Nov. 21, Davila topped his original best time of the year by more than 10 seconds in the 500 free, winning the event in a time of 4:24.25 and earning his first B-cut mark of the season. A third-place finish in the 400 IM finals on Nov. 22 was highlighted by another season-best mark, as he completed the race in a time of 3:56.43. In the Invite finale, Davila earned top honors and met the NCAA B standard by more than 10 seconds in the 1650 free (15:18.66). His finish in the 1650 free at the Invite was almost 20 seconds faster than the runner-up in the event.
On the first day of the Invite, Kiss broke the previous-school record she held in the 500 free in the prelims by two seconds, then placed third and finished faster by one-tenth of a second in the finals with a time of 4:49.13. On the second day of action, the Hungary native finished with a personal-best time in the 200 free prelims, then topped it by finishing the finals in 1:50.52 to place a team-high fifth among individuals on the day. She also was part of an 800 free relay team that finished in an MSU season-best 7:36.73. In her final event, Kiss swam the fastest time in The Valley this season in the 200 fly (2:00.20) and placed fourth in the finals.
Junior Missouri State swimmer Uvis Kalnins was named the Mid-American Conference Men’s Swimmer of the Week in consecutive weeks – with the latest on Nov. 3 – for performances against Missouri and Denver. In an Oct. 31 dual against Missouri, Kalnins swam the anchor leg on a second-place 400 medley relay squad that posted a season-best time, while also posting top individual top times this season in the 400 IM and 100 free. In a meet with Denver on Oct. 24-25, Kalnins helped the Bears’ squad break four pool records at the Robinson Natatorium in Lawrence, Kan.
Missouri State senior diver Garrett Nevels was named the Mid-American Conference Men’s Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 20 for his performance at the Duel in the Pool. The three-time conference diver of the year and now three-time MAC Men’s Swimmer of the week broke Hammons Student Center and Missouri State school records in the 1- and 3-meter diving events to earn the award.
Sophomore Lauren Pavel earned one of the Missouri Valley Conference’s Swimmer of the Week awards on Oct. 14 following her effort in duals at Evansville and Southern Illinois. The 2013-14 all-MVC swimmer won four individual events over a weekend versus the Purple Aces and the Salukis, including sweeping all three events she competed in for the Bears at Evansville.
Senior Paul Le was recognized on Oct. 6 as the Men’s Swimmer of the Week by the Mid-American Conference for his performance at the Missouri Show-Me Showdown. Le won both of the events he competed in individually at the Showdown and also helped two relay teams to fourth-place finishes. Swimming opposite the University of Missouri and seven other colleges, Le won the 200 IM in a time of 1:48.47 and the 100 backstroke with a time of 48.89. He has now been awarded conference swimmer of the week six times in his career.
Records Have Fallen
Senior men’s diver Garrett Nevels and junior women’s swimmer Dora Kiss have both broken Missouri State swimming and diving school records this season.
Nevels took over the men’s 1-meter and 3-meter school and pool records during the Duel in the Pool against Drury at Hammons Student Center on Oct. 16. He won the MAC Men’s Swimmer of the Week award following his record-setting marks of 411.87 points in the 1-meter dive and 388.58 points in the 3-meter dive.
Kiss broke her own 500 free school record in the prelims of the Louisville Invitational, then followed that by cutting her time by a tenth of a second to 4:49.13 for a third-place finish in the finals. Her MVC Swimmer of the Week effort was two seconds faster than the previous best time she set during her sophomore season.
Bears Highlighting NCAA Top 100 Times
The Missouri State swimming and diving teams have multiple performers that currently hold top 100 times among swimmers in Division I. Three men for the Bears make the list – which includes Miguel Davila, Uvis Kalnins and Paul Le – while Dora Kiss is in the rankings on the women’s side.
Men
Miguel Davila (500 free/54th, 1000 free/75th, 1650 free/42nd)
Uvis Kalnins (100 free/57th, 200 free/68th, 200 IM/31st, 400 IM/24th)
Paul Le (100 free/83rd, 100 back/46th, 200 back/25th, 200 IM/33rd)
Women
Dora Kiss (500 free/98th)
Follow the Bears
Check out all the latest news and information on the Bears swimming and diving team at MissouriStateBears.com and follow @MOStateSwim for updates throughout the season.
College Swimming News courtesy of Missouri State Swimming & Diving.
