Miami (OH) Wins 4th-Straight Men’s MAC Title (2024 Men’s MAC Champs Day 4 Recap)

2024 MEN’S MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS 

  1. Miami (OH) – 724
  2. Missouri State – 679.5
  3. Southern Illinois – 657.5
  4. UIC – 532
  5. Ball State – 414
  6. Evansville – 262
  7. Valparaiso – 125

AWARDS

  • Freshman Diver of the Year: Christian Curtis, UIC
  • Freshman Swimmer of the Year: Benedek Andor, Southern Illinois
  • Most Outstanding Diver: Harrison Nolan, UIC
  • Diving Coach of the Year: Susan Bromberg, UIC
  • Most Outstanding Swimmer: Alex Santiago, Southern Illinois
  • Swimming Coach of the Year: Hollie Bonewit-Cron, Miami
  • Most Outstanding Senior: Henju Duvenhage, Miami

Miami (OH) managed to hold onto their lead through the final day of the 2024 Men’s MAC Championships, winning their 4th-straight title. Missouri State held onto 2nd place, while Southern Illinois came in a close 3rd.

Southern Illinois junior Alex Santiago closed out what was a phenomenal meet with another great day on Saturday. Santiago would win the Most Outstanding Swimmer award for his efforts. On Saturday, Santiago won the 100 free decisively, roaring to a huge time of 42.42. That swim broke the MAC record that Santiago had just set himself on Wednesday night in a time trial before the first session of the meet. At that Wednesday time trial, he clocked a 42.70, taking the conference record under 43 seconds for the first time.

On Saturday, Santiago was out very fast, splitting 20.13 on the opening 50. He then clocked a 22.29 coming home.

Santiago was then back in action in the 400 free relay, helping SIU win in a new pool record of 2:53.16. AJ Terry led off in 43.97, followed by Donat Csuvarszki in 43.28, Jered Moore in 43.69, and Santiago with a 42.22 on the anchor.

Another MAC record fell at the hands of Southern Illinois on the night. Jack Khrypunov won the 200 fly in 1:43.16, dipping under the previous conference record of 1:43.30, which was set in 2019. Khrypunov got out a bit of an early lead, taking his race out in 49.38 on the first 100. He then really expanded his lead on the 3rd 50, before out-splitting everyone by more than a second on the final 50.

The Salukis also saw Jered Moore earn a win on the night. Moore won the 200 back by well over 2 seconds, finishing in 1:43.64. That swim came after he clocked a 1:42.56 in prelims.

Ball State picked up a win on the night, seeing Joey Garberick win the 200 breast by a huge margin. Gerberick clocked a career best of 1:54.78, winning the race by more than 3 seconds. Additionally, he shattered the pool record, which had stood at 1:57.07. Garberick posted the fastest split in the field on each 50, going 25.09, 29.09, 29.88, and 30.72 respectively by 50.

Missouri State’s Dylan Moffatt won the 1650 free in 15:13.67, winning by a little over 16 seconds. While he won the race by a giant margin, Moffatt was well off his career best of 14:55.60, which stands as the MAC record in the event, as well as the SIU pool record.

ALL-MAC FIRST TEAM

ALL-MAC SECOND TEAM

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BGray
8 months ago

Congrats Flames!

Coach Michael
8 months ago

RIP EMU 🙁

Oldmanswimmer
8 months ago

So is Hollie Bonewit-Cron the first woman to win four consecutive conference titles coaching a men’s swim team? I also think it’s interesting that while Miami doesn’t have the stars that SIU and MSU have, they have more MAC second team swimmers. Clearly their depth won it.

Swimmer
Reply to  Oldmanswimmer
8 months ago

Yes — depth is how you win team championships.

Anon
Reply to  Oldmanswimmer
8 months ago

SIU would win if they still had all their scholarships. Hard to build depth with only 60% of the resources.

https://swimswam.com/southern-illinois-university-reduce-mens-swimming-scholarships/

MACTION
Reply to  Anon
8 months ago

You could make that hypothetical argument about anyone. “Ball State would win if they had all their scholarships. Hard to build depth with ZERO resources.” Or “Missouri State would win if their administration would let them carry a bigger team. Hard to build depth with only 22 people on the roster”
At the end of the day it doesn’t mean anything. Congrats to the Redhawks!

thezwimmer
Reply to  MACTION
8 months ago

Ball State actually has zero scholarships. What could they do with a full slate?

Oldmanswimmer
Reply to  thezwimmer
8 months ago

Ball State never ceases to amaze me, they do great with virtually no support.

Oldmanswimmer
Reply to  Anon
8 months ago

And Miami could recruit lots more top swimmers if it wasn’t so difficult to get in. One of the best undergrad institutions in the country. Each school has it’s challenges. Bottom line is that the MAC coaches are doing a great job!

Redhawk alum
Reply to  Anon
8 months ago

Miami men are only 50-60% funded in terms of scholarships. Numerous MAC champs on the roster only had 10-25% scholarships, myself included