Missouri State vs Omaha
- November 1-2, 2024
- Springfield, Mo.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: Missouri State Athletics
SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State swimming & diving won every swimming event in the first of a two-day meet against the Omaha Mavericks at Hammons Student Center Pool on Friday. The women’s team ended the day with a 133-53 lead, while the men are on top, 142-44, entering the final day of competition.
The Bears started the meet with a bang by setting the Hammons Student Center Pool record in the 400-yard medley relay. Caitlyn Friebe, Cabrini Johnson, Samantha Roemer and Makenzie Kurre swam a time of 3:40.15, resetting the pool record that the four had last week against Drury (3:40.41).
Friebe won every meet she swam in, taking the top spot in both the 50-yard freestyle (23.42) and the 100-yard backstroke (55.40). Her 50 free is the top time in the Missouri Valley Conference in the event so far this season.
Roemer was quick to add an individual win to her tally by taking the 100-yard butterfly (54.06). The Bears took the top three spots in the event with Lillie Freulon (55.60) and Payton Smith (55.64) taking spots on the podium.
Johnson also went perfect on the night, securing her second individual win of the season in the 200-yard breaststroke (1:02.01). It was also an all-Bears podium with Lana Janson (1:02.99) in second and Reese Winer (1:05.64) in third.
Olivia Sala returned to the win column with another victory in the 400-yard individual medley (2:24.22), matching her result in the event against Drury.
Janson won the 200-yard freestyle in another Missouri State podium sweep with a season-best time of 1:48.48. Sophia Coleta (1:50.75) finished not far behind in second and Cameryn Johnson (1:54.20) rounded out the top three.
Coleta led a Bears trio to a sweep of the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:54.70. Lindsey Hervey finished second at 4:58.10 and Kurre secured third with a time of 5:00.81.
The women concluded their portion of the swimming events with a half-second win in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Cameryn Johnson, Hadleigh Henslee, Roemer and Janson finished with the team’s best time in the event this season at 1:34.57.
The men’s team saw equal success, winning each swimming event to put a large gap between them and the Mavericks after the first day. The Bears opened with a win in the 400-yard medley relay (3:15.49).
Bruno Suzuki-Tomiyama was a part of both Bear’s wins in relay events, also aiding in Missouri State’s 200-yard freestyle win (1:22.61). He found glory in an individual event also, setting the pool record in the 400 IM (3:56.60). He brought down the record that had been held since 2011 by Missouri swimmer Mack Darragh.
Matvei Chesakov secured the pool record in the 50-yard freestyle (20.17) unseating Missouri State Athletics Hall-of-Famer Paul Le’s former record of 20.35 set exactly 11 years ago to the day.
The men had no shortage of podium sweeps as well. Simeon Sabev led the Bears in the 100-yard butterfly (48.71), followed by Alex Boutin (49.33) and Chris Bedsole (49.36).
Another Bears newcomer, Gonzolo Ruiz, led a Bears sweep of the 100-yard backstroke podium. Ruiz won with a time of 48.94, followed by Chesakov (49.98) and Boutin (50.28).
Reese Hodgins defended his crown in the 200 free after setting the pool record (1:36.94) against Drury last week. The senior dropped a time of 1:37.83 in another Bears podium sweep. Jack Grandy (1:39.37) finished second and George Holesinger (1:39.72) took third. Hodgins also won the 500-yard freestyle (4:37.49) in an event in which both the men’s and women’s teams owned the podium. Aiden Dunn (4:39.40) and Keegan Kelly (4:44.82) took third.
Luigi Maciel da Silva won the 100 breast, beating his previous MVC-leading time with a 53.79. Brayden Goeldner (56.18) finished the event second and Jack Grandy finished third right behind at 56.26.
The Bears secured the full-day sweep of the swimming events as Chesakov, Suzuki, Grandy and Boutin combined for a 1:22.61 time in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Missouri State swimming & diving will conclude its two-day meet with Omaha tomorrow starting at 10:00 a.m. at Hammons Student Center Pool.
SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State swimming & diving finished off a dominant two-day meet against the University of Nebraska at Omaha Mavericks on Saturday by winning every swimming event. The women’s team won its dual with Omaha, 217-130. The men’s team put up an equally impressive 231-116 tally on the Mavericks.
The women started the second day of the meet the same way it did the first, picking up a relay win. The quartet of Caitlyn Friebe, Cabrini Johnson, Samantha Roemer and Lana Janson picked up a Missouri Valley Conference season-best time of 1:40.72.
Like on Friday, Hammons Student Center pool records of old made way for new ones. Sophia Coleta put together a flying time of 17:04.46 in Missouri State’s first 1,650-yard freestyle race of the season. Coleta beat the previous record held by Truman State’s Diana Betsworth set back in 2002.
“It’s always fun to compete at home,” Coleta said. “The environment was super good. We have such a good group of girls on the mile, so it was fun to race with them. I’m super happy with my pool record.”
Caitlyn Friebe continued her perfect performance from Friday. The Springfield native took part in both relay wins and also secured a win in the 200-yard backstroke (2:00.63). Her time bested her previous personal best in the event by .01 seconds which she had in last year’s Purdue Invitational.
“Today was a really good showing for our team as a whole,” Friebe said. “Cabrini mentioned last week, but our women’s team kind of got off to a rough start this season, but since then our seniors and fifth years have been fantastic leaders. We’ve all gotten together. We’ve regrouped. I believe that this is the most positive, supportive and together our team has been in my time here. The energy at meets, at practice and even off the pool deck, is fantastic and that’s the kind of environment that fosters fast swimming. I think that really showed this week and last week, and I’m really excited to see where it takes us into midseason and the rest of our season.”
Roemer also pitched a perfect weekend, winning all six events she participated in. She opened her individual performance on Saturday with a 50.77 time in the 100-yard freestyle, her first win in the event this season. She improved on her MVC-leading time in the 200-yard individual medley (2:01.335.
Johnson blew away the competition in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:13.99), defeating the next-highest finisher by nearly nine seconds. The win verified her dominance in the event after breaking the team record last week against Drury (2:12.40).
Repeat event winners continued to be the norm. Payton Smith earned her second win this season in the 200-yard butterfly (2:02.82). Freshman swimmers Sarah Culberson (2:05.45) and Lillie Freulon (2:06.21) had the next best times in the event.
The women secured the sweep of events with the 400-yard medley relay (2:24.77). Coleta, Friebe, Johnson and Makenzie Kurre concluded the women’s swimming events with the relay win.
The men’s team also continued its dominance in the relays. Gonzolo Ruiz, Luigi Maciel da Silva, Simeon Sabev and Lucas Chadwell improved on the team’s MVC-leading time with a 1:29.26 victory. The Bears defeated the rest of the field by over three seconds.
Ruiz was one of a handful of Bears to win all his events. He won the 200-yard backstroke (1:46.68) to improve on his MVC-leading time he set last week. Ruiz completed his perfect day with another conference-best time in the 200 IM (1:50.64).
“We are so happy,” Ruiz said. “The meet went so well. The atmosphere here is awesome. I am really happy with the events. We’re now looking forward to the mid-season and ready to do our best.”
The Bears maintained their composure in the endurance events. Aiden Dunn won his first event of the season in the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:30.92) as the only Missouri State swimmer in the race.
The sprint-style races also remained a Bears staple. Matvei Chesakov secured the win in the 100-yard freestyle (44.64), just .15 seconds off the pool record. Chesakov nabbed the pool record in the 50 free on Friday (20.17). Reese Hodgins (45.21) and George Holesinger (45.60) had the next fastest times.
Maciel da Silva won the 200-yard breaststroke (2:00.52) after winning the 100 breast (53.79) on Friday. He has six individual wins this season, all in breaststroke events.
Missouri State kept the ball rolling in the 200-yard butterfly. Chris Bedsole won his second race this season with a time of 1:50.14. Bears swimmers Simeon Sabev (1:50.38) and Brunno Suzuki-Tomiyama (1:53.19) were not far behind with the second and third fastest times.
“The meet went really well, lots of good swimming,” Bedsole said. “Yesterday my sprints weren’t really what I was hoping for, but today I kind of brought it back with the 200 fly. It’s nice to have a training partner like Simeon. It was a really close race between us and is always close in practice. The atmosphere is really nice. Everyone was cheering, standing up for all the races. It was a good meet overall.”
The men’s team secured its full sweep of the swimming events in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:00.62), thanks to the squad of Chesakov, Hodgins, Bedsole and Chadwell.
Storm Opdahl picked up Missouri State’s first diving win of the year in the 3-meter dive (336.75).
Missouri State swimming & diving will prepare for its midseason meet later this month when it heads to the House of Champions Invitational from Nov. 21-23 at IU Indianapolis. The Bears will be home for one more meet this season against UIC on Jan. 24 and 25.
Courtesy: Omaha Athletics
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Omaha Swim and Dive fell on its first day of competition against Missouri State at the Hammons Student Center Pool. The men lost 142-44, and the women’s team fell to the Bears 133-53.
The Mavericks had 14 top-three-place finishes through 20 events between individual events and relays. On Friday, six Omaha student-athletes placed in the top three in their respective events.
For the Mavericks, the top event of the day was the women’s three-meter dive, in which they swept the top three spots. Reigning Summit League Peak Women’s Diver of the Week, junior Bella Price took first place with a final score of 254.55. Sophomore Brooke Robbins and freshman Ava Snyder finished second and third.
Omaha had one other first-place finish courtesy of defending Summit League Peak Men’s Diver of the Week, freshman Owen Kipp, who scored a 315.97 in the men’s one-meter dive.
The Mavericks are back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 2 at 10 a.m. when they take on Missouri State in day two of events.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Omaha Swim and Dive entered Saturday’s competition trailing and ultimately fell to Missouri State. The men’s team lost 116-231, and the women’s squad 130-217.
The Mavericks placed in the top three 34 times throughout 17 events they partook in on Saturday morning and afternoon at the Hammons Student Center Pool.
“This was a good meet for us to face some fast competition,” head coach Jessica Hessel said. “Our team did a good job of stepping up, swimming their races and staying competitive. We had the chance to tune up some swims before we head to our midseason meet. I was very pleased with some of the in-season times we were able to throw down after our last block of hard training and racing on the road.”
The one Mavericks that finished first in an event Saturday was junior Bella Price, who also won the three-meter dive last night and took first in today’s one-meter dive, scoring a 264.15.
Eric Sprague, assistant coach – diving, was pleased with the performance.
“We had a determined group here this weekend, and seeing our women start us off by sweeping the three-meter event on Friday evening was impressive,” Sprague said. “Owen and Bella both competed lights-out on one meter as they set personal bests while picking up wins. We’re in a great position to compete well at the A3 Invite in a couple of weeks, and I look forward to watching our progress.”
The Mavericks will be back in action when it partakes in the A3 Invitational from Thursday, Nov. 14 through Saturday, Nov. 16, in Carbondale, Ill.
