DRURY VS MISSOURI STATE
- Results
- Hosted by the Missouri State University
- Saturday, October 29th
- 25 yards
- Dual meet format
FINAL TEAM SCORES
- Men: Missouri State 143- Drury 73
- Women: Drury 131- Missouri State 100
The rivalry between Missouri State and Drury has a long and curious history. The two schools, only eight blocks apart, were forbidden from competing directly against each other for nearly twenty years as at one point Springfield just couldn’t deal with the rowdiness that ensued any time these two squads crossed Chestnut Expressway to have at each other. Now the teams are on friendly terms and make it a point to dual twice per season because enough of that territorial urge still exists between them to draw out great competition every time they meet. For this round, the Missouri State men and the Drury women both turned in dominating performances, leaving the claim to round one for the crown of the Queen City of the Ozarks split between the two.
The Drury Panther women managed to win the first relay and every individual event on their way to clawing down the Bears. Most impressive of the night was local talent Bailee Nunn who took three wins, with her 200 fly and 200 breast both turning in #1 ranked times for NCAA Division II at 2:02.61 and 2:15.30 respectively. Nunn won the 200 IM with 2:05.77, but also currently owns the top time in the nation with the 2:01.84 she set at Drury’s dual against Arkansas last week.
Other multiple event winners for the Panthers were Wen Xu for the 50 free (23.49) and 100 free (51.30), and Erica Dahlgren for the 200 (1:53.14) and 500 (5:04.54) freestyles. Wen and Dahlgren, along with 200 backstroke winner Katya Rudenko (2:02.61,) are all currently ranked #1 in NCAA Division II for at least one event which has set them apart as a team and contributed to their most recent top team ranking in the CSCAA polls.
In the men’s meet, the Bears managed to win seven individual events and one relay, with the most impressive race of the night being the 200 fly. The Bears’ Artur Osvath got out ahead but was nearly swallowed on the last 50 by Drury’s Jun Han Kim who brought home the last split in 27.51 vs Osvath’s 28.71. Osvath managed to hold the former NCAA Division II Record Holder off, touching in 1:47.85 to Kim’s 1:47.92 to take the win and the Hammons Student Center Pool Record. Osvath also won the 200 IM for the Bears in 1:50.01 over Kim earlier in the meet.
Missouri State’s freshman class stepped up in a big way to contribute to the Bears’ win, as Conner Ripp took the 200 back (1:53.06,) Samuel Senn took the 50 free (21.14,) and Antonio Thomas dropped an impressive 9:22.24 for the 1000, although that swim was marked as exhibition.
PRESS RELEASE – MISSOURI STATE:
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – After a slow start, the Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving team made out with several top finishes in the men’s victory and the women’s loss to Drury at Hammons Student Center Saturday evening.
The Missouri State men dominated the Panthers 143-73 while the women fell by a score of 131-100. The Missouri State men made out with seven individual victories and one relay victory, highlighted by several strong performances from the Bears’ freshman class.
The women’s squad was unable to conjure a first-place finish during the meet, but tallied six second-place finishes and one relay victory. The women’s 400-yard medley relay opened up the ‘Dual in the Pool’ grabbing second with a time of 3:53.92.
The men’s 400yd medley A relay team achieved the same result shortly after, recording a time of 3:21.92 while the B relay grabbed third in 3:26.55.
“I feel like we came out flat and that was disappointing,” head coach Dave Collins said. “To lose both the medley relays right off the bat is very uncharacteristic of what we want to do at the beginning of the meet. We try and take a lot of pride in having high energy and trying to set the tone early and we just didn’t do that.”
After dropping the opening relay, the Missouri State men kicked it in gear when Minki Kang posted a time of 9:31.49 in the 1000yd freestyle to steal first-place away from teammate Kevin Douglas, who finished in 9:50.76.
Drury would go on to finish first in the men’s 200yd freestyle, but the Bears finished 2-3-4-5 in the event. Kacper Cwiek was the leader for the Bears, finishing in 1:41.27 followed by Bolman, Weissman and Campbell.
The Bears went on to win six more individual events with Samuel Senn (50yd free), Artur Osvath (200yd IM, 200yd butterfly), Bolman (100yd free), Connor Ripp (200yd backstroke) and Christopher Heye (200yd breast) bringing in big points for the men’s crew.
Osvath, who broke two pool records at the University of Kansas last weekend, shattered the Missouri State pool record in the 200yd fly by nearly two seconds, recording a time of 1:47.85 in the event. Ripp, a freshman, won the first race of his collegiate career thanks to his 1:53.06 performance in the 200yd back.
Sydney Zupan, Loretta Stelnicki, Vikte Labanauskaite and Briana Horozewski were the top contenders for the women, bringing in several second and third-place finishes. Following the slow start, Zupan grabbed second in the 200yd free (1:53.81) to get things going for the women.
Stelnicki, who had two runner-up outings, took second in the 50yd free (22.77) and 100yd free (52.48). In another top performance for the Bears, Horozewski set a new personal record in the 200yd breast thanks to her 2:24.59 performance that earned her third.
???????Labanauskaite showed strong outings in both the 1000yd free (10:39.80) and 200yd breast (2:22.88) while Haley Allen was the top finisher for the Bears in the 200yd fly in her 2:07.13 outing.
Despite a slow start to the evening, both teams rose to the occasion in the final event, the 400 free relay, when the Missouri State women’s A relay team out-touched Drury by nearly two whole seconds to claim first in the event. The Missouri State men’s A relay team capped off the day with a first-place finish while the B relay team earned second, out-touching Drury by just over 1.50 seconds.
Next Up For The Bears
The Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving team travels to Iowa City, Iowa, where they will take on the University of Iowa and Purdue Saturday, Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. For more information, visit www.missouristatebears.com or Twitter (MoStateSwim).
