SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State men’s swimming and diving team begins the 2016 portion of this season’s campaign onThursday, Jan. 7, when the Bears take on Texas A&M in College Station at 2 p.m.
The home of the Aggies, Student Rec Center Natatorium, serves as the site for Thursday’s dual between Missouri State and Texas A&M. The meet can be viewed live on SEC Network Plus, which can accessed on WatchESPN.com or on the WatchESPN app with credentials provided from a participating television provider. Live results of the dual are provided by Texas A&M and can be found on the Missouri State swimming and diving schedule page. They can also be tracked on the Meet Mobile app that can be downloaded on the App Store or Google Play.
Both teams’ men’s squads will open the New Year with Thursday’s dual, as the Bears begin January with three straight dual meets before concluding the month with the Shamrock Invitational in Notre Dame, Indiana. The Aggies will race back-to-back days as they face Georgia in a Southeastern Conference matchup Friday, then take on LSU Jan. 23 and SMU Jan. 29 ahead of the SEC Championships from Jan. 16-20.
This will mark the third time the two schools meet, with the teams last meeting as part of a double dual along with Tennessee to open the 2015 calendar year, as the Aggies topped the Bears, 175-119.
2015-16 First Half Overview
The Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams opened the 2015-16 season with a busy month of October that included five meets and closed out 2015 with highly-competitive performances at the Purdue Invitational in November.
MSU began the year with the Show-Me Showdown at the Mizzou Aquatics Center on Oct. 2.
The Bears’ men’s and women’s teams earned second- and third-place finishes, respectively, as several top-10 showings highlighted the day’s events. Uvis Kalnins, Minki Kang, Miguel Davila, Brandon Weissman, Bryce Blattner, Nicholas Theunissen, Kacper Cwiek, Will Brand, Artur Osvath and Michael Mollak all finished in the top 10 in an event on the men’s side. Joining them in top-10 performances on the women’s team included Dora Kiss, Sydney Zupan, Lauren Pavel, Emma Metz, Hanna Flanagan, Hope Ernhart, Loretta Stelnicki, Kaylee Larson, Josie Pearson and Brianna McCullough.
From Oct. 9-10, MSU hosted Evansville and Southern Illinois in conference duals. While the Bears’ men’s team swept the weekend’s meets, the women’s team eventually to SIU by just 9 points.
Missouri State won 24 of the 26 events in the Evansville dual, with the women’s team picking up first place in all 13 of its events. Several Bears freshmen earned their first collegiate victories in the dual versus the Purple Aces. Pearson won three races, Ernhart took two, while Mollak, Stelnicki, Blattner and Brenden Bolman also had first-place showings.
Despite only the men’s team picking up a win over the Salukis on Oct. 10, both teams showed great effort in gaining control of the dual in the second to last event, the 200 breaststroke. The MSU women’s squad took a four-point lead as Pavel won the event in a time of 2:23.42. Olivia Gean finished runner-up with a 2:27.00 finish, while Larson (2:27.04) and Andi Burroughs (2:28.62) got third and fifth, respectively. The men’s squad put the dual out of reach in the 200 breast with Osvath touching the wall first (4:37.80), Christopher Heye coming in second (2:06.71) and Isaac Springer placing fourth (2:09.99).
The Bears took down the Drury Panthers convincingly by the scores of 135-87 and 150-87 in the ‘Duel in the Pool’ on Oct. 16. MSU won 17 of the 26 events with five swimmers earning multiple-race victories.
Both teams competed at the Kansas Double Dual to finish out October, as the men’s team fell to Denver and the women’s team dropped matchups against Denver and the host Jayhawks.
The MSU men’s and women’s squads combined to shatter four school records at the Purdue Invitational from Nov. 20-22 to end the 2015 calender year for a majority of the team. Sixty-Eight personal-best times were achieved over the three-day span that concluded with a fourth-place finish for the men and a sixth-place result for the women. In all, 12 NCAA consideration times were made by the Bears at the meet.
Bears Highlighting NCAA Division I Top 100 Times
The Missouri State swimming and diving teams have multiple performers that currently hold top 100 times among Division I swimmers. Four men’s swimmers have at least one top 100 time while two MSU women’s swimmers join them.
Men
Uvis Kalnins (100 breast/26th, 200 breast/84th, 200 IM/4th)
Minki Kang (1650 free/51st)
Artur Osvath (200 breast/18th, 200 IM/72nd, 100 breast/60th, 100 fly/84th)
Isaac Springer (100 breast/88th)
Women
Dora Kiss (500 free/39th, 200 fly/19th)
Josie Pearson (400 IM/73rd)
MSU Record Updates
Four school records and one pool record have already been set by Bears swimmers during the 2015-16 season.
Men’s senior Uvis Kalnins broke the only Hammons Student Center pool record of the season to this point in the first dual of the year against Evansville in the 100 breast. Kalnins’s 55.78 finish on Oct. 9 took down fellow MSU swimmer Isaac Springer’s previous record of 55.89, which was set a season prior.
All four MSU team records set this year occurred during the Purdue Invitational from Nov. 20-22.
Women’s senior Dora Kiss set both the 100 fly (54.82) and the 200 fly (1:57.18) school records over the three-day meet. Kiss topped her own 200 fly mark of 1:59.13 she had set at last season’s MVC Championship, but also took down current Bears assistant coach Chelsea Dirks-Ham’s 55.34 record that had stood since the 2009 MVC Championship.
Freshmen Artur Osvath and Josie Pearson also achieved new school records at the November meet. Osvath’s 200 breast time of 1:56.39 took another record away from Springer (1:58.22), while Pearson’s time (4:18.08) in the 400 IM became an MSU best over current Bears swimmer Briana Horozewski’s previous record (4:20.58) achieved at the 2014 MVC Championships.
Swimmer of the Week Round-up
The Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams have combined to be honored with eight swimmer of the week awards between the two squads in five opportunities to do so.
Seniors Uvis Kalnins and Dora Kiss, junior Lauren Pavel, and freshmen Artur Osvath and Josie Pearson have all earned weekly honors from their respective conferences.
Both Kiss and Osvath were named Swimmer of the Week by the Missouri Valley and Mid-American Conference, respectively, for the second time this season for their efforts in the Purdue Invitational from Nov. 20-22.
Kiss shattered two school records and helped lead the Bears to a sixth-place team finish at Purdue behind a first-place showing in the 200 fly, fifth place in the 500 free and seventh place in the 100 fly. Along with her MVC award on Nov. 24, Kiss also earned Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 20 for winning all three events she took part in the ‘Duel in the Pool’ against Drury at Hammons Student Center. She won the 1000 free (10:24.34), 200 free (1:54.46) and the 500 free (4:59.09). All three of those finishes were among top-three times in the MVC, including her season-best times she set in the 200 and 500 free.
Osvath earned four NCAA consideration times and broke a school record in the men’s team’s appearance at Purdue. He earned the MAC Swimmer of the Week selection on Nov. 24 behind top-four showings in all four of his individual events. He earned his first career weekly honor on Oct. 12 after he gathered five first-place finishes and had a runner-up showing in conference duals against Evansville and Southern Illinois from Oct. 9-10. He won his first collegiate race in the 200 free (1:43.12) and his 2:03.44 finish in the 200 breast gave him the fastest time in the event among all MAC swimmers.
Kalnins has also been named a swimmer of the week twice this season, being recognized as the MAC award winner on Oct. 27 and Oct. 8. The senior’s first honor came after the Show-Me Showdown, where he won the 200 IM and finished runner-up in both an individual and relay event. He was rewarded with his second honor after two first-place finishes and two runner-up showings at the Kansas Double Dual from Oct. 23-24.
Pavel was named the MVC Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 27 after her performance at the Kansas Double Dual. The junior was involved with two season-best times and placed an individual high third in the 200 breast. Her 2:21.89 finish in the event took over the top time in the MVC.
earson was recognized as the MVC Swimmer of the Week by finishing with two top-10 finishes at the Show-Me Showdown on Oct. 2. The freshman had one of the top showings for Missouri State at the meet by earning runner-up in the 100 fly (57.49). She earned seventh out of 50 swimmers in the 200 IM (2:07.94), placing behind five members of the host Tigers and a member of the NCAA Division II 2014-15 runner-up Drury squad.
Glancing at the Rankings
After beginning the season at No. 18 in the opening CollegeSwimming.com Rankings, the Bears’ men’s team has been in and out of the top 50 list. Currently, MSU is ranked 46th among all Division I schools with 758.35 points. The rankings utilize a point system based on NCAA time standards, predicted qualifying times and percentile rankings from the past four seasons.
Both MSU teams also appear in the Division I Mid-Major Rankings.
The men’s squad currently sits in 13th with its 758.35 points captured at the Purdue Invitational in November. The women’s squad moved from 36th up to 34th with 727.48 points after its performance at the Purdue Invite.
The Bears’ opponent Thursday, Texas A&M, is currently 36th (777.79) in the CollegeSwimming.com Division I men’s rankings and was also receiving votes in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America/TYR Top 25 Swimming and Diving Poll – which is voted on by CSCAA-member coaches – on Nov. 24, 2015.
Men’s Swimming and Diving Second in Preseason Poll
The Missouri State men’s swimming and diving team was selected to finish second in the Mid-American Conference preseason coaches’ poll, announced Thursday, Oct. 1.
Behind a roster that returned 13 letterwinners and six all-conference performers with the addition of seven newcomers, the Bears received two first-place votes and were picked ahead of MAC members Buffalo, Southern Illinois, Miami, Ball State and Evansville. Eastern Michigan received five first-place votes and was selected as the preseason favorite to win the MAC Championship.
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.
Swimming news courtesy of Missouri State Swimming & Diving.
