SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams prepare to host their season-opening duals of the season at Hammons Student Center, as the Bears take on the Evansville Purple Aces on Friday, Oct. 9, at 4 p.m. and the Southern Illinois Salukis at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10.
Highlighting the weekend will be the Saturday dual against the Salukis which will also be a “black out,” with MSU handing out 100 free t-shirts to the first 100 students at the meet and all fans are asked to wear a black shirt to the event.
Last Meet Overview
Several Bears made top-10 appearances as the Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams wrapped up competition at the Show-Me Showdown on Friday, Oct. 2, at the Mizzou Aquatics Center.
The Bears’ men’s team finished runner-up at the Showdown behind the host Tigers and the MSU women’s squad placed third, narrowly trailing runner-up Drury and falling to Missouri.
Two seniors had top performances for their teams as Uvis Kalnins and Dora Kiss led the way for the Bears’ men’s and women’s squads. Kalnins won the 200 individual medley in a time of 1 minute, 49.16 seconds and finished second in the 100 freestyle with a time of 45.15. Kiss got runner-up in the 500 free (5:03.71) and sixth in the 200 free (1:54.40).
Notable efforts from returners on the women’s squad included sophomore Sydney Zupan, who placed seventh in the 100 back (58.88) and broke her personal-best she set at last season’s showdown in the 200 free with a time of 1:55.66. Junior Lauren Pavel placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.29), sophomore Emma Metz got ninth in the 500 free (5:11.71) and sophomore Hanna Flanagan earned 10th in the 100 butterfly (59.47).
On the men’s side, Sophomore Kacper Cwiek earned eighth and ninth in the 200 free (1:43.14) and 100 fly (46.81), respectively, while Will Brand got ninth in the 100 free (46.81). Miguel Davila and Brandon Weissman also earned fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 500 free.
About Evansville
The Bears take on the Evansville Purple Aces in their first dual of the season at 4 p.m. on Friday at Hammons Student Center. The MSU men’s squad holds a 17-0 all-time record over Evansville, while the women are 13-2.
In last season’s meeting, the MSU men’s and women’s teams got off to a solid start in their conference-opening dual by defeating the Purple Aces 126-105 and 130-113, respectively.
The MSU women’s squad won five of the first seven events and didn’t look back against Evansville.
The 400 medley relay team of Sydney Zupan, Lauren Pavel, Ibby Simcox and Kate Gately got the Bears rolling with a dual-best time of 3:57.31. Dora Kiss won the 1000 free (10:30.12), Pavel took the 200 IM (2:12.16) and 100 breast (1:06.54), Simcox the 100 fly (59.40) and Zupan won the first two events of her career in the 200 free (1:56.50) and the 100 back (59.11).
The Bears men’s squad won eight of its first 10 events to cruise to a win.
MSU got off to a strong start with the combination of Uvis Kalnins, Isaac Springer, Paul Le and Will Brand winning the 400 medley relay with a season-best time of 3:28.59. Le, Springer and Brandon Weissman finished 1-2-4 in the 200 free in the day’s sixth event. Isaac McKnight finished first in the 100 free with a time of 47.53, Preston Selby swam the 100 back in 53.49 in a dual-best time and Ethan Bresette placed first in the 500 free in a time of 4:46.71. Freshman Christopher Heye won his first collegiate event in the 200 IM (1:58.97) and was followed by senior Aaron Dennis (2:00.13).
About Southern Illinois
In their second dual of the season, the Bears will go up against Southern Illinois at 11 a.m. on Saturday at home. The Bears’ men’s squad is 15-11 against the Salukis all-time and the women are 8-11.
In last season’s meeting, the men’s team pulled off an undefeated weekend by outdueling Southern Illinois 156-144, while the women’s team fell short against the Salukis, 191-109.
After earning a victory in the 200 medley relay, MSU picked up 2-3-4 finishes in the 100 free behind Ethan Bresette (9:46.72), Caleb Schuermann (9:51.89) and Brandon Weissman (10:00.63) on the men’s side. Le won the 100 back in a time of 48.98, followed by Preston Selby with a 52.91. In the 100 free, MSU went 2-3 with Isaac McKnight (46.60) and Will Brand (47.37) leading the way. Le also won the 200 back with William Frisbie and Weissman finishing third and fourth, respectively. The Bears owned the breaststroke events, taking first in both behind top times by Uldis Tazans and Aaron Dennis.
On the women’s side, Gately and Pavel each won two events. Gately won the 50 free in a time of 24.24 and the 100 free in 53.03. Pavel took top honors in the 200 breast (2:26.22) and the 100 breast (1:07.08).
Pearson Awarded Swimmer of the Week
MSU women’s swimming and diving freshman Josie Pearson was recognized as the Women’s Swimmer of the Week by the Missouri Valley Conference for her performance at the Missouri Show-Me Showdown, announced by the conference on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
Pearson had a solid collegiate debut for the Bears’ women’s swimming and diving team this past weekend, finishing in the top 10 in both of her individual races at the Showdown. She had one of the top showings for Missouri State at the meet by earning runner-up in the 100 butterfly (57.49). She earned seventh out of 50 swimmers in the 200 individual medley (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. Both of those times are currently the fastest among all swimmers in the MVC.
Bears 18th in Opening CollegeSwimming.com Rankings
Following a runner-up finish at the Show-Me Showdown Friday, the Missouri State men’s swimming and diving team was listed at No. 18 in the opening CollegeSwimming.com Rankings of the 2015-16 season, the website announced Tuesday, Oct. 6. Totaling 653.62 points in theCollegeSwimming.com Rankings, the Bears finished ahead of the likes of Tennessee (640.10), Pittsburgh (634.79) and Iowa (630.00), which rounded out the top 25 teams.
In the Division I Mid-Major Rankings released by CollegeSwimming.com Tuesday, the Bears sit in sixth, while the Missouri State women’s swimming and diving squad is ranked 15th after a third-place finish at the Showdown.
Freshmen Contributing Early
Plenty of newcomers had notable performances for the Bears at the recent Show-Me Showdown.
Freshman Minki Kang was the top finisher for the Bears in the 500 free, placing third in a time of 4:37.87.
Hope Ernhart, Loretta Stelnicki, Kaylee Larson, Josie Pearson and Brianna McCullough all finished in the top 10 in at least one event on the women’s side, while Nicholas Theunissen, Artur Osvath, Bryce Blattner and Michael Mollak also had strong top-10 showings on the men’s team.
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 returns 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.
Swimming news courtesy of Missouri State Swimming & Diving.
