The Missouri State men’s swimming and diving team heads to Notre Dame, Ind., for its final regular-season meet of the season at the Shamrock Invitational beginning at 4 p.m. CST Friday, Jan. 30, at Rolfs Aquatic Center.
Hosted by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Shamrock Invite also includes No. 19 Iowa and Incarnate Word. The meet will be scored as a dual between each team and not as a true invitational. The first session of the Invite takes place Friday, with the second session starting at 9 a.m. CST on Saturday. The third and final session of events is scheduled for a 4 p.m. CST start time Saturday. The Bears are 2-2 all-time in duals against Iowa, 0-2 versus Notre Dame and the Invite will be the first matchup beween MSU and Incarnate Word.
Live results for each day will be provided by Notre Dame and the links to those can be found on the swimming and diving schedule page on missouristatebears.com.
Last year following the Invite, the Bears vaulted into the College Swimming Top 25 rankings at No. 24, following a victory over then-No.25 Iowa and a loss to Notre Dame. This season, MSU is set to face another ranked opponent in the 19th-ranked Hawkeyes. Currently, five of this season’s MSU opponents are ranked in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America Division I Team Rankings. It includes fourth-ranked Louisville, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 13 Missouri, No. 16 Texas A&M and No. 19 Iowa.
Last Meet Overview
The Missouri State men’s swimming and diving teams broke four pool records which led the Bears to a 131.5-72.5 dual victory over host Missouri S&T at the S&T Pool in Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building on Friday, Jan. 23.
After racing less than 24 hours hours prior in the Duel in the Pool, the Bears started out strong by breaking the first pool record in the 200 medley relay (1:31.75) behind the group of Paul Le, Isaac Springer, Vitalii Baryshok and Uvis Kalnins.
In the next two events, the Bears earned second and third-place finishes in the 200 free with Kalnins and Kacper Cwiek, respectively, and in the 50 free with Caleb Schuermann and Baryshok.
Le led an MSU five-straight event wins by earning the first of two individual event victories by clinching a pool record in the 200 IM (1:50.79). He later followed that with top honors in the 100 free (46.04).
Matthew Wilson finished first in the 100 fly (1:51.41) – five seconds ahead of his nearest competitor – in the evening’s sixth event. The Bears put the meet out of reach in the eighth event, the 200 back. Uvis Kalnins swam a season-best and pool-record 1:52.01 to place first, with Brandon Weissman (1:56.49) and Jack Snow (1:56.68) finishing in the next two spots to give MSU the eventual dual win.
In the Rankings
The Missouri State men’s swimming and diving team has been a mainstay in the Division I College Swimming team rankings throughout the 2014-15 season.
The College Swimming Rankings are produced weekly throughout the season. These rankings are calculated from each team’s most recent meet result.
The Missouri State Bears reached as high as 26th in the rankings during the second time period following their performance at the Louisville Invitational from Nov. 21-23. In the first time period between Sept 22-Nov. 2, the men’s squad ranked 48th for its performances in the Denver dual and in the second time period between Nov. 3-Dec. 14, the Bears ranked 43rd for the Louisville Invitational.
In the Division I mid-major poll, both the men’s and women’s teams have made appearances in the rankings.
On the men’s side, the Bears were ranked 11th during the first time period from Sept. 22-Nov 2 and reached as high as fourth in the second time period in result of the Louisville Invitational. They are currently 15th in the third time period after the Texas A&M double dual.
On the women’s side, the Bears were 37th in the mid-major poll during the first time period for their performance in the Duel in the Pool against Drury, but reached as high as 31st during the second time period from Nov.3-Dec.14 after the Louisville Invitational.
Weekly Honors Update
The Missouri State swimming and diving team has had six individuals during the 2014-15 season earn conference swimmer of the week honors.
MSU’s Dora Kiss, Miguel Davila, Uvis Kalnins, Garrett Nevels, Lauren Pavel and Paul Le make up the contingent of MSU student-athletes to be recognized this season.
Dora Kiss and Miguel Davila are the most recent additions to the conference honoree list after the Louisville Invitational.
Missouri State men’s swimmer Miguel Davila was honored as the Mid-American Conference Men’s Swimmer of the week on Nov. 24, while Junior Dora Kiss was named the Missouri Valley Conference Swimmer of the Week the following day on Nov. 25.
On the first day of action on Nov. 21, Davila topped his original best time of the year by more than 10 seconds in the 500 free, winning the event in a time of 4:24.25 and earning his first B-cut mark of the season. A third-place finish in the 400 IM finals on Nov. 22 was highlighted by another season-best mark, as he completed the race in a time of 3:56.43. In the Invite finale, Davila earned top honors and met the NCAA B standard by more than 10 seconds in the 1650 free (15:18.66). His finish in the 1650 free at the Invite was almost 20 seconds faster than the runner-up in the event.
On the first day of the Invite, Kiss broke the previous-school record she held in the 500 free in the prelims by two seconds, then placed third and finished faster by one-tenth of a second in the finals with a time of 4:49.13. On the second day of action, the Hungary native finished with a personal-best time in the 200 free prelims, then topped it by finishing the finals in 1:50.52 to place a team-high fifth among individuals on the day. She also was part of an 800 free relay team that finished in an MSU season-best 7:36.73. In her final event, Kiss swam the fastest time in The Valley this season in the 200 fly (2:00.20) and placed fourth in the finals.
Junior Missouri State swimmer Uvis Kalnins was named the Mid-American Conference Men’s Swimmer of the Week in consecutive weeks – with the latest on Nov. 3 – for performances against Missouri and Denver. In an Oct. 31 dual against Missouri, Kalnins swam the anchor leg on a second-place 400 medley relay squad that posted a season-best time, while also posting top individual top times this season in the 400 IM and 100 free. In a meet with Denver on Oct. 24-25, Kalnins helped the Bears’ squad break four pool records at the Robinson Natatorium in Lawrence, Kan.
Missouri State senior diver Garrett Nevels was named the Mid-American Conference Men’s Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 20 for his performance at the Duel in the Pool. The three-time conference diver of the year and now three-time MAC Men’s Swimmer of the week broke Hammons Student Center and Missouri State school records in the 1- and 3-meter diving events to earn the award.
Sophomore Lauren Pavel earned one of the Missouri Valley Conference’s Swimmer of the Week awards on Oct. 14 following her effort in duals at Evansville and Southern Illinois. The 2013-14 all-MVC swimmer won four individual events over a weekend versus the Purple Aces and the Salukis, including sweeping all three events she competed in for the Bears at Evansville.
Senior Paul Le was recognized on Oct. 6 as the Men’s Swimmer of the Week by the Mid-American Conference for his performance at the Missouri Show-Me Showdown. Le won both of the events he competed in individually at the Showdown and also helped two relay teams to fourth-place finishes. Swimming opposite the University of Missouri and seven other colleges, Le won the 200 IM in a time of 1:48.47 and the 100 backstroke with a time of 48.89. He has now been awarded conference swimmer of the week six times in his career.
Records Have Fallen
Senior men’s diver Garrett Nevels and junior women’s swimmer Dora Kiss have both broken Missouri State swimming and diving school records this season.
Nevels took over the men’s 1-meter and 3-meter school and pool records during the Duel in the Pool against Drury at Hammons Student Center on Oct. 16. He won the MAC Men’s Swimmer of the Week award following his record-setting marks of 411.87 points in the 1-meter dive and 388.58 points in the 3-meter dive.
Kiss broke her own 500 free school record in the prelims of the Louisville Invitational, then followed that by cutting her time by a tenth of a second to 4:49.13 for a third-place finish in the finals. Her MVC Swimmer of the Week effort was two seconds faster than the previous best time she set during her sophomore season.
Bears Highlighting NCAA Top 100 Times
The Missouri State swimming and diving teams have multiple performers that currently hold top 100 times among swimmers in Division I. Three men for the Bears make the list – which includes Miguel Davila, Uvis Kalnins and Paul Le – while Dora Kiss is in the rankings on the women’s side.
Men
Miguel Davila (500 free/54th, 1000 free/78th, 1650 free/52nd)
Uvis Kalnins (100 free/59th, 200 free/74th, 200 IM/31st, 400 IM/24th)
Paul Le (100 free/87th, 100 back/47th, 200 back/25th, 200 IM/33rd)
Women
Dora Kiss (500 free/99th)
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.
College Swimming News courtesy of Missouri State Swimming and Diving.
