The Southern Illinois University Salukis hosted the Kentucky Wildcats and the Missouri Tigers in a two day Tri-Meet in Carbondale, Illinois. The Mizzou Men were dominant against the Salukis and the Wildcts, while the Kentucky women’s swimming and diving team comfortably defeated SIU’s contingent while just edging the Tigers in a meet that came down to the last relay.
Scores:
Men
University of Missouri 333 — Southern Illinois University 106
University of Missouri 267.5 — University of Kentucky 177.5
University of Kentucky 312 — Southern Illinois University 136
Women
University of Kentucky 228 — University of Missouri 218
University of Kentucky 310 — Southern Illinois University 138
University of Missouri 285 — Southern Illinois University 155
Day 1
The Mizzou men’s and women’s teams got off to a hot start with wins in the 400 medley relay. The women secured a comfortable five second win with a time of 3:46.38, and the relay was composed of Madi Bridges (57.31), Katharine Ross (1:03.99), Dani Barbiea (53.67), and Anna Patterson (51.41). Barbiea’s split is a particularly notable split as she was the only butterflier in the field to break 55 seconds, let alone 54. The Wildcats were second in 3:51.43 while the Salukis were third in 3:56.11. On the men’s side, the Tigers also had a similarly comfortable win as they went 1-2 with Logan Mosley (48.97), Sam Tierney (54.87), Igor Kozlovskij (49.74), and Max Grodecki (44.57) combining to grab first in 3:18.15. Tierney’s strong backstroke lead was all the cushion the Tigers needed as they topped their ‘B’ relay (3:24.03) and third-place SIU (3:25.47).
Kentucky got back into the women’s meet with a strong 1,650 showing from Kendall Casey (16:58.67) while teammate Kelly Berger grabbed second in 17:15.02. Missouri freshman Brittany Hammond was third in 17:20.48. For the men, Andrew Aviotti triumphed for the Wildcats with a winning time of 15:43.66. The Wildcats went 1-2 with Hector Tricas grabbed second with a 15:52.08, while Martin Wallace was third for the Tigers with a 15:55.94.
The Wildcat women stayed hot with a strong finish by Abby Myers, who edged second-placed Pamela Benitez from Southern Illinois and third-placed Blair Kuethe with a winning time of 1:51.47. Benitez was a 1:51.67 while Kuethe was just behind her at a 1:51.92. On the men’s side, the Tigers claimed their first individual win via Michael Chadwick, who was first in 1:39.94. SIU’s Till Pallmann was a 1:40.42 for 2nd, while Mizzou’s Eegan Groome was third in 1:41.29.
The 50 freestyle featured an exciting finish where Mizzou sophomore Anna Patterson and Kentucky junior Christina Bechtel tied for first place in a time of 23.76. SIU’s Luisa Silveira was third in 23.94. The men’s race also had a photo finish where the Tigers’ Max Grodecki (20.70) just outtouched Kentucky’s Eric Bruck (20.71). In third for the Wildcats was Chris Lott in 21.21.
There were plenty more close races throughout the rest of the meet. The women’s 400 IM saw Kentucky’s Danielle Galyer (4:31.80) top Mizzou’s Dani Spradlin (4:32.56), while Mizzou’s Ellie Suek was close behind for third (4:33.01). Similarly, the men’s race featured a one-second win by Kentucky’s Brandon Flynn (3:58.11) over Missouri’s Kozlovskij (3:59.20). Mizzou’s Mack Darragh was right there with the leaders at 4:00.54 for third.
Unlike the medley relay, where Christina Bechtel took over backstroke duty for the Wildcats, the junior led the field in the 100 yard butterfly with an outstanding time of 53.71, which was about a half-second ahead of Mizzou’s Barbeia (54.27). Bechtel’s time is the fifth fastest time in the country, while Barbeia is just out of the top-10 at 11th. Abby Meyers was a second behind for the Wildcats in a time of 55.27. The men’s race was another down-to-the-wire showdown, where Logan Mosley edged Kentucky’s Lucas Gerotto 49.02 to 49.12. For the second time in the meet, Mizzou’s Darragh was a second back for third at 50.15.
Anna Patterson doubled up in the 100 free with a 51.97 first place effort to outpace Kentucky juniors Kristen Wilson (52.89) and Blair Kuethe (53.51). Michael Chadwick came back from his 200 free win to top the men’s field in the 100 free with a time of 45.61. Chris Lott was the top finisher for the Wildcats at 46.77 for 2nd while his teammate Jake Thomas was third in 47.28.
The women’s 100 backstroke was another race where the top 3 finishers were all within a second of each other, as Mizzou’s Madi Bridges (57.43) bested teammate Emily Doucette (57.89) and third-place finisher Danielle Galyer (58.10) from Kentucky. The men’s race saw an absolutely dominant showing by the Mizzou squad as they had the five fastest times in the field. Tierney repeated his strong performance from the medley relay with a first-place time of 49.35, while teammates Logan Mosley (49.85), Max Grodecki (49.88 exhibition), Carter Griffin (50.66), and Austin Fish (51.32) followed.
In the women’s 500 free, SIU’s Pamela Benitez (4:57.68) snuck past Kentucky’s Kendal Casey (4:59.70) in the last 5 yards to give the Salukis their second win of the day. Kentucky’s Myers was a few seconds back for third in 5:03.35. The men’s race was also a nail-biter in which Kentucky’s Brandon Flynn (4:31.75) showed great closing speed to overcome Mizzou’s Groome (4:31.85) and SIU’s Pallmann (4:31.93) in the last 25 yards.
Both the men’s and women’s teams from Mizzou provided 1-2 finishes in the 100 breaststroke with Katharine Ross (1:03.33) and Lauren Stoeckle (1:05.52) on the women’s side while Tierney (55.89) and Kozlovskij (56.89) paced the field for the men. Tierney’s rare backstroke/breaststroke dual threat ability has been key for the Mizzou time and time again, and it was clearly an asset again against the competition. Kendra Crew of Kentucky was third in the women’s race at 1:06.51 while the Wildcats’ George Greenhalgh was third on the men’s side (57.46).
The second relay of the meet showed some very consistent splitting by the Wildcats on the women’ side with Blair Kuethe (52.90), Christina Bechtel (52.81), Kendal Casey (52.27), and Kristen Wilson (51.83) combining to go a 3:29.81 for the top time in the field. Mizzou was second in 3;31.52 while SIU was right behind them at 3:31.85. On the men’s side, the Tigers split their relays to claim a 1-2 finish with the ‘A’ relay of Grodecki (45.82), Mosley (45.23), Alex Glogoza (45.81), and Griffin (46.86) took first in 3:03.72. Mizzou’s ‘B’ relay was second in 3:05.53 while SIU was third in 3:06.77.
Day 2
The Tigers opened up the second day of the meet with wins on the men’s and women’s side in the 200 medley relay. Emily Doucette, Katharine Ross, Dani Barbeia, and Kellie Barbeia combined to beat the field in a time of 1:43.82. Kentucky was second in 1:45.45 while SIU was third in 1:45.53. The men’s race saw Tierney, Kozlovskij, Mosley, and Grodecki winning in a time of 1:31.70. Kentucky was second in 1:32.80 while Mizzou’s ‘B’ squad was third in 1:32.91.
The women’s 1000 was a very close race with Kentucky’s Casey (10:13.21) topping SIU’s Benitez (10:31.40) for first. Kentucky’s Kelly Berger was third in 10:23.27. Mizzou’s Flynn was triumphant on the men’s side with a winning time of 9:21.94 while teammate Groome was second in 9:26.35. Third place went to Kentucky’s Aviotti in 9:28.56.
Abby Myers claimed the 200 freestyle with a winning time of 1:51.68 while SIU’s Benitez remarkably completed a quick double with a second place time of 1:52.75. Kuethe from Kentucky was third in 1:53.06. In the men’s race, SIU’s Oleg Rabota (1:41.95) was the top finisher over Mizzou’s Martin Wallace (1:42.52) and third place finisher Glogoza (1:42.97).
In the second 50 freestyle of the two-day meet, Mizzou’s Dani Barbeia ripped a 23.15 to demolish the field. Kentucky’s Bechtel was about three-quarters of a second behind Barbeia at 23.87 while SIU’s Silveria was third in 24.42. Eric Bruck redeemed himself from being touched out the day before by winning the men’s race in 20.85, while Mosley (21.00) and Mark Conroy (21.57) took 2nd and 3rd.
In the 200 individual medley, Mizzou’s Katharine Ross blitzed the field for a winning time of 2:06.81. Her teammate Madi Bridges was second in 2:08.18 while Kentucky’s Kendra Crew was third in 2:09.16. Kozlovskij was first in a 1:52.49 for the Tigers while teammates Darragh (1:53.31) and Chadwick (1:53.86) completed the 1-2-3 sweep.
The Wildcats turned in a 1-2-3 finish of their own when Myers, Bechtel, and Diana Norkus took the top 3 spots with times of 2:01.60, 2:01.71, and 2:07.90 respectively. Myers had to work hard to hold off a hard-charging Bechtel, who outsplit Myers by over a second-and-a-half in the last 50 (30.85 to 32.41). Andrew Phillips from Mizzou won his first individual event of the meet with his 1:50.21 effort in the 200 fly while Maclin Simpson (1:52.04) and Mizzou’s Darragh(1:53.55) followed behind Phillips.
Dani Barbeia came back from her impressive 50 free win to double up in the 100 free with a winning time of 50.95. She was a second-and-a-half ahead of Kentucky’s Wilson (52.40) and SIU’s Benitez (52.41) who rounded out the top three. The men’s race saw Max Grodecki do what his teammate Chadwick did the day before, as he claimed the race with a 45.81. Mosley was close behind at 45.81 to complete the 1-2 finish and Kentucky’s Lott was 3rd in 46.61.
Kentucky’s Galyer took the 200 backstroke in a time of 2:03.52 while Mizzou’s Bridges (2:04.53) and SIU’s Sarah James (2:07.60) rounded out the top 3. Rabota doubled up with a win for the Salukis in a time of 1:50.77, while Mizzou’s Fish (1:51.27) and Kentucky’s Zachary Zandona (1:52.17) closed out the top three positions on the men’s side.
Kentucky’s Casey provided another win for the Wildcats with a win in the 500 free, though she was a few seconds slower than the day before. She won in a time of 5:01.70 this time while her teammates Berger (5;03.83) and Kuethe (5:06.80) joined her to score big points for Kentucky. The Wildcats were victorious on the men’s side as well as Flynn cruised to a win with a 4:32.26 while his teammates Matt Roman (4:37.81) and Scott Crosthwaite (4:39.60) rounded out the top 3. Hector Tricas was 4th for the Wildcats in 4:42.82 to give Kentucky a 1-2-3-4 finish.
Katharine Ross found herself finishing first again in the 200 breast as she reached to the wall for a win in a time of 2:18.95. Her teammate Lauren Stoeckle followed close behind at 2:20.10 while Kentucky’s Kendra Crew was third in 2:21.69. Tierney was victorious again for Tigers’ men’s team with a 2:02.11 effort, while SIU’s Calvin Kolar was about five seconds back at 2:07.03. Kentucky’s Tanner Anderson rounded out the top 3 at 2:09.92.
Going into the final relay of the competition, Missouri needed to claim a 1-2 finish to overtake Kentucky in the overall standings, but this was not meant to be for the Tigers. Mizzou won in a 1:34.65 thanks to Dani Barbeia (23.11), Anna Patterson (23.30), Emily Doucette (24.03) and Katharine Ross (24.21) but the Wildcats claimed the decisive second place spot with a time of 1:35.53. SIU was third in 1:36.86. On the men’s side, the Wildcats put together a remarkably consistent foursome of Eric Bruck (20.59), Chris Lott (20.80), Derrick Smith (20.92), and Will Heidler (20.61) to win a time of 1:22.92. SIU was second in 1:23.69 while Kentucky’s ‘B’ squad took third in 1:26.13 (Mizzou exhibitioned a relay that went 1:24.03).
In diving action, SIU’s Kaixuan Zhang claimed the 3m diving title while Mizzou’s Lauren Reedy and SIU’s Fengting Chen rounded out the top 3. On 1 meter, Reedy was triumphant for the Wildcats while Zhang and Chen followed for 2nd and 3rd. Mizzou’s David Bonuchi took top honors in both the 3-meter and 1-meter diving events while his teammate Clark Thomas took 2nd on 3-meter. SIU’s Kegan Skelton was third on 3-meter while Kentucky’s Greg Ferrucci and John Fox were 2nd and 3rd on 1 meter.
Complete results can be found here.
