Missouri State v. Southern Illinois (W)
- Saturday, November 9, 2019
- Springfield
- Results
SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams opened conference action with a combined 13 first-place titles, as the Bears outpaced Southern Illinois on senior day at Hammons Student Center Pool Saturday afternoon.
MSU swept the Salukis in the conference opener, with the men cruising to a 159-82 win while the women edged past Southern Illinois by a slimmer 132-111 margin.
“I was pleased with how well we competed,” said head coach Dave Collins. “We knew it was going to be a tough dual and I felt our depth was evident, with several individuals securing key finishes.”
Libby Howell and Antonio Thomas set the Bears on a winning course in the opening individual event, each handily securing the top spot in the 1000 freestyle by a solid 10-plus second differential. Both swimmers would also run away with the 500 freestyle later in the conference dual.
“It’s surreal to be in this position,” said Thomas. “It means so much that I’ve been blessed to be a part of such a fantastic team during my time here at MSU.”
A 200 freestyle win from newcomer Arthur Cury ignited a four-event win streak for the Bears as Anna Miller and Samuel Senn conquered the 50 freestyle and Howell followed suit with her second individual dual title in the 200 IM.
Haley Allen sparked another Bears’ run, collecting her first career win in the 200 butterfly (2:07.85) on senior day. Pawel Krawczyk continued the home club’s momentum, swimming a 1:51.00 mark to earn a win in the 200 butterfly and complete MSU’s event sweep.
“Senior day was a lot of fun,” said Allen. “The energy and enthusiasm is unmatched at HSC Pool, and the team was happy to secure the winning result in front of a home crowd.”
Miller and Cury found themselves leading the pack yet again in the 100 freestyle, each turning in a first-place effort before Sarah Allegri capped off the winning stretch the top spot in the 200 backstroke (2:04.75).
Conner Funke and Michael Hampel produced the final 1-2 punch for MSU in the 200 breaststroke, pulling in insurance points with times of 2:04.97 and 2:05.63, respectively.
SIU broke up the freestyle sweep in the women’s 200 event with a notch on the leaderboard, but Alex Thorson and Grace Beahan provided the 2-3 punch to gain crucial points for the Bears.
MSU finished strong in the 400 freestyle relay category, seeing team victories on both the men’s and women’s sides.
Diving’s Dayana Popa and Michael Claunch rounded out the Bears’ efforts, each placing amongst the top-three finishers in the 1-meter and 3-meter events.
The meet served as MSU’s senior day, recognizing the achievements of Haley Allen, Sarah Allegri, Payton Smith, Samuel Senn, Antonio Thomas, Conner Ripp, Thomas Heye, and Jacob Schultz.
Up next, MSU heads to Texas for the Southern Methodist University Invitational, taking place Nov. 21-23.
For all the latest information on the Missouri State swimming and diving team, visit missouristatebears.com or follow @MoStateSwim on Twitter.
Courtesy: Southern Illinois Athletics
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Southern Illinois swimming and diving program hanged tough, but dropped a pair of conference dual meets to Missouri State on Saturday afternoon at the HSC Pool. The women’s team lost by a narrow margin, 111-132, while the men’s team fell 82-159.
“I think we got off to a really good start with the divers setting the tone by winning all four events,” head coach Geoff Hanson said. “We were excited with their results and they put us in a good position since all of the diving events started first. Swimming wise, we started strong with good relay wins, but battled the rest of the way. We had some really good performances, but we weren’t able to match with some of the Missouri State swimmers.”
EVENT WINS
* Women’s team
Baobao Ji
• One-meter dive (287.48)
• Three-meter dive (294.60)
Sierra Forbord
• 200-free (1:54.33)
Samantha Parsons
• 200-breast (2:23.66)
Speed, Vogt, Naude, Forbord
• 400-medley relay (3:53.02)
* Men’s team
Adam Cernek
• 200-IM (1:52.97)
• 200-back (1:47.85)
Kai Hoffmann-Dussome
• One-meter dive (313.05)
• Three-meter dive (317.78)
Cernek, Dooley, Hajtman, Yeap
• 400-medley relay (3:23.05)
MEET HIGHLIGHTS
* Women’s team
Baobao Ji led the Saluki women with a team-best two individual victories. She scored 287.48 in the one-meter dive and 294.60 in the three-meter dive to capture her sixth and seventh wins of the season. It is the third time in four meets that the Taiyuan, China native has earned the sweep on the boards. Beibei Ji placed second to Baobao in both diving events with scores of 267.30 (One-meter) and 279.45 (Three-meter).
Junior transfer Sierra Forbord paced SIU in short-distance events with a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (1:54.33) and a third-place mark in the 100-yard freestyle (53.37). She outlasted Bear swimmer Alex Thorson by .15 seconds to earn the win in the 200-free.
Forbord also helped the 400-yard medley relay team to a commanding victory with a time of 3:53.02. Deven Speed, Sarah Vogt and Rita Naude raced the first three legs, while Forbord anchored in the winning effort.
Samantha Parsons led the Saluki charge in the 200-yard breaststroke with a first-place finish at 2:23.66. Behind Parsons in the race was Laura Carver in second (2:24.49), Sarah Vogt in third (2:26.95) and Justina Lanni in fourth (2:30.71).
Eden Girloanta strung out a pair of top-three marks in distance events, as she placed second in the 500-yard freestyle (5:05.80) and third in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:29.13).
Carver and Payton Parman raced to second-place finishes in individual events. Carver was runner-up in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:08.76. Parman was shy of first in the 200-yard butterfly by a mere .11 seconds with a time of 2:07.96.
Abigail Young (200-fly // 2:09.32) and Naude (50-free // 24.62) added key points with third-place marks for SIU.
* Men’s team
Kai Hoffmann-Dussome and Adam Cernek each shined against Missouri State, as the duo combined for all five of SIU’s victories.
Hoffmann-Dussome handily swept events on the boards against three Bear divers. The senior won the one-meter dive with a score of 313.05 and the three-meter dive with a score of 317.78. He was the lone diver to reach the 300-plateau in both events.
All three events that Cernek competed in resulted in wins. Individually, Cernek recorded the meets fastest times in the 200-IM (1:52.97) and 200-yard backstroke (1:47.85). The Turany, Slovakia native holds a team-high eight individual victories on the season.
The freshman also teamed up with Jimmy Dooley, Tamas Hajtman and Zheng Yang Yeap to win the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:23.05.
The three other relay members finished with top-three finishes in their respective events. Yeap added points with runner-up finishes in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events with times of 46.75 and 1:41.84. Dooley swam to third in the 200-breast (2:10.55) and Hajtman was third in the 50-yard freestyle (21.52).
MORE THOUGHTS FROM COACH HANSON
“Cernek was a real bright spot on the men’s side. With how he swam today, I’d imagine he’s leading the conference in the 200-IM and 200-back. Samantha Parsons and Sierra Forbord winning events was key to keeping the women’s matchup close. Some races went our race, others didn’t. But overall, I was happy with our effort and how we’ve progressed from the start of the season to now.”
NEXT UP
Southern will be back in action at the SIU Invitational from Nov. 14-16 inside Shea Natatorium. Evansville and Wisconsin Whitewater are set to partake in the home midseason meet.