2024 UIC/NCC Invitational
- January 27, 2024
- Westmont, Ill.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Team Scores
Courtesy: Missouri State Athletics
WESTMONT, Ill. – Missouri State swimming & diving concluded a doubleheader weekend and its regular season at the UIC/NCC Invitational at FMC Natatorium on Saturday with the women’s team winning the meet with a 685.5 point total. The men finished second in their meet against the same seven schools with 548 points, only behind IUPUI’s 635.5 points.
The women continued their relay success from last night at UIC with a win in the 200-yard medley relay with senior Kelly Sego, senior Cabrini Johnson, junior Payton Smith and senior Jordan Wenner coming in at 1:47.45. The Bears also ended the women’s events with a three-and-a-half-second win in the 400-yard freestyle relay with seniors Lily DeSpain, Anna Lucas, Wenner and freshman Makenzie Kurre with a 3:29.51 time.
Senior Kelly Sego built off her win Friday night in the 100-yard backstroke with another win in the event on Saturday, earning the best time of 57.71, defeating 24 other swimmers.
Sophomore Lana Janson broke out in the 100-yard breaststroke with her first win in the event this season. Janson came in with a 1:06.14, beating UIC senior Andie Timpe’s time of 1:06.22.
DeSpain, one of Missouri State’s most decorated swimmers this year, continued her streak of wins with a dominating time of 2:03.62 in the 200-yard butterfly. Senior Anika Lam, fresh off her first two career wins on Friday, took home second place at 2:05.30.
DeSpain swept the butterfly events as she also took the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.83. She now leads the Bears with nine individual wins on the year.
“I’m really excited about the momentum we had at this meet,” DeSpain said. “It was full of really strong swims that our team should be proud of. It was really fun to be able to race in a training suit because it showed how capable we are and how strong our training is. I can’t wait to see what happens at the MVC Championships.”
The men concluded their regular season with their second-place performance at this seven-team invitational.
Sophomore Luigi Maciel da Silva completed the weekend 100-yard breaststroke sweep after his win on Friday. The first-year Bear won the event comprised of 30 swimmers with a time of 54.72.
Freshman Nadim Elgohary, another international swimmer in his first year in Springfield, took the win in the 100-yard freestyle over IUPUI senior Spencer Jyawook by a tenth of a second with a time of 45.82.
Senior Robbie Hill showed improvement as the season nears its end. One of MSU’s winningest swimmers this season, Hill achieved his season-best time in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:49.96, defeating the rest of the field by over a full second.
The men concluded their impressive weekend and regular season with a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Junior Bruno Miranda Guerra, junior Reese Hodgins, Elgohary and sophomore Lucas Chadwell won by nearly a second and a half with a time of 3:03.01.
“It’s exciting to see our team’s development working our way into conference,” Chadwell said. “Everyone’s energy is high and we are ready to see our work pay off.”
Missouri State swimming & diving will now prepare for its conference championships coming up. The women will go for an eighth consecutive Missouri Valley Conference Championship at the four-day meet starting Feb. 21 in Evansville, Indiana. The men will go for their first Mid-American Conference Championship since 2020 in another four-day meet starting March 6 in Carbondale, Illinois.
Final Results
Women:
Missouri State – 685.5
UIC – 507
IUPUI – 428.5
Evansville – 318.5
Augustana College – 148
Millikin University – 90.5
North Central College – 73
Men:
IUPUI – 635.5
Missouri State – 548
UIC – 428
Evansville – 368
Augustana College – 130.5
North Central College – 50
Millikin University – 46
Courtesy: IUPUI Athletics
CHICAGO – The IUPUI swim and dive teams competed in the UIC Invite on January 27. The men’s team finished first out of seven teams with a score of 635.5 while the women’s team finished third of seven teams with a score of 428.5. Emmaleigh Zietlow once again led the women’s team with three individual wins while Nathan Rariden recorded two individual wins for the men’s team.
Zietlow dominated the pool once again for the women’s team, sweeping her events. The junior earned wins in the 1000 free (10:15.55), 500 free (4:58.93) and 200 free (1:51.39). Lillian Brandt recorded a second-place finish in the 100 fly with a time of 57.04.
For the men’s team, freshman Nathan Rariden led the Jags for the second day in a row. Rariden earned first-place finishes in the 500 free (4:36.24) and the 200 free (1:39.77). Logan Kelly also recorded a top time finishing first in the 200 breast with a time of 2:02.42. Jack Gallob was just out-touched by 0.01 in the 100 back to earn second at 50.03.
The men’s 200 medley relay team made up of Gallob, Kelly, Kevin Burke and Spencer Jyawook took first with a time of 1:30.50.
On the boards, Alaina Heyde swept the women’s competition with wins in both the 1-meter (259.30) and the 3-meter (277.65). Senior Sadie Smith took second in the 1-meter dive with a score of 241.90. Sebastian Otero took second in the 3-meter with a score of 338.45 while Blake Vander Jeugdt took third in the 1-meter with a score of 298.00.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will return to the IU Natatorium to host Washington University on Friday, February 2.