SPRINGFIELD – After falling by one point at last season's championship, the Missouri State men's swimming and diving team looks to capture its 20^th league crown at the 2018 Mid-American Conference Championship, on Feb. 28-Mar. 3 at the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center on the campus of Miami University (Ohio).
 
The squad was selected as this season's runner-up in the MAC pre-season poll, finishing behind Eastern Michigan who won last year's 2017 MAC Championship. The Eagles received four first-place votes while MSU garnered two. Host Miami (Ohio) was selected to finish third, followed by Southern Illinois, Ball State and Evansville.
 
The conference championship meet takes place over the course of four days, beginning Wednesday, Feb. 28 with two relays. On Thursday and Friday (Mar. 1-2), preliminary races are slated for 9:30 a.m. (CT) while the finals begin at 5:30 p.m. Saturday's schedule will start with prelims at 9:30 a.m. and fans may enter the final championship session at 5:30 p.m.
 

2018 Mid-American Conference Championship
Day 1	Wednesday, Feb. 28 | 5:30 p.m. (CT)
Day 2	Thursday, Mar. 1 | Prelims - 9:30 a.m. • Diving - 12 p.m. • Finals - 5:30 p.m. (CT)
Day 3	Friday, Mar. 2 | Prelims - 9:30 a.m. • Diving - 12 p.m. • Finals - 5:30 p.m. (CT)
Day 4	Saturday, Mar. 3 | Prelims - 9:30 a.m. • Finals - 5:30 p.m. (CT)
Site & Location	Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center • Oxford, Ohio
Order of Events	2018 Mid-American Conference Championship Swim Schedule
Follow Along	Meet Mobile • Watch
Missouri State	2017-18 Record Book | Swimming & Diving Home Page | Twitter

 
Looking Back
The men's squad was just one point away from a share of the 2017 MAC Championship title, but they fell to Eastern Michigan, 717-716. The meet came down to the very last event, the 400 freestyle relay, where the Bears needed to finish two spots above Eastern Michigan. MSU led the race until the final 50 yards when Buffalo snuck up to win the event. MSU finished second while Eastern Michigan clinched third, allowing the Eagles to edge out the Bears by one point to win the championship. The Bears won five individual events last season and earned one relay win in the 800 freestyle relay.
 
Phillip Willett and Antonio Thomas led the Bears with a pair of gold medals and Artur Osvath was the other MSU swimmer to record a first-place finish. Willett beat out competition in the 200 breast and 400 IM while Thomas dominated both the 500 and 1650 freestyle events. Osvath topped the pack in the 200 IM for the Bears' final win.
 
Thomas set a new MAC Championship record in the 1650 free, touching the wall in 14:56.02 during the meet's longest event. His time went down as the fastest in MAC and Missouri State history and he was the first Bear in program history to crack the 15 minute mark.
 
Graduating just three seniors from last season, the Bears return 18 student-athletes to the MAC Championship.
 
Pacing the MAC
The Bears have set numerous top times this season and lead the MAC in 11 individual events heading into the championship. MSU has recorded 28 top-three times and the Bears lead the MAC with 41 top-five times. Controlling four relays, the Bears have posted the league's fastest times in the 200 and 800 free relays, as well as the 200 and 400 medley relays.
 

MSU Swimmers Ranked in the Top Five
Blair Bish	1st, 100 breast | 4th, 50 free; 200 breast
Bryce Blattner	3rd, 400 IM
Will Brand	4th, 200 free
Kacper Cwiek	1st, 200 free | 2nd, 200 IM | 3rd, 200 fly
Kevin Douglas	4th, 500 free
Christopher Heye	1st, 400 IM | 3rd, 200 breast | 4th, 200 IM
Thomas Heye	5th, 100 back
Minki Kang	2nd, 500 free; 1000 free; 1650 free | 4th, 400 IM
Artur Osvath	1st, 200 breast; 200 fly; 200 IM | 2nd, 100 breast; 100 fly
Lucas Paloschi	1st, 50 free | 2nd 100 free
Conner Ripp	2nd, 100 back
Jacob Schultz	1st, 200 fly | 5th, 50 free; 100 free
Samuel Senn	2nd, 50 free| 3rd, 100 free | 5th, 100 breast
Nicholas Theunissen	4th, 100 breast
Antonio Thomas	1st, 500 free; 1000 free; 1650 free | 5th, 200 free
Phillip Willett	2nd, 200 breast; 400 IM | 3rd, 100 breast; 200 IM | 5th, 200 fly

Top-100 National Rankings
Blair Bish – 11^th, 100 breast
Artur Osvath – 29^th, 200 breast | 50^th, 100 breast | 70^th, 200 fly | 72^nd, 200 IM
Antonio Thomas – 27^th, 1000 free | 50^th, 1650 free
 
Coming Up Next
Hosted by Miami (Ohio), the 2018 MAC Championship begins at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center in Oxford, Ohio. Live updates will be available on Meet Mobile and Twitter. Live streams for the event can be found on the Miami RedHawk athletic website. For all the latest information on the Missouri State swimming and diving team, visit missouristatebears.com or follow @MoStateSwim on Twitter.