The Missouri State men's and women's swimming and diving teams earned victories Friday at Hammons Student Center Pool against the University of Evansville. The men won their meet 58-41 and the women won 66-36.
The women started the meet off with a dominating MSU victory in the 200-yard medley relay. The team, made up of Allison Zeller, Marcy O'Neil, Jennifer Burchard and Andi Rojas, swam to the win in 1:50.85, beating Evansville by over four seconds. The Bears charged again in the 200-yard freestyle, owning a one-two-three finish with Jordan Hawkins (1:56.53) on top, followed by Courtney Phillips (1:58.03) and Ericka Norgren (1:59.32), respectively.
Kyla Meuer and Kristen Boren of MSU had first and second-place finishes, respectively, in the 50-yard freestyle. Meuer swam the race in 24.86 and Boren in 26.15. Meuer also had a victory in the 100-yard butterfly (1:00.63). In the 200-yard IM, it was Missouri State's Deb O'Neal who came out on top, touching the wall in 2:15.17. Hawkins was the winner in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:00.20 and Francy Palma had an easy win in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing over ten seconds faster than the second-place winner in 5:13.69.
Liz Geisler and Rojas of Missouri State battled it to the end in the 100-yard freestyle, but it was Geisler who touched the wall .04 seconds quicker than Rojas, earning her the first-place win in 53.89.
In the diving competition, MSU's Stacey Arkovich was a double winner. Arkovich earned 262.35 points on the three-meter board and 275.85 points on the one-meter board. Lindsey Tuttle of MSU took a second-place finish in both events, racking up 218.03 points on the three-meter and 212.55 points on the one-meter board.
The Missouri State men's 200-yard medley relay team, composed of Mitch Richards, Greg Temple, Ignacio Gayo and Victor Serra, started the meet off with a first-place win in 1:35.24.
Matt Beasley, Victor Serra and Josh Uddermann had a one-two-three MSU finish in the 50-yard freestyle. Beasley was on top in 21.16, Serra second in 22.13 and Uddermann right behind in 22.39. Seth Johnson swam the 200-yard IM in 2:00.18, earning him the first-place win. Riffel was not too far behind, finishing the race in 2:01.12.
Tony Freeman was a winner for the Bears in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:45.54. Serra won the 100-yard freestyle race, touching the wall in 47.76. Gayo earned a win in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing in 52.96 and J.R. Pyle showed his endurance by winning the 500-yard freestyle in 4:47.19.
Ryan Maeker of MSU had the top score of the meet in the one and three-meter diving competition, earning 279 and 289.65 points, respectively. Cole Kalkbrenner took a second place finish for the Bears in both events, with 249.45 points on the one-meter board and 283.58 points on the one-meter board.
The Bears' swimmers and divers will be back at the Hammons Pool Saturday, Jan. 21, to take on Southern Illinois University at 1 p.m.
