Men Rewrite Record Books, Finish Second at Sun Belt Championship
The Missouri State men’s swimming and diving team completed its third season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference with a second place finish at the championship meet. Under head coach Jack Steck in his 26th year, the Bears ended their 2008-09 season with a 10-1 dual meet record, matching the school’s all-time best season and leading to a final third place ranking among Division I college swimming programs not included in BCS conferences.
The Bears came up short in an attempt to capture a second-straight conference title, falling to Denver which finished first with a team total 1226 points. Missouri State trailed closely, finishing with 1172.5 points. Western Kentucky and Southern Illinois finished third and fourth, with 1064.5 and 734 points, respectively. Placing fifth with 446.5 points was Florida Atlantic and Evansville was sixth with 207 points.
On the season, the Bears’ men broke 11 of 21 school records, nine of which were set at the Sun Belt Championship in February. Missouri State also recorded eight new Sun Belt Conference records at the 2009 championships, and seven men were awarded All-Sun Belt honors for their performance at the meet.
MSU Swimmer of the Year Victor Serra (Sr., Valencia, Spain) highlighted the Bears at the championship, claiming three individual titles and three relay wins, each race setting new SBC and MSU records. Serra won his third-straight 100 butterfly conference title with a time of 47.45, breaking his own record set last year. For the second consecutive year, he claimed first-place honors in the 200 butterfly and 200 IM, recording times of 1:45.08 and 1:47.38, respectively.
Serra swam the third leg of the 200 free relay as well as the 200 and 400 medley relays which each set new Sun Belt and MSU records. Other members of the winning relay teams were Ciro Sauaia, Roko Simunic and Dillon Burns in the 200 free; Nicolas Villarroel, Skinner and Sauaia in the 200 medley; and Simunic, Skinner and Sauaia in the 400 medley.
Simunic and Skinner also claimed individual titles at the Sun Belt Championship in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke, respectively.
The Bears began the season in October, competing in the North Texas Relays, where Missouri State took first in the team meet with 132 team points, topping strong competitors Southern Methodist and Texas Christian. The squad continued its success the following day, capturing its first dual meet win of the season, 107-46 over TCU.
The Bears then traveled to Evansville for the first conference match-up and would move to 2-0 on the season, beating the Aces 60-32. In early November, the Bears played host to Springfield rival, Drury. At the home meet, Villarroel set two new Hammons Pool records in the 100 and 200 backstroke with times of 49.33 and 1:49.02, respectively, leading the Bears to a 158-83 win over the Panthers.
Villarroel’s times broke two six-year-old records. The record-setting time in the 100 backstroke was achieved swimming the leadoff position of the 400 medley relay, which also set a new pool record. Villarroel was followed by Skinner, Serra and Simunic, swimming a time of 3:23.14 as a team at the Drury dual.
The following week, the squad held its second-straight home dual meet, beating Lindenwood 67-44 to move to 4-0 on the season. Eric Ducourneau (So., Montreal, Canada) scored an impressive 265.85 points in six dives to break a 21-year-old school record on the one-meter board. The next day, the Bears swam in Kirksville, Mo., against Truman State and remained undefeated in dual meets at 5-0.
After a two-week home stint, the Bears traveled to Arkadelphia, Ark., where the squad recorded its second of five invitational wins. The men topped Ouachita Baptist, host Henderson State and Hendrix College at the meet.
Prior to completion of the fall semester, the men were tested against tough competition at the Missouri Invitational in Columbia, Mo. The Bears finished third with 672.0 team points, trailing only Missouri (921.0) and Iowa (880.5). Then, over the winter break, the Bears posted two more invitational wins, capturing titles at the Delta State Invitational and the Tunica Invitational.
Following winter training, the Bears traveled to Carbondale, Ill., to battle strong conference rivals Southern Illinois. In a tough dual match-up, the men rose to the challenge and remained unbeaten at 6-0, topping the Salukis 126-117.
On Senior Day at Hammons Pool, the squad beat Truman State for the second time in the 2008-09 season, 168-104. The Bears remained unbeaten in dual meets until late January before the second meeting with city-rival Drury, which captured the 2009 Division II National Championship in March. The Bears slid to 7-1, losing to the Panthers 136-60.
The Bears then recovered to enter the conference championship with a dual meet record of 10-1 for the 2008-09 season, capturing three dual wins in late January against Saint Louis (198-118), Illinois Tech (198-37) and Lindenwood (188-16) in St. Charles, Mo.
Following completion of the season, Missouri State ranked third in the final Mid-Major Division I collegeswimming.com poll. Navy and Denver were listed ahead of the Bears in first and second, respectively.
Season-ending awards were awarded to distance swimmer Tom Bullock (Fr., Fort Smith, Ark.) as MSU Freshman of the Year, and Serra was named MSU Swimmer of the Year for the second consecutive year. Vic Riffel was awarded the Jack Steck Inspiration Award.
Ducourneau was honored as MSU Diver of the Year and was one of 17 divers selected from the region to compete in the NCAA Zone D Championships. At the meet, he qualified for the finals and placed 15th on both the one-meter and three-meter boards.
