The 2010-11 swimming and diving season was full of ups and downs. The men’s squad, in their second season of competition in the Mid-American Conference, stumbled to a fifth-place finish. On the other side, the women’s team captured their fourth consecutive conference crown and their eighth in nine years. Since Missouri State joined the Missouri Valley Conference in the 98-99 season, no team has won more conference championships than the Bears. Only one other team in Valley history has had eight titles in nine years, Southern Illinois.
The season began with cross-town rival Drury University coming to Hammons Student Center Pool on Oct. 22 to renew Springfield’s Duel in the Pool. Last season, the Bears and Panthers split the season series 1-1. In the first meeting this season, the Panthers walked away with two wins, the men by a score of 118-125 and the women by a score of 102-137.
The Bears hoped to rebound at conference foe Southern Illinois on Oct. 22. The Bears and Salukis meeting is usually one of the top matchups in the Missouri Valley and Mid-American Conferences. The meetings are always close affairs, with the men’s all-time series at 11-10 in favor of MSU and the women at 5-9 in favor of SIU. In the meet, the Bears fell to 0-2 on the season with 142-99 (men) and 140-103 (women) losses in Carbondale.
To stop the skid, Missouri State hosted the Lindenwood Lions in Springfield. Head coach Jack Steck was hoping that history would repeat itself as the Bears have never lost to the Lions in six meetings. The trend held true as the men and women escaped with 156-80 and 175-56 point wins, respectively. The women’s team, in particular, was impressive, as they did not lose an event in the meet.
On Nov. 12, the Bears travelled to Kirksville, Mo. to take on the Bulldogs of Truman State. While the men boast an impressive 21-0 mark against the Bulldogs, Truman State has given the women fits in the past with a series record of 4-9 in favor of the Bulldogs. However, the women bucked the trend to win in Kirksville for the first time since 2005. The men also pulled out a victory, bringing each team to a 2-2 dual record on the season.
After rebounding to a .500 dual-meet record, Missouri State entered their invitational schedule. The first invitational was the highly competitive Purdue Invitational. Perennial powerhouses such at Ohio State, Michigan, Louisville and host school Purdue all participated in the meet. Even with all the top-tier competition, sophomore sensation Amber Green impressed. Her time of 50.14 in the 100-yard freestyle earned second in the event and made the NCAA Consideration Time. Fellow sophomore Aaron Henry was also impressive in the 200-yard backstroke. His time of 1:51.23 finished seventh overall and was one of the best times in the MAC at that time. Despite some impressive performances, the depth of the bigger schools kept Missouri State down in the standings. The men finished fifth of seven and the women were sixth of eight.
The next two invitational meets took place in Mississippi at the Delta State Christmas Invite and the Tunica Invitational. The Bears built upon their impressive performances to leave the Magnolia State with two first-place finishes for each team. The Bears dominated the competition with each team winning their respective meets by at least 150 points.
After the invitational season, Missouri State picked up where it left off in the dual season with Truman State coming to Springfield. Though the location was different, the result was the same as their first matchup, with the Bears claiming victory. The men went 153-48 and the women were 148-57 to bring both records to 3-2 on the year.
The next meet was a shot at redemption with the Bears travelling cross-town to Drury for the second of the two meetings on the season. This meeting was televised locally on Mediacom. The television audience was in for a show, as the women’s meet came down to the final event; the 400-yard freestyle relay. Going into the final event, the Bears held a meager 112-110 lead. This close margin meant that whoever won the final event, the 200-yard freestyle relay, won the meet. Sprint freestyle is a strong point for both teams and the packed crowd at Breech Pool was ready for a great race. Heading into the final turn, both the Bears and Panthers touched the far wall simultaneously. Down the final stretch Drury's Kelsey Ward and MSU's Anna Ahlin were stroke for stroke. The two seemed to touch the wall at the same time. The crowd fell silent as all eyes turned to the official scoreboard for the times. They arrived with Drury posting a time of 1:36.88 and MSU at 1:36.95. The women lost the event by a mere .07 seconds. The final team score came up to 121-118. The men’s score was a little more lopsided, with Drury winning by a score of 146-97.
With a 3-3 dual record, the Bears hit the road for the Lindenwood Quads. This triple-dual format would pit the Bears against Lindenwood, Illinois Tech and St. Louis University. In the meet, Missouri State rebounded from the tough loss at Drury to defeat all three competitors and move to 6-3 on the season. The freshman trio of Jared Roberts, Yuri Garanito and Michal Bulak showed signs of things to come with impressive showings in St. Charles.
For the final weekend of the regular season, Missouri State competed against conference foe Evansville and took on Eastern Illinois for the first time in the Jack Steck era. Both meetings were rousing victories for the maroon and white. At Evansville, the final tally was 92-21 for the men and 72-41 for the women. At Eastern Illinois, the men won by a score of 136-69 and the women by a score of 146-56. Both the men and the women finished the season 8-3 in dual meets this season.
Next up was the State Farm MVC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship in Carbondale, Ill. Last season, the Bears dominated the field with the second-largest margin of victory in conference history en route to their third consecutive title. This season, Missouri State made history by winning their fourth consecutive title. It is the second time in school history the Bears have won four championships in a row and only the fourth time in conference history.
Highlighting Missouri State’s run was Green. Green competed in three individual events and four relays, setting new school and conference records in all but one event. Junior Brianna Willoughby also set a new conference mark in the 200-yard IM, breaking a six year record. The 400-yard freestyle relay squad did not set a record, but it did finish first in the meet, marking the first time since the 04-05 season a team has won all five relay events in the meet. For her efforts, Green was named the MVC Swimmer of the Year, becoming the fifth Bear to earn the honor. Head coach Jack Steck was named MVC Coach of the Year for the seventh time, building on his record of most Coach of the Year awards in MVC history.
In total, Missouri State won six individual events and all five relay events, set seven new conference records and landed eleven first-team all-conference squad members and seven on the honorable mention team.
Trying to repeat the women’s success, the men’s team also travelled to Carbondale for the Mid-American Conference championship. This is only the second year the men have competed in the MAC. In their first season, the Bears placed third in the seven-team field. This season, the Bears faced a sophomore slump, finishing fifth, matching the lowest conference finish in the school’s history. Though the Bears faced adversity, the future looks bright with sophomore the freshman trio of Roberts, Garanito and Bulak all earned all-MAC honors. Additionally, sophomore Daan Jansen was named to the all-MAC team for the second consecutive season. Roberts was the only Bear to win an event, winning the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 15:35.22. He was also the only freshman in the MAC to win an individual event.
Green was named MSU Female Swimmer of the Year and Anna Ahlin was named Freshman of the Year after winning both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events at the MVC Championship. For the men, Roberts took home both the Men’s Swimmer of the Year and the Freshman of the Year honors. Additionally, senior Katharina Voelkel was named the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, awarded to the top scholar-athlete in the entire athletics department. Voelkel graduated with a 4.0 GPA in her double major of Mathematics/Biology. This is the second consecutive season that a swimmer has won the award, with diver Chelsea Ray receiving the honor last year.
