Nov. 23, 2014
Final Day Results | Follow @MoStateSwim
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Missouri State concluded the Louisville Invitational with multiple swimmers earning B standard times in events for the Bears' swimming and diving teams on Sunday, Nov. 23, at Ralph Wright Natatorium.
"This meet provided our athletes with a championship environment and format," head coach Dave Collins said. "Managing prelim and final swims with crowded warm-ups and individual recovery is all part of preparing for success in February and March. I was overall very pleased with our team as a whole. The effort was good, I felt we raced tough and supported our teammates well. Now, our staff will go back and breakdown the meet and tweak a few things in an effort to put our group in a position to be at our best in a few months."
Both the Bears' men's and women's teams completed the three-day event with highly-competitive races against strong opposition. The No. 5 Cardinals won the men's portion of the Invite with 2,261 points. They were followed by Western Kentucky (1,181), MSU (1,157), Connecticut (1,083) and Southern Illinois (913). The No. 17 women's team from Louisville completed a sweep for the Cardinals with 1,872 points. Western Kentucky followed with 1,566 points, with Connecticut (1,282), MSU (1,069) and Southern Illinois (795) rounding out the final three.
Senior Paul Le and juniors Miguel Davila and Uvis Kalnins earned B-cut times to lead the Bears' men's side on Sunday.
Le came out of the gate placing runner-up in the prelims of the 200 back, then matched that result by besting his previous 2014-15 NCAA consideration mark in the finals with a 1:43.50. Davila earned the lone victory in any event for MSU on Sunday. The junior earned a B-cut mark in the 1650 free by finishing the race in 15:18.66 to lead a variety of top finishers in the event for the Bears. Kalnins also earned another B-cut during the Invite in the third day of action with a 43.99 time in the 100 free prelims. He wound up placing third in the finals.
Le and Kalnins, along with Isaac McKnight and Will Brand, combined forces for a runner-up finish and top time for the Bears in the 400 free relay this season.
MSU was able to move into third and narrowly fall to runner-up Western Kentucky with a variety of individuals earning critical points in A- and B-Final appearances.
In the 200 back, season-best swims behind ninth-place Will Frisbie (1:52.48), 11th-place Canaan Campbell (1:52.43) and 12th-place Brandon Weissman (1:54.19) got the Bears motivated early. McKnight placed seventh in the A-Final and Brand followed in 12th in the 100 free. Matthew Wilson placed second in the prelims of the 200 fly with a season-best 1:50.34, with Ethan Bresette and Campbell earning spots in the B-Finals.
Uldis Tazans, Isaac Springer, Christopher Heye and Aaron Dennis all put together their quickest times of the year in the finals of the 200 breast, led by Tazans's eight-place finish.
"This weekend was a fun opportunity to put on racing suits and see what we could do," senior men's captain Aaron Dennis said. "I was pleased with our progression and am excited to see how our times will translate in March with a full rest and shave."
The divers had the opportunity to compete from a diving platform on Sunday. Diving from 10-meters, MSU's Garett Nevels finished fifth with 212.65 points and Elijah Swaim got eighth with 167.15 points.
"This weekend was a good opportunity to dive in a championship format," senior men's diver Garrett Nevels said. "It was good for some of the younger divers to see the amount of pressure that goes into the finals at night, so they can better prepare for conference championships."
The Bears' women's swimming and diving team also continued its strong performance with a mix of classes leading the way.
Kate Gately swam a personal-best time in the 100 free finals (50.27) for fourth in the event, one of the team's top results on the day. Dora Kiss earned another season-best time for the third-consecutive day, placing fourth in the 200 fly after posting a 2:00.20 time in the prelims. The 400 free relay team of Megan Holthoff, Anna Bump, Sydney Zupan and Gately swam an MSU-best 3:25.99 in the 400 free relay for this season.
"We've had a solid couple of weeks of intense training and that hard work definitely paid off this weekend," junior women's swimmer Kate Gately said. "We had good, positive attitudes coming into this weekend and as a result, people raced tough and had great in-season times, along with some personal bests. I think that the Missouri Valley Conference and MAC were well represented by the Bears at this meet."
The MSU women's side had multiple swimmers compete for top points in the final day of the Invite.
Zupan placed sixth in the 200 back in a time of 1:59.29 and Megan Holthoff had a 2014-15 top time in the event for a 15th-place finish. Briana Horozewski, CeCe Etter, Hanna Flanagan, Quincy Howell and Emily Chesser also swam season-bests. Lauren Pavel had her top swim of the year (2:20.11) and also finished sixth in the 200 breast, followed by Andi Burroughs who got first in the B-Final with a 2:23.44 mark.
Kiss led the Bears in the 200 fly with her fourth-place finish, but Rebecca Amparano, Emma Wall and Ibby Simcox all made B-Final appearances to highlight MSU's showing at the Invite.
"This was a very important weekend and I am proud of the Bears," junior women's swimmer Dora Kiss said. "Posting personal- and season-best times now will give us the confidence for a successful conference meet. I really think we are on the right track and cannot be happier right now."
The Invite concludes MSU's scheduled events for the 2014 calender year. The Bears' women's team will next head to Houston for a dual on Jan. 3, 2015, against the Rice Owls. MSU's men's team is off until Jan. 8, 2015, when the Bears will compete in a double dual at College Station, Texas, versus Tennessee and host Texas A&M.
Check out all the latest news and information on the Bears swimming and diving team at MissouriStateBears.com and follow @MoStateSwim.
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