Oct. 24, 2015
Final Results | Follow @MoStateSwim
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Senior Uvis Kalnins and freshman Artur Osvath earned victories in the men's 400 IM and 200 breaststroke, respectively, to highlight Missouri State swimming and diving's final day of competition at the Kansas Double Dual in Robinson Natatorium Saturday, Oct. 24.
The MSU squads wrapped up competition with the men's team falling in their lone dual versus Denver, 243-98. The women's team finished up action by dropping duals against Kansas (277-69) and Denver (279-67).
"I felt like we raced a little better today compared to yesterday," Bears head coach Dave Collins said. "We are looking forward to some good weeks of uninterrupted training going into our mid-season meet."
Osvath had another top effort for the MSU men's team. He served as a member of the top 200 free relay squad along with Jack Snow, Brenden Bolman and Will Brand that finished in a time of 1:26.12, but also set his collegiate best and a pool record in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:01.94) to place first in the event.
Kalnins picked up the Bears' final victory by taking first in the 400 individual medley with a time of 3:59.59 and took second behind Osvath in the 200 breast (2:03.31).
Also competing in the 400 IM for the Bears were Bryce Blattner (4:03.93) and Nicholas Theunissen (4:09.87) who finished third and sixth, respectively. MSU set season-best times across the 200 backstroke as Snow (1:54.57), Will Frisbie (1:56.13) and Canaan Campbell (1:56.67) went 3-5-6 in the event.
Freshman Minki Kang set his new MSU mark in the 500 freestyle with a 4:35.57 finish for runner-up, just two seconds away from a first-place showing. Ethan Bresette placed fifth and Brandon Weissman followed in sixth.
"I really liked the overall effort our team gave this weekend," Weissman said. "It's hard to get up and race for the fourth straight weekend, especially when we're getting into one of our toughest training cycles of the year. But it was nice to see everyone still grinding it out, even if our bodies weren't feeling as good as we wanted them to.
"It'll be good to get some full weeks of training under our belts as we look forward to Purdue. If we're able to make the most of these next few weeks, a little bit of rest at the end should make Purdue a fast and exciting meet for us."
MSU junior Lauren Pavel had the top finish Saturday for the Bears' women's squad after placing third in the 200 breast by touching the wall at 2:21.89.
Several Bears swimmers had fourth-place showings which includes Josie Pearson (100 butterfly), Dora Kiss (500 free) and the MSU 200 free relay squad of Sydney Zupan, Anna Bump, Hope Ernhart and Loretta Stelnicki.
Zupan also placed a team-best fifth in the 200 back (2:05.41), while Briana McCullough and Emily Chesser had their top times of the season in the event.
Ibby Simcox had a season-best time in the 100 fly (59.42) while three Bears - Pearson, Rebecca Amparano and Pavel - placed in the top 10 in their first 400 IM appearances of the year.
"This weekend was a challenge, but as a team we did what we needed to do to improve for our mid-season meet at Purdue in a couple weeks," Pavel said. "I am excited to get back to training with my team to prepare the rest of the year."
Missouri State will have almost a month off before competing against opposition. The Bears return to the pool for the Purdue Invitational, which runs from Nov. 20-22 in West Lafayette, Indiana. MSU closes out the 2015 portion of its 2015-16 schedule at the USA Winter National Championships beginning on Dec. 2 in Federal Way, Washington.
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