Oct. 8, 2015

MAC Release | Follow @MoStateSwim

CLEVELAND - Missouri State senior Uvis Kalnins was honored by the Mid-American Conference Thursday, Oct. 8, as he was announced as the Men's Swimmer of the Week by the league.

Kalnins got off to an impressive 2015-16 senior campaign by winning the 200 individual medley at the Show-Me Showdown Friday, Oct. 2.

Kalnins took the 200 IM in a time of 1:49.16, only .07 seconds away from an NCAA 'B' standard in just the Bears' first meet of the season. He also finished runner-up in both an individual and relay event.

The Valmiera, Latvia, native took second in the 100 freestyle (45.15) among 11 universities worth of swimmers, along with serving as the first leg in the Bears' second-place 400 free relay squad that finished in a time of 3:05.52. Kalnins helped lead MSU's 200 medley relay team as well, serving as the anchor leg. In both relay positions, Kalnins finished with the second-best time among all swimmers at the Showdown.

Both individual events Kalnins participated in Friday are currently the fastest finishes among all MAC swimmers.

The weekly honor from the MAC is the third of Kalnins's career after he earned the weekly nod by the conference twice as a junior. The honor also wraps up a week that saw Missouri State earn Swimmer of the Week awards for both its men's team and women's teams (Josie Pearson).

The Missouri State men's and women's swimming and diving teams host their next four meets at Hammons Student Center. A dual against Evansville begins the action Friday, Oct. 9, at 4 p.m. and Southern Illinois comes to Springfield for a dual at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10. The Saturday dual against the Salukis will also be a "black out," with MSU handing out 100 free t-shirts to the first 100 students at the meet and all fans asked to wear a black shirt to the event.

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