Nov. 21, 2015
Day 2 Results (Prelims) | Day 2 Results (Finals) | Follow @MoStateSwim
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Missouri State men's and women's swimming and diving teams made strong moves in the team standings during the second day of the Purdue Invitational at the Boilermaker Aquatics Center on Saturday, Nov. 21.
The Bears' women's team moved up a spot to fifth out eight teams with 183 points, passing Air Force which has 181 points. Leading the women's side is host Purdue (681), followed by Notre Dame (495), Wyoming (316) and Florida International (240). The MSU men's team maintained its fourth-place position with 346 points, but only trails third-place Notre Dame by 28.50. Leading the men's portion of the event is Purdue (677.50) and Wyoming (438.50), while Southern Illinois (271.50) sits in fifth.
One of the top highlights for the Bears Saturday was Dora Kiss's school record-breaking 100-yard butterfly swims.
The senior topped the record in morning preliminary races with a 55.20 finish, breaking a mark that was held by current MSU assistant coach Chelsea Dirks-Ham, whose time of 55.34 had lasted since 2009. Kiss advanced to the A-final where she was able to improve that time to 54.82, good for seventh place in the event.
Missouri State continued to have solid showings throughout finals appearances.
Freshman Josie Pearson achieved the first 'B' cut of her collegiate career in the 400 individual medley, taking runner-up in the A-final with a lifetime best and new school-record time of 4:18.09. Rebecca Amparano also made the A-final for the Bears and took seventh after her top time of the year in prelims (4:22.33). Both Briana Horozewski and CeCe Etter won their respective finals heats, as Horozewski touched in at 4:24.62 in the B-final and Etter came in at 4:28.39 in the C-final.
Two men's swimmers also made the 400 IM A-final for MSU. Freshman Bryce Blattner took seventh behind a personal mark of 3:56.72, while Uvis Kalnins placed eighth after his top time of the year in the prelims (3:56.58). Three more Bears - Christopher Heye (3:59.22), Ethan Bresette (3:59.86) and Nicholas Theunissen (4:00.35) - qualified for the B-final while Canaan Cambell and Brandon Weissman completed season-best times.
The MSU women's swim team had seven more student-athletes - Sydney Zupan, Emma Wall, Ibby Simcox, Hanna Flanagan, Emily Chesser, Lauren Williams and Kaylee Larson - earn 2015-16 top marks in the 100 fly. On the men's side, Artur Osvath notched a 'B' cut behind a third-place A-final finish (48.27).
The Bears' men's team ended up scoring four different athletes in the 200 freestyle, as Kacper Cwiek led the way by touching the wall in a time of 1:38.33 for third place. Minki Kang followed with the top finish in the B-final (1:41.09), Will Brand placed 12th (1:41.74) and Michael Mollak earned 13th (1:41.78). Kiss, along with Shawna Elsey, Emma Metz, Moriah Moore, Althea Felton and Hope Ernhart, finished with season-best times in the 200 free prelims.
MSU's Lauren Pavel finished a team-high 12th (1:03.62) in the 100 breaststroke to lead the women's team, with Anna Bump also making a B-final appearance by taking 15th (1:04.19).
Kalnins led a host of Bears that finished atop the 100 breast on the men's side. Kalnins (54.49), Osvath (54.61) and Isaac Springer (54.88) all earned NCAA consideration times and finished 3-4-5 in the A-final. Theunissen (56.15) and Uldis Tazans (56.08) earned the top two places in the B-final while Christopher Heye took 18th overall (57.79).
In the remaining individual event of the day, Zupan led the MSU women's squad with a 12th-place finish behind a time of 55.78 in the 100 backstroke. Chesser (57.92), Quincy Howell (58.13), Loretta Stelnicki (57.68), Horozewski (58.30), Etter (58.37), Brianna McCullough (58.92) and Flanagan (59.35) all set season-best times in event during the day. The MSU men's team finished the event in similar fashion as Jack Snow, Bryce Blattner, Preston Selby Brenden Bolman and Will Frisbie all notched 2015-16 top times.
The Missouri State men's and women's teams each finished with strong performances in their relay appearances.
The Bears' women's squad took sixth in both the 200 medley relay (1:45.04) behind Zupan, Pavel, Pearson and Ernhart, as well as the 800 free relay behind Kiss, Stelnicki, Zupan and Amparano.
While the men took fourth in the 200 medley relay (1:29.65) with the squad of Blattner, Springer, Osvath and Kalnins, the Bears' 800 free relay team of Cwiek, Kalnins, Mollak and Brand finished runner-up with a time of 6:38.95.
One day of competition remains for the Bears at the Purdue Invite, with prelims starting at 9 a.m. CST Sunday at the Boilermaker Aquatics Center. Finals are set to begin at approximately 3 p.m.
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