March 4, 2015
First Day Results| Schedule|Follow @MoStateSwim
GENEVA, Ohio - Missouri State broke two sets of school and conference records to take a first-day lead at the 2015 Mid-American Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Championships on Wednesday, March 4, at the SPIRE Institute.
"We got off to the start we need tonight by winning both relays," Bears head coach Dave Collins said. "Momentum is such a key factor in a championship meet and I felt we grabbed that on day one. With only six athletes involved tonight, we have a lot of excited guys looking to contribute starting tomorrow morning."
MSU's Paul Le, Isaac Springer, Vitalii Baryshok and Uvis Kalnins opened the conference championship in the 200 medley relay with the Bears' first school and conference record of the four-day meet, finishing first in a time of 1:26.79.
The squad's new record was 0.14 seconds faster than the previous-best time they set at last season's MAC Championships.
The Bears continued a successful opening day in the 800 free relay.
Kalnins, Baryshok, Kacper Cwiek and Isaac McKnight broke the school-, pool- and MAC-record time in the event while placing first in a time of 6:28.05.
Their finish was MSU's fastest time of the season, beating its previous 2014-15 best by 9.96 seconds. The relay team also topped the school-record set by Baryshok, McKnight, Caleb Schuermann and Miguel Davila by more than two seconds at last season's MAC Championships.
"It was great racing tonight," senior Vitalii Baryshok said. "I felt very confident in my relay team. I know everybody has worked very hard and is ready to go. We still have room for improvement technique wise. We know what to do and how to make our relay even better. Today was a great day with good times, but it was only the first step on the way to become MAC champions again."
Missouri State has 80 points at the conclusion of the first day of action, followed by Eastern Michigan with 68. Southern Illinois is in third with 64 points, Buffalo sits in fourth with 60, Miami is in fifth with 56, Evansville has 50 and Ball State has 26 points and is in seventh.
"This is a seven-session event so we have a long way to go," Collins said. "It will be very important for us to respond and swim well in the morning."
The 2015 MAC Championships continue on Thursday, March 5, with 500 free, 200 IM and 50 free prelims set to begin at 10 a.m. CST. The 1-meter diving prelims will take place at approximately 12 p.m. while Thursday finals start at 6 p.m.
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