LAWRENCE, Kan. – First place finishes from multiple sophomores on the Missouri State men's swimming and diving team propelled the Bears to a strong final day of competition at Robinson Natatorium, Saturday afternoon.

The men's squad was victorious, winning seven events and earning numerous top-five finishes to defeat the North Dakota Fighting Eagles 242.5-108.5. Sophomore Artur Osvath had another successful day, winning the 100-yard butterfly (48.72) and 200yd breaststroke (1:59.56) as well as contributing in one winning relay.

"I didn't expect to swim this fast," Osvath said. "It makes me really excited for the rest of the season."

Osvath's 1:59.56 run in the 200yd breast broke the pool record that he set at Robinson Natatorium last season and was a few seconds shy of breaking his personal record set at the MAC Championships in 2016.

Three other male swimmers – Phillip Willett (400yd individual medley, 3:58.85), Minki Kang (500yd freestyle, 4:36.27) and Bryce Blattner (200yd backstroke, 1:53.52) – came up with wins and the Bears finished 1-2-3 in both the 500yd free and 200yd breast.

Freshman Sarah Allegri was a top performer for the Bears as the women's squad fell 209-130 to Kansas and 198-154 to North Dakota. Allegri earned her second victory of the weekend, claiming the 200yd back with a time of 2:02.80.

"It was really nice to contribute to the team today and competing like that in my home state was the icing on the cake," Allegri said. "Having positive results like this is really encouraging and it will help motivate me for the rest of the season."

The women started off the second day of competition strong as Loretta Stelnicki, Sydney Zupan, Hope Earnhart and Sarah Wehrmeister finished behind host Kansas in the 200yd medley relay in a time of 1:47.11.

"Having a two-day meet at the beginning of the competition season can be difficult," senior captain CeCe Etter said. "As a women's team, I think we all did a really good job coming back stronger for the second session. We all came together and had fun, which helped us come out with some impressive times and top finishes."

Junior Sydney Zupan clinched the 100yd fly in 56.75 seconds while freshman Haley Allen placed fifth with a time of 58.61. Senior Briana Horozewski finished the day with two, top-five finishes, placing second in the 200yd breast (2:26.24) and fifth in the 400yd IM (4:39.23).

The women's team also showed strong outings in the 500yd free as freshman Vikte Labanauskaite placed second (5:10.84) and Brianna McCullough took fourth in the event.

The Bears capped off the day with solid performances in the 400yd free relay when the women's team placed third behind Kansas and North Dakota with a time of 3:33.54. Samuel Senn, Brenden Bolman, Michael Mollak and Will Brand secured the Bears' final victory of the day, dominating the race in 3:08.01.

"This season started with an amazing, new team dynamic that I've never seen or experienced before," senior captain Preston Selby noted. "Seeing this new dynamic carry over to a competition against a team as good as North Dakota was a great way to kick off our dual meet season."

The Bears return to Hammons Strudent Center Saturday, Oct. 29 for a contest against crosstown rival Drury University. Admission is free and Saturday's Dual in the Pool is set to begin at 6 p.m. For more information on the Missouri State men's and women's swimming and diving team visit www.missouristatebears.com or Twitter (MoStateSwim).