SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Missouri State men's and women's swimming and diving teams kick off the 2016-17 season at the Show-Me Showdown in Columbia on Friday, October 7 at 1 p.m., hosted by the University of Missouri. Saturday, the women's team returns to Springfield for its home opener, the Missouri State Invitational, at Hammons Student Center at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
 
The Missouri State men's swimming and diving team enters its 51^st season of competition, bringing back 16 swimmers while welcoming seven newcomers. On the women's side, the Bears begin their 19^th season of competition with 19 student-athletes returning and eight freshman.
 
The women's team was awarded the runner-up position in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason swimming and diving poll, finishing one point behind Southern Illinois with 45 points. The 2015 MVC runner-up received three first-place votes and did not receive a vote lower than second place.
 
The Mid-American Conference swimming and diving preseason poll for the men's team will be released Wednesday, Oct 12.  
 
Meet Info

• Missouri Show-Me Showdown • Mizzou Aquatics Center – Columbia, Mo. • Friday, Oct. 7 at 1 p.m.
• Missouri State Invitational (women only) • Hammons Student Center – Springfield, Mo. • Saturday, Oct. 8 at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• Live stats will be available through Meet Mobile (which can be downloaded from the app store) and live updates will be available via Twitter (MoStateSwim).

 
Missouri Show-Me Showdown
Missouri State will compete against Missouri, Lindenwood, William Jewell, Maryville, Truman State, Saint Louis, Washington University, Drury, Missouri S&T and Missouri-St. Louis. With the exception of Missouri S&T, which only has a men's squad, all teams carry men's and women's programs.
 
Last season the men's team placed second out of 11 teams while the women's team finished third out of 10 teams. The men finished the meet with a total of 365 points, finishing behind Mizzou who scored 682 points. The women's team tallied 332 points, finishing behind Drury and Mizzou.
 
In 2015-16, former Bear swimmers Uvis Kalnins and Dora Kiss each earned Missouri State's top performances at the Missouri Show-Me Showdown. Kalnins won the 200 individual medley (1:49.16) while placing second in the 100 freestyle (45.15). Kiss finished second in the 500 free (5:03.71) and sixth in the 200 free (1:54.40).
 
Order of Events
200 Medley Relay
200 Freestyle
200 IM
50 Free
100 Fly
100 Freestyle
Women's 1-Meter and Men's 3-Meter Diving
500 Freestyle
200 Free Relay
100 Backstroke
100 Breaststroke
400 Freestyle Relay
Women's 3-Meter and Men's 1-Meter Diving
 
Scoring Format
Individual Events: Each team can score only their top-three swimmers in each event. The top 16 places score
 
Team Scoring: 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
 
Relay Events: Each team can score only their top two relays in each event. The top 16 places score
 
Relay Scoring: 40-34-32-30-28-26-24-22 18-14-12-10-8-6-4-2
 
1-Meter Diving: Each team will do a diving scramble to try and score the largest point total. Each member on the team will do six dives covering all five groups with true degree of difficulty. The points from each diving group's highest scorer will count toward the team total score. The best score per diving group will count towards the total.
 
3-Meter Diving: Each diver will be required to do six dives from all five groups. No matter what first three dives the divers choose, the degree of difficulty will be set at 2.0. The remaining three dives will be true degree of difficulty.
 
Missouri State Invitational
The Missouri State women's team will host its first-annual Missouri State Invitational where the bears will compete against Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Rice, Houston and Little Rock. The women's home opener will feature two sessions, the first beginning at 10 a.m. and the second starting at 4 p.m.
 
Order of Events
Session 1 – 10 a.m.
400 Medley Relay
200 Freestyle
400 IM
100 Fly
50 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
 
Session 2 – 4 p.m.
200 Medley Relay
500 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Fly
200 IM
400 Freestyle Relay
 
Final Details
The Missouri State men's and women's squads will compete at the Missouri Show-Me Showdown Friday, Oct. 7 at 1 p.m. in Columbia, Mo. Saturday, the women's team returns to Springfield for the Missouri State Invitational at Hammons Student Center. Session one is slated for 10 a.m. and session two will begin at approximately 4 p.m. For more information on the Missouri State men's and women's swim team visit www.missouristatebears.com or Twitter (MoStateSwim).