INDIANAPOLIS – After two sessions, the Missouri State men's and women's swimming and diving team each hold a dominant, first-place standing after day one of the House of Champions Invitational at the campus of IUPUI on Friday (Nov. 18).

Through event 14, the Missouri State women racked up 585 points followed by Green Bay (385) and IUPUI (374). The Missouri State men lead the way with 656 points, a whole 200 points above the second-place finisher, IUPUI.

The women's squad brought in 13 top-five finishes with three first-place performances. Missouri State showed several strong outings in the prelims, setting up the Bears to earn big points in Friday's finals session. Day one's events were highlighted by performances from junior Sydney Zupan, senior Lauren Pavel, freshman Vikte Labanauskaite and sophomore Hope Earnhart.

Kicking off the day for the Bears, Labanauskaite and Brianna McCullough swam their way into the finals thanks to their second and fifth-place finishes in the 500-yard freestyle. Labanauskaite went on to finish second in the finals with a time of 4:54.64 – which bested the meet record of 4:56.00 – while McCullough earned a fourth-place finish for the Bears.

In the 100yd butterfly prelims, three Bears – Zupan and freshmen Sara Bacher and Haley Allen – finished in the top five. Later in the finals, Zupan's second-place time of 54.77 seconds bested assistant coach Chelsea Dirks-Ham's school record (55.34) set back in 2009, earning the top spot on the Missouri State all-time top-times list and a new career record for the junior. The freshmen followed Zupan in the finals as Bacher placed third with a time of 55.78 and Allen finished fourth.

The women's team dominated the 200yd individual medley, taking the top four spots in the finals. Pavel was the winner, setting a new meet record thanks to her 2:02.37 performance. Sophomore Josie Pearson took second, finishing with a time of 2:03.21 which was also fast enough to beat the previous meet record.  

Senior Briana Horozewski followed Pearson with a time of 2:05.30, while freshman Sarah Wehrmeister placed fourth in 2:05.76. All four women posted personal season-best times in the event while Pavel and Pearson's times set new career records.

Sophomore Hope Ernhart was the top finisher for the Bears in the women's 50yd free, finishing third in the event with a career-best time of 23.54 seconds. Anna Bump earned a fifth place finish (23.64) and Loretta Stelnicki rounded out the Bears' efforts in the event, finishing sixth (23.67).

The Missouri State women dominated both the 200yd free relay and 400yd medley relay, taking first in both events. In the 200yd free relay, MSU's A relay made up of Stelnicki, Wehrmeister, Bump and Ernhart earned first thanks to their 1:33.62 outing, which bested the second-place finisher by nearly two seconds. In the 400yd medley relay, MSU's A relay broke the meet record in their 3:43.47, first-place finish while the B relay took second-place with a time of 3:43.47.

The Missouri State men tallied 14 top-five finishes while taking first in six different events. To accompany their six victories, the Bears set five new meet records in various events throughout the day. The squad's efforts were led by freshmen Antonio Thomas and Samuel Senn and by sophomores Artur Osvath and Phillip Willet.

Starting things off for the Bears, Thomas, Minki Kang and Ethan Bresette all finished in the top-five in the men's 500yd free prelims. In the finals, Thomas earned first in the event in his 4:22.87 performance, shattering his previous personal record (4:31.93) as well as topping the meet record (4:25.19). Michael Mollak followed Thomas, recording a third-place, 4:28.05 finish in the event.

Following the 500yd free, the Missouri State men took first and fourth in the 100yd fly finals. Osvath recorded a first-place time of 48.14 seconds in the event, besting the meet record by 1.07 seconds and setting a new personal season record. Freshman Jacob Schultz finished fourth in the event with a time of 49.37 seconds, setting a new career record for the newcomer.

Like the women, the men's team commanded the 200yd IM grabbing three top-five finishes in the prelims of session one where Willett set a new meet record of 1:47.40 in his first-place, prelim finish. Christopher Heye took third in the event while Kacper Cwiek rounded out the top-five for the Bears in the prelims with his fourth-place finish.

In the finals of session two, Willett finished .05 seconds behind his time set in the prelims, still claiming first and bringing in 32 points for the Bears. Cwiek (1:49.12) and Heye (1:49.91) each improved their times from the prelims, each swimming faster than the previous pool record of 1:50.35 set back in 2014.

The men found success in the 50yd free, beginning in the prelims when Senn, Brenden Bolman and Will Brand took first, second and fourth respectively in session one. In the finals, Senn earned his second victory of the day, recording a time of 20.43 seconds in the event. The speedy freshman set a new personal record while missing the meet record by just .17 seconds. Bolman finished fourth with his 20.85 second performance while Brand finished fifth (20.95).

The Missouri State men continued their dominance in both the 200yd free relay and 400yd medley relay, setting records in both events. The MSU A squad was victorious in the 200yd free relay when Senn, Schultz, Bolman and Brand swam a season-best time of 1:21.39 that also broke the meet record – set by the University of Indianapolis in 2014 – by .17 seconds.

In the 400yd medley relay, the men's A relay took first and the B relay took third, bringing in a total of 118 points for the Bears. Like in the 200yd free relay, the men's A squad – made up of Thomas Heye, Willett, Osvath and Senn – broke the meet record and set season-best time of 3:15.94 in the event. The B relay finished with a time of 3:19.49 topping their time set in the prelims by nearly six seconds.

Women's Standings – Day One

1. Missouri State – 585
2. Green Bay – 385
3. IUPUI – 374
4. Indianapolis – 366.5
5. Evansville – 345
6. Lewis – 179
7. Butler – 165
8. Centre College – 134.5
9. Bellarmine – 107
10. Western Illinois – 104
11. Birmingham-Southern – 90
12. Eastern Illinois – 57

 
Men's Standings – Day One

1. Missouri State – 656
2. IUPUI – 456
3. Indianapolis – 355
4. Lewis – 316
5. Green Bay – 287
6. Western Illinois – 182
7. Evansville – 163
8. Wabash College – 134
9. Birmingham-Southern – 119
10. Eastern Illinois – 80
11. Centre College – 63
12. Bellarmine – 55

The Bears continue competition at the House of Champions Invitational tomorrow (Nov. 19) at 10 a.m. at the campus of IUPUI. Session three will begin at approximately 10 a.m. and session four is slated for 6 p.m. For more information on the Missouri State swimming and diving team visit www.missouristatebears.com.