March 5, 2016
Final Results | MAC Championship Central | Follow @MoStateSwim
YPSILANTI, Mich. - Senior Miguel Davila and freshman Artur Osvath each won individual conference titles, but the Missouri State men's swimming team finished in third place at the Mid-American Conference Championships Saturday, March 5, at Jones Natatorium.
Host Eastern Michigan won the MAC Championship for the second consecutive season with 846 points. Buffalo finished in runner-up with 649 points, 15 ahead of Missouri State's 634. Southern Illinois (528), Miami (449), Ball State (147) and Evansville (142) rounded out the team rankings.
The Bears completed the 2016 MAC Men's Swimming and Diving Championships with a combined four individual crowns.
Davila completed his final appearance at the conference championship by repeating in the 1650-yard freestyle. He earned his third 1650 free conference title in his four years at MSU with a time of 15 minutes, 16.07 seconds. Davila finished just ahead of teammate and runner-up Minki Kang, who touched the wall in a lifetime-best 15:18.41 and moved to third on the MSU all-time list in the event. Both times also met NCAA 'B' standards.
MSU's Brandon Weissman (15:48.80) and Ethan Bresette (15:53.83) finished 10th and 12th overall, respectively, with their top times of the year.
A record-breaking performance by Osvath highlighted MSU's four-member showing in the 200 breaststroke championship final.
The Budapest, Hungary, native shattered his own school record in the event with a time of 1:55.04 for the gold medal, and fell short of breaking the conference record by just .08 seconds set last season by Eastern Michigan's Mike Fisher. It was the first MAC title achieved by the freshman.
All four MSU 200 breast swimmers topped the previous pool record in the preliminaries and made NCAA consideration marks to qualify for the A-final. Heye eventually joined Osvath in medaling by taking third-place honors with a personal-best time of 1:57.56. Uldis Tazans took fifth in the finals after coming in with the top time of his career in prelims (1:58.16), while senior captain Isaac Springer took eighth after a season-best time in prelims (1:58.69).
"It has been an honor being a captain of this swim team and finish out my career with such incredible guys," Springer said. "The meet had a lot of ups and downs, but I am proud of the guys for fighting until the end. I am thankful for the opportunity I have had at Missouri State and I am excited for where this team is headed."
All four 200 breast competitors for the Bears make up the top four spots on the program's all-time list in the event after Saturday's performances.
MSU senior captain Uvis Kalnins was named the MAC Outstanding Senior award winner prior to the finals Saturday after winning the 200 IM and 400 IM titles the previous two days. The Valmiera, Latvia, native eventually earned a silver medal in the 100 free. Kalnins's runner-up finish was just .22 seconds behind Eastern Michigan's Andrew Henry. He also missed the school record he previously set in 2014 by .09 seconds.
"It has been a pleasure racing as a Missouri State Bear for the past four years," Kalnins said. "I have been a part of a team that won the program's first MAC title (in 2014), as well as send a record number of athletes to NCAA championships, and it is almost safe to say that qualifying for NCAA's has become an ongoing tradition.
"The team has had a lot of ups and downs during my time here, and so have I. Even this meet was rocky for most (of it), but the best way to learn and come out better is by learning from our mistakes. I am proud to be a teammate to a great group of guys and cannot wait to see what the future holds for them."
Three Bears - Will Brand (44.97), Michael Mollak (45.54) and Brenden Bolman (46.14) - set personal-best marks in the 100 free prelims to advance to the B-finals. Brand led the way by taking 12th overall in a time of 45.45, while Mollak and Bolman took 15th and 16th, respectively.
MSU's Kacper Cwiek earned a fourth-place finish in the 200 butterfly with a personal-best and NCAA consideration time of 1:47.11 in the championship finals. Cwiek's mark put him second on MSU's all-time list in the event. Nicholas Theunissen finished with back-to-back career swims in the 200 fly Saturday, taking 11th overall in 1:50.16 and Preston Selby earned a season-best mark of 1:52.36 in prelims.
Bryce Blattner had the top finish for the Bears in the 200 backstroke, as he took 13th overall in a lifetime-best 1:49.57. Kevin Douglas (1:49.04) and William Frisbie (1:49.24) had the top swims of their careers in prelims before placing 14th and 15th in the B-final. Weissman competed in the 200 back prelims and touched the wall in 1:49.42 for his top time of the year.
The Bears closed out the meet with a fourth-place finish in the 400 free relay. MSU's Kalnins, Bolman, Mollak and Brand combined to complete a season-best time of 2:57.65 in the event.
"We knew coming into this meet without divers that we had a major mountain to climb," Bears head coach Dave Collins said. "I am proud of the team's fight until the end. It's been a pleasure to coach these men and watch them grow.
"I am especially grateful for our four seniors and all they have done for this program. I love each one of them very much and am so proud to be their coach."
Seven Bears were named to all-conference teams at the conclusion of the championship. Davila, Kalnins and Osvath were MSU's first-team honorees. Bresette, Cwiek, Heye and Tazans all were selected to the second team.
The 2016 Mid-American Men's Swimming and Diving Championships wrapped up the Bears' men's and women's team schedules for the season. Several MSU men's swimmers that have completed NCAA `B' standard times will wait to see if they have qualified for the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships beginning on Thursday, March 24, in Atlanta, Georgia, on the campus of Georgia Tech. Selections to the NCAA Championships will be released on Wednesday, March 9.
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