SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State swimming and diving head coach Dave Collinsannounced the team's schedule for the 2016-2017 season on Wednesday (July 27). The Bears will compete in eight meets on the road and will feature four home meets, including the Missouri State Women's Invitational.
The season begins at the 12th annual Missouri Show-Me Showdown in Columbia on Oct. 7, where the Bears will kick off the men's 51st and the women's 18thseason of swimming and diving.
"I am pleased with how this year's schedule has come together," Collins said. "I feel we have great competition that is spread out well during all parts of the season. I am excited to host the Missouri State Invitational in early October. This will be an exciting meet with seven very good women's teams all coming to Springfield with a limited roster of their nine best athletes."
Following the season opener, the women's squad returns home Saturday, Oct. 8, where it will host the Missouri State Invitational. The women's team is set to entertain Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Rice, Houston and Little Rock at the first-ever meet.
The Bear's annual Alumni and Intrasquad exhibition will serve as the homecoming meet for Missouri State on Saturday, Oct. 15, before both squads compete on the road the following week.
MSU will head to the University of Kansas Oct. 21-22, where the Bears will take on the Jayhawks and the University of North Dakota. Saturday, Oct. 19, Missouri State will then go head-to-head at Hammons Student Center against crosstown rival Drury University to conclude the busy opening month.
Beginning in November, the Bears will hit the road for four consecutive meets, starting at the University of Iowa. On Nov. 4, where the Bears will race against the Hawkeyes and the Boilermakers of Purdue University.
Continuing their time on the road, the Bears will head to IUPUI, where the Jaguars will host the House of Champions Invitational Nov. 18-20. There the Bears will race against Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois, Green Bay, Evansville, Indianapolis, Lewis, Bellarmine, Butler, Wabash College, Birmingham Southern, Centre College and the University of Indianapolis.
Missouri State wraps up its four-meet road stretch against Missouri Valley Conference opponents Evansville on Dec. 2, and Southern Illinois Dec. 3, to finish out the 2016 year.
"I like to provide our athletes with experience competing on the road," Collins said. "I feel it gives them the opportunity to get comfortable in other environments and encounter challenges. Having these experiences better prepares them for our championship meets which will be on the road as well."
"Our goal during the season will be to see constant improvement as we move through the schedule," Collins said. "At certain meets that might mean fast times. In others it will be to execute good race strategy and working on skills and techniques that will be the focus of the current training cycle. No matter what part of the season or who the competition is, I am always looking to see our athletes compete tough."
In their first meet of 2017, the Bears compete at home for senior day against the Bulldogs of Truman State University, on Saturday, Jan. 14. Senior members of the MSU men's and women's teams will be honored at Hammons Student Center during the final home meet.
Thursday, Jan. 19, Missouri State will travel across town to feature a second matchup against Drury. Following the meet with their crosstown rival, the Bears hit the road once again to face off against the University of Missouri. Mizzou's men's team was ranked No. 13 in the final CSCAA rankings while its women's team was ranked No. 21. The meet in Columbia takes place on Saturday, Jan. 21 and will be the women's team regular season finale.
The MSU men's team will wrap up its regular season Jan. 27-28, at the Shamrock Invitational in South Bend, Ind. The Bears will race against event host Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Grand Canyon. Both Wisconsin and Ohio State ranked in the top 20 teams in the final CSCAA rankings. Collins added that he is particularly looking forward to the Shamrock Invitational because it will help prepare the men's squad before the Mid-American Conference Championships.
"This year's schedule is a strong one," Collins said. "When putting together a meet schedule, our main focus is to get in front of good competition, and on dates that best match our training cycles for the season. Both the Women and the Men will be challenged this year many times before we reach the conference championships."
The women's swimming and diving team will compete at the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Championships in Iowa City, Iowa, Feb. 15-18, which will be hosted by Northern Iowa. The men's swimming and diving team will compete at the 2017 Mid-American Conference Championships in Carbondale, Ill., where Southern Illinois will host the event Mar. 1-4.
"Since the day I got here it has always been a goal to compete for a conference championship every year," Collins said. "This year is no different for us. Our coaches and athletes are very hungry for success and look forward to starting the season. We will also look to continue our presence at the Men's NCAA Championships as well as breakthrough and get to the Women's NCAA meet as well."
The men's and women's NCAA Championships will be held in Indianapolis, Ind. The Women's Championships are set to take place March 15-18 and the Men's Championships will be held March 22-25.
For more information on the Missouri State swimming and diving team, go online to www.missouristatebears.com or on Twitter (@MoStateSwim).
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