SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – In its 51^st season of competition, the Missouri State men's swimming and diving team looks to capture its 20^th conference title at the Mid-American Conference Championship, held at the campus of Southern Illinois in Carbondale, Ill., on Mar. 1-4.
 
Selected to finish third in the MAC, the Bears will go up against six other schools – Ball State, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Evansville, Miami and host Southern Illinois – at Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium. The conference championship takes place over the course of four days, beginning Wednesday, Mar. 1 with two relays. Thursday and Friday (Mar. 2-3), preliminary races are slated for 11 a.m. while the finals begin at approximately 7 p.m. The final day of the championship begins with preliminaries at 11 a.m. Saturday morning and the finals taking place at 7 p.m.
 
Live updates will be available on Meet Mobile throughout the duration of the four-day meet.
 

Mid-American Conference Championships
Dates	Wed., Mar. 1 - Sat., Mar. 4
Location	Carbondale, Ill.
Sites	Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium
Wednesday, Mar. 1	FINALS @ 7 p.m. - 200 Medley Relay, 800 Free Relay
Thursday, Mar. 2	PRELIMS @ 11 a.m. - 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 1 Meter Diving Prelims, 1 Meter Diving (9-16) FINALS @ 7 p.m. - 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 1 Meter Diving (1-8), 200 Free Relay
Friday, Mar. 3	PRELIMS @ 11 a.m. - 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, 3 Meter Diving Prelims FINALS @ 7 p.m. - 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, 3 Meter Diving (9-16), 400 Medley Relay
Saturday, Mar. 4	PRELIMS @ 11 a.m. - 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly FINALS @ 7 p.m. - 1650 Free, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 3 Meter Diving (1-8), 400 Free Relay
Missouri State	Swimming & Diving Home Page
Follow	Twitter (@MoStateSwim)

 
Last Season's MAC Championship
After two, second-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay and 800 freestyle relay, the Bears finished day one of the championships in third place – two points behind second-place Buffalo. Both relays set new school records and set Missouri State in good standings heading into day two.
 
On day two, 13 of 15 swimmers either achieved personal bests or season bests. Five swimmers – Uvis Kalnins, Miguel Davila, Artur Osvath, Kacper Cwiek, Ethan Bresette and Minki Kang – reached the podium, as Kalnins earned his third consecutive title in the 200 individual medley.
 
The Bears worked their way up to second place following day three's competition, raking in NCAA consideration times from eight swimmers. On the fourth day of competition, two Missouri State swimmers – Davila and Osvath – earned individual titles while the Bears finished third in the league with a total of 634 points.
 
MAC Top Times
Currently, Missouri State holds the top spot in nine events in the MAC. The Bears boast 24 top-three and 52 top-10 times. Twelve Bears hold top-five times in the MAC heading into the conference championship.
 
Bryce Blattner
500 free, 10^th, 4:35.58 | 200 back, 6^th, 1:49.57 | 400 IM, 6^th, 3:56.53
Will Brand
100 free, 2^nd, 44.96 | 200 free, 2^nd, 1:37.93
Brenden Bolman
50 free, 8^th, 20.85 | 100 free, 9^th, 45.56 | 200 free, 7^th, 1:39.72
Ethan Bresette
500 free, 5^th, 4:31.74 | 200 fly, 7^th, 1:50.88 | 400 IM, 3:57.86
Kasper Cwiek
200 free, 3^rd, 1:38.25 | 200 fly, 3^rd, 1:49.07 | 200 IM, 4^th, 1:49.12
Christopher Heye
200 breast, 2^nd, 1:58.33 | 200 IM, 6^th, 1:49.91 | 400 IM, 3^rd, 3:51.62
Thomas Heye
100 back, 4^th, 49.57 | 200 back, 10^th, 1:50.21
Minki Kang
500 free, 2^nd, 4:27.11 | 1000 free, 2^nd, 9:14.52 | 1650 free, 2^nd, 15:12.17
Michael Mollak
50 free, 5^th, 20.71 | 100 free, 3^rd, 44.97 | 200 free, 1^st, 1:37.63 | 500 free, 3^rd, 4:28.05
Artur Osvath
100 breast, 1^st, 53.31 | 200 breast, 1^st, 1:54.17 | 100 fly, 2^nd, 48.14 | 200 fly, 1^st, 1:47.04 | 200 IM, 2^nd, 1:48.84
Conner Ripp
100 Back, 5^th, 49.65 | 200 back, 3^rd, 1:49.05 | 200 fly, 8^th, 1:50.90
Jacob Schultz
100 fly, 6^th, 49.37
Preston Selby
100 fly, 7^th, 49.38
Samuel Senn
50 free, 2^nd, 20.35 | 100 free, 7^th, 45.23
Uldis Tazans
100 breast, 7^th, 55.15
Nicholas Theunissen
100 breast, 5^th, 54.88 | 200 breast, 4^th, 1:58.84 | 200 IM, 6^th, 1:50.96
Antonio Thomas
200 free, 8^th, 1:39.74 | 500 free, 1^st, 4:22.87 | 1000 free, 1^st, 9:05.39 | 1650 free, 1^st, 15:04.50
Brandon Weissman
1000 free, 8^th, 9:37.38 | 1650 free, 7^th, 15:55.91 | 400 IM, 8^th, 3:58.62
Phillip Willett
100 breast, 4^th, 54.87 | 200 breast, 5^th, 1:58.94 | 200 IM, 1^st, 1:47.40 | 400 IM, 1^st, 3:50.54
 
NCAA Top Times
On the national level, five Bears combine for eight top-100 times. Missouri State's distance swimmers, Antonio Thomas and Minki Kang, rank no lower than 68^th in both the 1000 and 1650 free. Thomas, a freshman, ranks 26^th in the 1000 free and 37^th in the 1650 free while Kang, a sophomore, sits 60^th in the 1650 free and 68^th in the 1000 free. Osvath holds the No. 17 spot in the 200 breast and sits at No. 52 in the 100 breast. Newcomer Phillip Willett ranks 79^th in the 400 IM while veteran Christopher Heye sits at No. 98 in the 400 IM.
 
Final Details
Hosted by Southern Illinois, action at the 2017 MAC Championship begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Mar. 1 at Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium in Carbondale, Ill. Live updates will be available via Meet Mobile and Twitter (@MoStateSwim). For more information on the Missouri State swimming and diving team, visit www.missouristatebears.com or Twitter.