Results
 
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Two golden finishes and a new school record launched the Missouri State men's swimming and diving team into the lead on day two of the Mid-American Conference Championships, Thursday evening at Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium.
 
Through seven events, Missouri State leads the pack with a total of 248 points, followed closely by Buffalo (237.5). Eastern Michigan sits in third place with 230 points while Miami jumped up to fourth place (217.5). Host Southern Illinois ranks fifth (178), followed by Ball State (76) and Evansville (75).
 
Numerous Bears broke season and personal bests in the prelims session as Missouri State sent two swimmers to the 500-yard freestyle finals and five swimmers to compete for a crown in the 200 individual medley. Six Bears made the "B" finals – Michael Mollak and Ethan Bresette in the 500 free, Thomas Heye in the 200 IM and Uldis Tazans, Samuel Senn and Jacob Schultz in the 50 freestyle.
 
Missouri State kicked off the finals session with two, record-breaking performances from distance swimmers Antonio Thomas and Minki Kang. Winning the first gold medal of his collegiate career, Thomas shattered the school and pool record after touching the wall in an astounding time of 4:19.97. Achieving NCAA "B" standards, the freshman cut nearly two seconds off the current record, being the first Bear in school history to record a time under 4:20.00.
 
"It is amazing to be a part of such a great team," Thomas said. "We had a good session tonight and we have to keep it up if we want to be in position to win a championship."
 
Kang followed Thomas in the 500 free, meeting "B" standards and setting his second personal record of the day after swimming a time of 4:23.28.
 
The following event, the Bears dominated the 200 IM, taking the top two spots on the podium while also earning fifth, sixth and eighth-place finishes. Sophomore Artur Osvath led the way for the Bears, touching the wall first in a time of 1:46.24 – a NCAA "B" cut time. Junior Kacper Cwiek followed Osvath, setting a lifetime best with his second-place time of 1:46.71. Achieving "B" standards, Cwiek was one of four Bears to pick up NCAA considerations as Phillip Willett (1:47.69) and Christopher Heye (1:48.27) recorded "B" cuts as well.
 
"I think we had a really good day today," Osvath said. "My goal was to win this race. I didn't really care about meeting a certain time, I just wanted to win. I'm really happy with my performance and I think that the team did a great job coming together to swim some really nice races."
 
Rounding out the evening, the Missouri State 200 freestyle relay picked up a third-place finish as Mollak, Senn, Schultz and Will Brand combined for a season-best time of 1:21.20. Senn, Schultz and Brand all recorded personal best times in their respective 50yd splits, as each Bear recorded a time of 20.79 seconds or lower in the relay.
 
MAC Championship Standings
1. Missouri State – 248
2. Buffalo – 237.5
3. Eastern Michigan – 230
4. Miami (Ohio) – 217.50
5. Southern Illinois - 178
6. Ball State – 76
7. Evansville – 75
 
Final Details
The Bears continue competition tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. where MSU will compete in the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back prelims. The top eight finishers of each event will then compete for the conference title at 7 p.m. For more information on the Missouri State men's swimming and diving team, visit www.missouristatebears.com or Twitter.