Results

SPRINGFIELD – A lively Bears' crowd packed crosstown rival Drury's Breech Pool as the Missouri State swimming and diving team returned to the pool to face the Panthers for a second time this season.

"Our team thrives off of the energy and support from our fans," said Head Coach Dave Collins. "It honestly felt like we were at a home meet."

The Bears split the results, with the men winning handily, 169-65, while the women's side fell just shy 136-105.

Jacob Schultz, Blair Bish, Artur Osvath, and Samuel Senn recorded the first team victory for the Bears, taking the 200-medley relay. Schultz and Senn would later contribute to the 200-freestyle relay win, each swimming a leg alongside teammates Lucas Paloschi and Thomas Heye.

In the individual races, Missouri State had 14 top finishers, 11 men and three women, that all notched key points for the Bears.

The men's side started off strong with the 1-2-3 finish in the 1000 freestyle. Pawel Krawczyk clocked in at 9:18.22, while Antonio Thomas and Minki Kang followed with times of 9:23.76 and 9:28.42, respectively. All three would later place in the top three for the 500 freestyle, with Krawczyk again taking the top spot at 4:31.47. Kang would come in second while Thomas nabbed third.

Artur Osvath continued his win streak, claiming first-place in the 200 IM and 100 fly, respectively. His time of 1:49.25 in the 200 IM was nearly three seconds better than the runner-up, while he bested competition in the 100 fly by less than a second, winning at the 47.81 second mark.

Seniors Paloschi and Bish each earned a win on the evening, with Paloschi clocking in at 20.87 in the 50 freestyle and Bish closing out the individual races with a victory in the 100 breaststroke.

"It was tough coming back from training, but overall the team did well and I'm proud of them," said Paloschi. "I loved the atmosphere and crowd tonight."

Libby Howell impressed on the women's side, narrowly taking the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.90. Howell ranked amongst the top in the long-distance races, finishing second in the 1000 freestyle and fourth in the 500 freestyle.

"This meet is always really exciting for us because a lot of fans get the come watch," said Howell. "I am looking forward to continuing to race my best in the upcoming meets."

Loretta Stelnicki earned a pair of second-place finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyle, respectively.

Missouri State excelled on the 3-meter and 1-meter diving boards, with four different divers earning a win on the night. On the 3-meter Dayana Popa and John David Spence would beat out their fellow teammates to claim the top spots. Popa logged a score of 247.35, while Spence edged out Claunch, amassing 294.15 points.

"I am very happy with how I did tonight," said Spence. "I feel the diving team is on the right track to score as many points for the team as possible moving forward."

Ashley Yarbrough and Michael Claunch emerged victorious in the 1-meter with scores of 251.92 and 264.52, respectively.

"The theme of tonight was promoting a strong team atmosphere," said Collins. "Support of each other is the most important thing at this point."

The Bears will return to the pool on Saturday, Jan. 19 to face Missouri in Columbia, Mo. beginning at 2 p.m.