Day 2 Recap

SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State Swimming & Diving split its first home dual with the Southern Illinois Salukis with the men's team winning 209.5-140.5 and the women's team losing 214-139 after the two-day meet.

"I was very pleased with how the men performed," head coach Dave Collins said. "Coming off a performance last week we felt could have been a lot better, I felt like the men really competed. They had some really nice swims and good results."

The men built off a strong day one performance to secure the win against fellow Mid-American Conference competitor Southern Illinois with a handful of winning swims on Saturday.

Senior Robert Hill was the class of the field in the 100-yard backstroke where he took his third win this weekend and team-leading fifth of the season with a time of 49.61. Hill's time defeated the next-best finisher, SIU's Jered Moore, by nearly two seconds.

Hill's win started a hot streak for the Bears. Next time up in the 200-yard breaststroke, sophomore Brayden Goeldner matched his win in the event last week against Lindenwood and kept his event record pure with a time of 2:05.01.

Hill said that his win on Friday in the 200-yard IM was the most important one of the weekend for him.

"It was nice being able to race that as my first event," Hill said. "I've never really been super competitive with it in season, but it was nice to have a really good time at the second meet of the season."

A new face to Hammons Student Center Pool continued Missouri State's winning streak. Freshman Nadim Elgohary won the 100-yard butterfly (49.36) for his first collegiate event win.

Junior Reese Hodgins followed up his 100-yard freestyle win on Friday by also being victorious in the 200-yard freestyle on Saturday. Hodgins' 1:39.81 time beats the season best he had when he won the same events last week against Lindenwood.

"It was pretty electric," Hodgins said. "I was kind of always behind the older guys through my freshman and sophomore years. So to be on top now and being the guy that's winning is pretty special."

Senior AJ Huskey concluded the men's swimming portion of the meet with a win in the 400-yard IM (4:08.64), the first time the Bears have swam the event this season. Senior Dylan Moffatt finished not far behind with a 4:09.49 time to come in second.

While the women fell short in the overall team score sheet, they had a string of strong performances to hang their caps on.

"I think we learned a lot," Collins said. "I'm still waiting to see a lot of what we are seeing in practice and in our training sessions come through in the meet results. I did feel like there was passion there and there was competition among our group." 

Freshman Lindsey Hervey continued her streak of wins in both meets she's participated in this year. Hervey opened up the individual swim events with a dominant victory in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:25.87), which is a new team-best time this season after finishing runner-up to fellow freshman Claire Culberson last week. The two switched spots this time around with Culberson taking second (10:34.18).

"We have a big freshman class that came in," Hervey said. "I feel like with all the energy of everyone on the team, it's been really exciting. Just being one of the younger girls being able to show my team that I'm racing and competing hard was probably the coolest moment."

Another Bear that has had consistent success in a specific event has been senior Jordan Wenner. The fifth-year swimmer has won the 50-yard freestyle in back-to-back weeks, doing so in valiant fashion this week with a team-best time of 24.26. Wenner has won three events this season, including the 100-yard freestyle on Friday.

Missouri State had two podium finishers in the women's 100-yard backstroke. Senior Kelly Sego (57.61) and freshman Hadleigh Henslee (58.07) finished second and third respectively, but neither could prevent Southern Illinois' Celia Pulido from putting down a new Hammons Student Center Poll record with a 54.04 time. Pulido surpassed former record holder Shara Stafford, who swam a 54.87 for Missouri against the Bears on November 10, 2011.

Senior Samantha Roemer remains perfect in the 100-yard butterfly as she took the win (55.74) and also improved on her winning time last week by about a half second.

Senior Lily DeSpain got in on the winning action for the first time this season as she took the 400-yard IM (4.28.83) to complete the Missouri State sweep of both IM events. DeSpain defended her MVC gold medal in the event that she won last season.

Before the end of the swimming portion, the women did get the Bears' lone relay win of the day in the 400-yard freestyle. Wenner, senior Anna Lucas, sophomore Lana Janson and Roemer defeated the Salukis' heavy-hitting A team with a time of 3.27.90.

"I had the honor to be a part of the relays," Roemer said. "Not all of them went the way that we wanted to, but I think we really ended the meet with a bang. I think we competed really well."

Missouri State swimming & diving will have a few weekends off before it returns to action as the women's team will welcome the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday, November 4 starting at 11:00 a.m. CT. The Bears' men's team will be competing in an intrasquad meet at the same time.


Day 1 Recap

SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State swimming & diving battled in the first of a two-day dual meet against the Southern Illinois Salukis Friday afternoon with the men jumping out to a huge lead of 115-51, but the women up against a similar deficit going the other way, 109-58.

Senior Robert Hill got the first Bears win at Hammons Student Center Pool this season by taking the win in the men's 200-yard IM (1:53.11). Hill followed up his win later in the day with a first-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke (1:51.28), just as he did against Lindenwood last week. Sophomore Alex Boutin was not too far behind, cleaning up a 1-2 finish for the Bears in the event (1:51.28).

The men started the day very hot with a highlight coming in the 500-yard freestyle. Senior Dylan Moffatt kept his undefeated 500 free streak alive by coming out on top for the second week in a row (4:37.35). The Bears swept the podium with sophomores Aiden Dunn (4:42.25) and Jack Grandy (4:43.45).

The Bears kept rolling in the next men's event as freshman Luigi Maciel da Silva made the most of his first home race with a win in the 100-yard backstroke (56.48) his first individual win as a Bear.

Other big names for Missouri State continued to shine after they had strong performances in last week's opener. Junior Reese Hodgins followed up his 200-yard freestyle win last week with a victory in the 100-yard freestyle by just one-hundredth of a second over Southern Illinois' Alex Cimera. In the next men's event, senior AJ Huskey also remained undefeated in the 200-yard butterfly with his season-best time of 1:52.05.

After close losses in both 200-yard freestyle relays and the women's 400-yard medley relay, the Bears ended the swimming portion of the day by getting a relay win in the men's 400-yard medley. Hill, da Silva, freshman Nadim Elgohary and sophomore Lucas Chadwell earned a clean win over Southern Illinois's A Team by over three seconds.

In diving, sophomore Storm Opdahl increased the men's total lead by dominating the 3-meter dive with a team season-best score of 308.10, beating out the next finisher, Southern Illinois' Oliver Mebs, by double digits.

The women had a standout performance in their 100-yard freestyle by also sweeping the podium. Senior Jordan Wenner led the way with a winning time of 52.07 with sophomore Lana Janson (52.60) and senior Anna Lucas (53.03) rounding out the trio. 

Freshman Maggie Arceneaux, last week's 1-meter and 3-meter dive winner against Lindenwood, was the top scorer for the Bears in the women's 1-meter dive with a third-place finish (216.75).