CHICAGO - Missouri State swimming & diving opened up its weekend bout of meets in Chicago by sweeping UIC and Evansville in the final dual meet of the season. The Mo State women defeated the Flames 162-78 and took down the Purple Aces, 187-42. The men pulled off an equally impressive 132-107 win over UIC and a 168-69  win over Evansville.

The Bears won 15 of the 26 events, with 10 of them coming from the women's side.

The women continued their streak of strong relay races at the start of meets. Freshman Caitlyn Friebe, senior Cabrini Johnson, junior Payton Smith and senior Jordan Wenner combined their efforts to win the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:52.93.

Missouri State excelled in the endurance races as well, sweeping the podium in the 1,650-yard freestyle led by sophomore Sophia Coleta (16:55.83). Not far behind was freshman Claire Culberson in second (16:55.89). Reigning MVC Freshman of the Week Lindsey Hervey rounded out the top three in third (17:14.57), beating the next-best finisher by over 30 seconds.

Senior Lilly DeSpain continued her strong month following her three wins last weekend against Drury. The Arkansas native took the 400 IM with a time of 4:19.57, just shy of her MVC-leading time of 4:19.13 she earned at the Purdue Invitational in November.

The Bears backed up their performance in the endurance events with some more impressive results in the shorter sprint events. Senior Anika Lam secured her first individual win this season in the 50-yard free with a time of 23.72. Missouri State also swept the podium with freshman Cameryn Johnson in second (23.98) and Wenner in third (24.22). 

Lam led the podium domination with another top-three sweep in the 100-yard butterfly as she won with a time of 55.96. She was followed by senior Marina Ortega Bonilla (57.07) in second and DeSpain (57.26) in third.

"I'm pleasantly surprised and proud of the way I swam today," Lam said. "As a senior, it meant a lot to me to get my first Bear wins at my last college dual meet alongside my teammates. Watching their enthusiasm and belief in me and everyone else is what fuels this team. We had a lot of good swims across the board and I'm excited to see how we can continue our momentum into tomorrow."

In the very next event, senior Anna Lucas led a sweep of the top four positions in the 100-yard freestyle. Lucas won with a 52.59, followed by Cameryn Johnson (52.96), freshman Makenzie Kurre (53.00) and sophomore Lana Johnson (53.34).

Seniors continued to step up for the Bears. Kelly Sego of Batavia, Illinois, not far from Flames Natatorium, won by over a second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.02. 

Another upperclassman junior Payton Smith destroyed the 500-yard freestyle with her season-best 5:04.80. Sophomore Ainsley Jenkins followed her with a 5:09.52 time that was over 10 seconds better than the next finisher.

Cabrini Johnson built off her two breaststroke wins last week against Drury with another victory in the 100 breast against the Flames and Purple Aces (1:05.38).

The Bears ended their meet the same way they started. The quartet of Cameryn Johnson, Lucas, Wenner and Janson won the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:36.31, beating out a UIC group by just over half a second.

The men started the same way as the women with a win in the 400-yard medley relay. Senior Robert Hill, sophomore Luigi Maciel da Silva, freshman Nadim Elgohary and sophomore Lucas Chadwell came in with a time of 3:20.75, nearly three seconds ahead of UIC's A Team entry.

The 200-yard freestyle relay was a different story with freshman Matvei Chesakov, Suzuki-Tomiyama, Hill and Chadwell battling neck-and-neck against UIC. The Flames led by about a second halfway through the race, but the Bears closed the gap in the end to take the win (1:23.18) and sweep all four relay events across the men and women.

Junior Brunno Suzuki-Tomiyama earned his third individual win of the season and first outside the 200 IM with a 46.66 time in the 100-yard freestyle. His win was immediately followed by Hill, who took his seventh individual win of the year with a 49.31 time in the 100-yard backstroke.

In a wild turn of events, a pair of Bears tied for first place in the 100-yard breaststroke. Maciel da Silva and senior Nicholas Schuster touched the wall at the exact same time of 56.49. The result marked Schuster's first career college win.

"I am extremely pleased with my performance in the 100 breaststroke and proud of my teammates' determination to win a hard-fought meet," Schuster said. "I feel that this puts our team in a great position to finish off the season strong heading into championship season."

Missouri State swimming & diving will stay in the Chicago area as it is set to compete in the UIC/NCC Invitational on Saturday at FMC Natatorium in Westmont, Illinois. The meet will begin with the 200-yard medley relay at 10:30 a.m. CT with both UIC and Evansville competing against the Bears again as well as Augustana College, IUPUI, Millikin and North Central College.