CARBONDALE, Ill. - Missouri State men's swimming & diving followed up an excellent start to the season on Friday by holding on to win its first meet of the season on the road against Southern Illinois, 200-151. The women's team showed improvement after Day 1, but ultimately fell to the Salukis, 246-107, Saturday morning at Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium.

The men matched their six wins Friday with another six on Saturday led by senior Brunno Suzuki-Tomiyama, who took home victories in the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:45.34) to start the day and in the 400-yard individual medley (4:02.42) in the final individual event of the meet. Suzuki-Tomiyama won the 1,000 free by nearly three seconds and the 400 IM by over four seconds.

Bears freshman Gonzalo Ruiz also secured victories on both days following his 200-yard backstroke and 400-yard medley relay wins on Friday. Ruiz swept the backstroke events with a winning time of 50.33 in the 100-yard backstroke, once again edging out SIU's Will Huggins (50.46) at the finish. 

The dominance in certain swims was also seen in the breaststroke. Junior Luigi Maciel da Silva followed his 100-yard breaststroke win Friday with a resounding win in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:02.52) on Saturday.

Another Bears newcomer secured his first win in Maroon. Delaware transfer Simeon Sabev won the 100-yard butterfly (50.17), beating out the Saluki pair of Nicolas Barrio Lanuza and Benedek Andor who tied for second (50.53).

Senior Reese Hodgins picked up his first win of the season with a clean swim in the 200-yard freestyle (1:38.92). Hodgins touched the wall nearly four seconds before the next best finisher, SIU's Alex Cimera, finished with a 1:42.92.

"Going into the first meet of the season can always be nerve-racking; no one is sure how they are going to swim," Hodgins said. "As a senior, I felt even more pressure. Despite all that, the boys still swam out of their minds, and winning the 200 free gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season."

The women's team picked up three wins on the second day of competition in Carbondale. Sophomore Lindsey Hervey won the first individual event of the day with a time of 10:30.64 in the 1,000-yard freestyle, the longest event of the meet. The win was Hervey's first of the year and fifth of her career. She won the same event against SIU at Hammons Student Center Pool last season.

Another MSU sophomore, Makenzie Kurre, won her first career event as a Bear in the 50-yard freestyle (24.30). The Savannah, Missouri native held off SIU's Elli Oploh by just over a tenth of a second (24.42). Kurre's time was less than a second off her collegiate best in the event she set at the MVC Championships last season. 

Lastly, fifth-year swimmer Samantha Roemer got her first win of her final campaign in the 100-yard butterfly (55.31). Roemer won the event by over two seconds over SIU's Jasmine Rau. Roemer got three of her five individual events last season in the 100 fly.

"Racing is always fun and it was great to get out there for the first meet against a tough opponent," Roemer said. "Looking forward to more hard work in the pool and what's to come."

Missouri State women's swimming and diving will stay on the road for a one-day meet against Arkansas in Fayetteville on Thursday, Oct. 17 starting at 3:00 p.m. Both the men's and women's teams will host Drury for Missouri State's home opener at Hammons Student Center Pool on Friday, Oct. 25 starting at 5:00 p.m.