Final Results

SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State celebrated its senior class in front of a packed house at Hammons Student Center Pool Saturday by splitting with crosstown rival Drury in the home finale. The MSU women avenged Friday's setback with an 86-81 victory over the Division II fourth-ranked Panthers, while the Bears suffered a close 86.5-77.5 loss to top-ranked Panthers on the men's side.
 
"It was great to get the opportunity to recognize our seniors before the meet," said Missouri State head coach Dave Collins. "This group has been fantastic in and out of the pool and meant a lot to our program. I am very proud of each of them."
 
The Missouri State women bookended the meet with relay victories and earned podium sweeps in both the 1000- and 100-yard freestyle events, finishing the swimming portion of the event tied with the Panthers.
 
"We were disappointed with how we competed last night over at Drury, so it was great to see the ladies grab the first relay and then sweep the 1000 to get the crowd going," Collins added. "The DJ and a capacity crowd really helped bring the energy all day."
 
That left the 1-meter diving competition to decide the outcome, and freshman Delaney Nickles edged Drury for the top spot by a score of 264.75-264.53 to secure the Bears' win.
 
Hadleigh Henslee, Lana Janson, Lillie Freulon and Makenzie Kurre got the meet off to a good start by claiming the 200-yard medley relay title in a time of 1:42.03.
 
Kurre was also part of the 400-yard freestyle relay team alongside Ainsley Jenkins, Paige Corbin and Cameryn Johnson that capped the swimming portion with a winning time of 3:24.51.
 
"We knew we had to win the last relay and then win the 1-meter diving event to win the meet, so seeing Kenzie get to the wall first then Delaney nail some big dives was huge for us," Collins continued.
 
Evie Kolb (1^st – 10:16.90), Lindsey Hervey (2^nd – 10:28.83) and Sophia Coleta (3^rd – 10:38.32) took the top three spots in the 1000 free, while Kurre (49.98), Jenkins (51.37) and Janson (51.56) went 1-2-3 in the 100 free.
 
On the men's side, it was another strong start with Zach Mendez (1^st – 9:17.36) and Ilias El Fallaki (2^nd – 9:18.72) finishing 1-2 in the 1000 free.
 
The Bears earned a podium sweep in the 200-yard butterfly, led by Anderson Brown's winning time of 1:48.38. Kayden Hedrick followed in 1:49.44 and Chris Bedsole snagged bronze in 1:49.57.
 
"Our 200-fly group takes a lot of pride in toughness and racing, so we had to have a sweep there to stay in the meet and they delivered," Collins concluded.
 
On the diving board, seniors Logan Schelfaut (1^st – 358.58) and Storm Opdahl (2^nd – 330.68) grabbed the top two spots in the 3-meter competition.
 
Up next for the Bears is a two-day dual at UIC on Jan. 30-31 in Chicago in the final meet before the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on Feb. 25-28 in Evansville, Ind.