By Tori Kohl
Missouri State captured the 2014 Mid-American Conference Men's Swimming & Diving Championship Saturday night at the University at Buffalo. The title marks the Bears first MAC Championship in program history.
Missouri State compiled 833 total points throughout the three-day event. Eastern Michigan finished second after collecting 682 points and Buffalo was third with 657 points. Miami (527), Southern Illinois (383), Ball State (160), & Evansville (153) rounded out the event.
Buffalo's Dan O'Connor started off the evening by claiming the 1650 yard Free title in a pool record time of 15:04.66. Missouri State's Miguel Davila placed second in the event with a time of 15:07.93, while Davila's teammate Cal Schuermann placed third in a time of 15:21.97.
Missouri State's Uvis Kalnins took home the 100 yard Free title in a pool record time of 43.61. the title.
Missouri State's Paul Le Jr. claimed the 200 yard Back Championship title in a time of 1:42.75, while EMU's Mike Fisher won the 200 yard Breast in a MAC Championship record time of 1:56.82.
EMU's Krzyszt Gilski won the 200 yard Fly title in a pool record time of 1:46.01. Missouri State's Matthew Wilson finished second (1:47.79), while Southern Illinois Till Pallmann placed third with a time of 1:48.12 .
The 3-meter diving title was won by EMU’s Alexander Chan with a pool record total of 409.80 points. SIU’s Kegan Skelton took second place (354.80), while Missouri State’s Garrett Nevels finished in third (327.75).
Missouri State won the final race of the evening claiming the 400 Free Relay. The team of Paul Le Jr., Vitalii Baryshok, Caleb Schuermann, and Uvis Kalnins won with a pool time of 2:56.97. EMU finished in second (2:57.54), and Miami took home third (2:58.82).
Missouri State's Uvis Kalnins was named Most Outstanding Swimmer, while his teammate, Garrett Nevels, was named Most Outstanding Diver of the Championships. Missouri State head coach Dave Collins collected Swimming Coach of the Year honors, while Eastern Michigan's Buck Smith was named Diving Coach of the Year.
The complete 2014 All-MAC Teams and Specialty Awards are listed below:
Most Outstanding Swimmer: Uvis Kalnins, Missouri State
Swimming Coach of the Year: Dave Collins, Missouri State
Most Outstanding Diver: Garrett Nevels, Missouri State
Diving Coach of the Year: Buck Smith, Eastern Michigan
All-MAC First Team
Uvis Kalnins, Missouri State
Paul Le, Missouri State
Mike Dugan, Buffalo
Till Pallmann, SIU
Dan O’Connor, Buffalo
Miguel Davila, Missouri State
Caleb Schuermann, Missouri State
Brian Moore, EMU
Andrew Henry, EMU
Mike Fisher, EMU
Vitalii Baryshok, Missouri State
Cole Bateman, EMU
Krzysztof Gilski, EMU
Garrett Nevels, Missouri State
Alexander Chan, EMU
All-MAC Second Team
Scott Huang, Buffalo
Matt Wilson, Missouri State
Dusan Vukobrat, SIU
Davis Staley, Miami
Calvin Kolar, SIU
Eric Culver, Buffalo
Erik Gissen, EMU
Joe Baumgartner, Miami
Billy Patrum, Buffalo
Aaron Dennis, Missouri State
Isaac Springer, Missouri State
Jack Snow, Missouri State
Jake Prodoehl, Miami
Lucas Brock, Miami
Charles Barry, Buffalo
Yuri Garanito, Missouri State
Kegan Skelton, SIU
Evan Bader, Miami
