Missouri State tied a pool record and won all but three events in a collegiate men’s and women’s swimming and diving dual against Truman State on Saturday, Jan. 17, at Hammons Student Center.
The Bears held their final home meet for their senior class of 2014-15 and gave them a solid final memory of HSC competitive action, sweeping the Bulldogs by a 108-91 tally for the women, and a 134-65 victory for the men.
“It was definitely surreal, it’s been a great four years,” senior Allyssa Powers said of her final home dual. “I’ll definitely miss the team atmosphere, just knowing everyone is there for you.”
Both the men’s and women’s squads jumped off the starting blocks quick. The Bears’ women’s 200 medley relay squads went first and third, with Megan Holthoff, Lauren Pavel, Ibby Simcox and Kate Gately leading the charge. The men followed by going 1-2-3 in the event, with the relay squad of Paul Le, Isaac Springer, Vitalii Baryshok and Uvis Kalnins tying a pool record and setting a season-best time by finishing in 1:30.30.
Freshmen Emma Metz and Kacper Cwiek earned their first collegiate victories, with Metz winning the 1000 free in a season-best time of 10:31.50, while Cwiek took the 200 IM in a time of 1:54.09.
Both Canaan Campbell and Caleb Schuermann swam season-best times, with Campbell finishing first in the 1000 free (9:54.18) and Schuermann taking top honors in the 100 free (46.94). Kalnins and Baryshok also put up season-best races in the 500 free, finishing in 21.02 and 21.55, respectively.
The Bears owned several events on Senior Day, none better than the 100 fly.
On the women’s side, Rebecca Amparano led an MSU string of top-five finishers which included Dora Kiss, Briana Horozewski, Emma Wall and Pavel. A similar result occurred for the men, with Le winning the event in 49.60, followed by Baryshok, Isaac McKnight and Miguel Davila.
“There was a bunch of fast swimming, I didn’t think it was going to be that fast,” senior Paul Le said. “The seniors did really well and went out with a bang. Last home meet, we put it all out in the pool and I thought we did well.”
The Bears had several races where MSU had the top finishers in order. For the men, Davila, Will Brand and Max Pratt went 1-2-3 in the 200 free, while in the 100 back the Bears went 1-2-3-4 led by Kalnins, Matthew Wilson, Will Frisbie and Ethan Bresette. MSU also had a 1-2-3 placing in the 100 breast by Le, Springer and Aaron Dennis, and in the 500 free by Brandon Weissman, Christopher Heye and Will Brand. For the women, Gately, Holthoff and Lauren Williams finished 1-2-4 in the 50 free. MSU had the top three finishes in the 500 free (Sydney Zupan, Suzanne Van Rensburg, Carly Wright), the top four finishes in the 1000 free (Kate Gately, Ibby Simcox, Shawna Elsey, Emma Metz), while Quincy Howell, Hanna Flanagan and Shannon Myer all earned top-five performances in their respective events.
The MSU men’s divers competed in the 3-meter dive, while the women competed in the 1-meter dive only. Garrett Nevels led the men (378.52), followed by Elijah Swaim (277.95) and Brody Arvesen (241.35). Nina Privitera led the women (224.75), followed by Hannah Swyers (218.00), Alexis Skiniotes (209.02) and Melissa Maynard (201.00).
In her final individual event at HSC, Powers won the 100 breast by besting three Truman State swimmers in a time of 1:08.62.
“It hasn’t hit me yet since we have a month left, but it’ll definitely hit at conference,” Powers said of swimming for the Bears. “Hopefully we can get our eighth (consecutive) win at conference and hopefully I can improve my times as we keep going.”
“We’re really challenging our athletes right now,” head coach Dave Collins said. “We’re coming out of the hardest training cycle – probably just wrapped it up this weekend. Even though we’re back in classes, we tried to keep the intensity and the level of volume we were putting in over christmas training going. We’ve asked a lot out of them and now it’s time to race a little bit and race tired, but knowing that conference meets are coming. This was a very valuable time. I was pretty happy with our swims today but we will be a lot better Thursday.”
The Missouri State Bears head to Drury University next for a dual at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22, at Breech Pool. The Duel in the Pool will be televised on Mediacom.
“It’s details and it’s consistency,” Collins said of what MSU needs to still focus on. “This is the end of a long season. It’s hard and it’s been a long year and their bodies are tired. You can’t let these last couple of weeks go before we really start resting for the championships.”
