Facing strong competition at the Butler Invite, the Saluki swimming and diving team put together a string of performances that saw the men’s team finish first overall, and the women coming in second place on Sunday. The men finished with a final score of 571.166, while the women scored 601 points.
Kegan Skelton led the Saluki diving team, winning the one and three-meter dive. Skelton won the one-meter dive after scoring 353.35 points to best the competition. In the three-meter dive, Skelton finished the day with a final tally of 347.65 to sweep the field.
Till Pallmann continued his tremendous year, picking up individual wins in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle. Along with the wins in the two events, Pallmann also helped SIU earn wins in the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle.
Michael Wolfe gave the Salukis a boost in the 1650-yard freestyle, winning the event in a time of 15:43.57. His winning time was more than 30 seconds faster than the second place finisher.
In the 100-yard butterfly, Lucas Aquino earned the Salukis full points, besting his competition with a time of 49.53.
Kaixuan ‘Sherry’ Zhang made sure that she remained undefeated, as she put in another pair of spectacular performances in the one and three-meter dive. In the one-meter dive, Zhang finished with a final score of 407.65, which was almost 80 points higher than second place. Zhang took the three-meter dive after she finished with a total of 354.60 points.
Bryn Handley followed up her conference award winning week with another pair of strong swims. Handley won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:52.50. The freshman also picked up a win in the 500-yard freestyle.
Another freshman, Kelsie Walker was just as strong for SIU. Walker came away with wins in the 1650-yard freestyle (17:12.13) and the 200-yard butterfly (2:06.79).
Holly Johnson gave the Salukis a win in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing the race in 1:07.00. Johnson, along with Walker, Handley, and Avery McKenna took first in the 400-yard freestyle.
The Salukis will now turn their attention to the University of Evansville, when the Purple Aces come to Carbondale on Feb. 7.
