Eastern Michigan captured the 2015 Mid-American Conference Men's Swimming & Diving Championship Saturday night at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
"It was a great four days," said Eastern Michigan Head Coach Peter Linn. "We didn't have a lot of stars but everybody contributed and everybody stepped up. We hung tough all day."
The Eagles compiled 777.5 total points throughout the four-day event. Missouri State finished second after collecting 757.5 points and Buffalo was third with 517 points. Southern Illinois (515), Miami (507), Evansville (146), and Ball State(127) rounded out the event.
"Winning this Championship was really great because we have actually had a really hard year and it was a great way to finish it off," Linn added.
Missouri State's Miguel Davila started off the evening by reclaiming his 2013 title in the 1650 Freestyle in a pool record time of 15:06.54. Eastern Michigan's Kyle Lichtenberg placed second in the event with a time of 15:19.78, Southern Illinois' Michael Wolfe placed third in a time of 15:24.74.
Miami's Joe Baumgartner took home the 100 Freestyle title in a time of 43.73.
Missouri State's Paul Le claimed the 200 Backstroke Championship title for the second year in a row with a time of 1:41.69. Southern Illinois' Lucas Aquino won the 200 Butterfly in a MAC Championship and pool record time of 1:45.78.
Eastern Michigan's Mike fisher claimed his third straight 200 Breaststroke title in a time of 1:54.97. Eastern Michigan has won this event nine straight years.
The 3-meter diving title was won by Eastern Michigan's Alexander Chan with a total of 409.95 points. Southern Illinois Kegan Skelton took second place (407.65), while Eastern Michigan's Daniel Gironza placed third (396.35).
Missouri State won the final race of the evening for the second year in a row as the relay team of Paul Le, Isaac McKnight, Vitalii Baryshok, and Uvis Kalnins claimed the 400 Free Relay in a time of 2:56.50. Southern Illinois finished in second (2:56.97) with Miami taking home third (2:57.56).
The complete 2015 All-MAC Teams and Specialty Awards are listed below:
Most Outstanding Swimmer: Till Pallmann, Southern Illinois
Swimming Coach of the Year: Rick Walker, Southern Illinois
Most Outstanding Diver: Kegan Skelton, Southern Illinois
Diving Coach of the Year: Buck Smith, Eastern Michigan
Most Outstanding Senior: Paul Le, Missouri State
All-MAC First Team
Till Pallmann, SIU
Uvis Kalnins, MSU
Joe Baumgartner, Miami
Isaac Springer, MSU
Paul Le, MSU
Miguel Davila, MSU
Mike Fisher, EMU
Lucas Aquino, SIU
Kegan Skelton, SIU
Alexander Chan, EMU
Brian Moore, EMU
Andrew Henry, EMU
Kacper Cwiek, MSU
Logan Burton, EMU
All-MAC Second Team
Scott Huang, Buffalo
Michael Wolfe, SIU
Cole Bateman, EMU
Kyle Lichtenberg, EMU
Ethan Bresette, MSU
Oliver Patrouch, Buffalo
Antonio, Lanzi, Buffalo
Matt Wilson, MSU
Davis Staley, Miami
Joe Morris, BSU
Brandon Weissman, MSU
Andre Luiz Brilhante, SIU
Vitalii Baryshok, MSU
Erik Gissen, EMU
Marcin Rzyski, EMU
Garrett Nevels, MSU
Miami (OH)
Miami University men’s swimming and diving team closed out the fourth and final day of the Mid-American Conference Championships in fifth place with a final score of 507 points.
The competition ended with new school records set in multiple events along with NCAA B qualifying times turned in by Miami.
Senior Joe Baumgartner was named MAC Champion in the 100-yard freestyle after he turned in a NCAA B qualifying time of 43.72 as well as breaking his own school record. Baumgartner claimed the title after he edged out the competition by one-thousandth of a second. The senior RedHawk also earned All-MAC first-team honors.
The podium was filled with red again after three Miami swimmers competed in the finals for the 200-yard backstroke. Junior Davis Staley garnered third place with his time of 1:47.06. Junior Jacob Prodoehl followed in fifth, clocking a time of 1:48.70 followed by junior Sean Neri in eighth. Staley also came out of the meet earning All-MAC second team honors.
Miami was represented in the championship heat of 200-yard breaststroke by junior Evan Bader. Bader also made the NCAA B cut with his time of 1:59.29, placing sixth. In the 1650-yard freestyle, sophomore Bryan McNamara finished ninth, touching the wall at 15:46.99.
In other action, junior Michael Nash took sixth place in the championship round of the three-meter diving competition, earning a final score of 316.25 points.
The RedHawks took the bronze in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Through the efforts of Baumgartner, sophomore Lucas Brock, senior Andrew Kilkenny, and sophomore Jack Strauss, Miami swam to a school record-breaking time of 2:47.56.
Eastern Michigan claimed the championship title with their final score of 777.5 points, followed by last season’s champions, Missouri State with 757.5 points. Third place belonged to the University at Buffalo with 517 points and Southern Illinois finished fourth with 515 points. Miami ended the competition with 507 points in fifth place. Sixth and seventh were filled by Evansville with 146 points and Ball State with 127 points.
Looking forward, Miami has the NCAA Championships in Iowa City, Iowa March 26-28.
Missouri State
The Missouri State men’s swimming and diving team earned three victories on the final day of competition, but the Bears finished runner-up at the 2015 Mid-American Conference Championship at the SPIRE Institute on Saturday, March 7.
Eastern Michigan trailed heading into Saturday’s races, but the Eagles were able to pass the Bears on the leaderboard with a final 775.50 points to claim the conference crown. MSU ended the championships with a first-place finish in the 400 free relay – behind the group of Paul Le, Isaac McKnight, Vitalii Baryshok and Uvis Kalnins – but the Bears fell just short of EMU with 757.50 team points.
“Going into tonight, we knew we had to be perfect all the way through,” Missouri State head coach Dave Collins said. “We just didn’t quite have enough depth on the last day’s events. That’s what it came down to. The guys we had swimming tonight did a good job. They really fought hard until the end, even knowing that mathematically it was probably going to be a very tall order to win the meet.”
EMU and MSU outpaced the rest of the pack as Buffalo finished third with 517 points, followed by Southern Illinois (515), Miami (507), Evansville (146) and Ball State (127).
The runner-up finish was the second for the Bears in the previous three years, after winning the title last season and ending up second at the 2013 championships behind the Eagles.
“Of course we are competitive and we want to win badly, but the fact that we came up short this week does not take away from what this group of men has done,” Collins said. “I am so proud of each one of them for their daily commitment to the school, the staff and most importantly to each other. It has been an absolute pleasure to coach this group of seniors.”
The Bears earned two conference titles in the first two finals events on Saturday.
Miguel Davila won the opening finals race of the night, achieving a school and pool record in the 1650 free by touching the wall in 15:06.54 – a finish that improved his ‘B’ standard cut time.
Ethan Bresette also qualified for the A-final for the Bears, finishing sixth in a career time of 15:39.59. Two Bears competed in the 1650 free B-final and earned personal best marks, with Brandon Weissman coming in first (15.41.11) and Canaan Campbell sixth (16:12.11).
Le – named the MAC Outstanding Senior of the Year prior to Saturday’s finals – continued the MSU momentum into the 200 back by locking up his second-consecutive title in the event with a finish of 1:41.69. Weissman earned seventh in the A-final after racing in back-to-back events and Jack Snow placed fourth in the B-final with a season-best 1:49.96.
MSU’s Kalnins improved his ‘B’ cut time in the 100 free (44.11) for a fourth-place finish. Baryshok followed in the A-final getting sixth in a time of 44.65. McKnight and Will Brand earned lifetime bests in the B-final for the Bears, swimming times of 45.18 and 45.84 for third and sixth place, respectively.
Uldis Tazans and Isaac Springer qualified for the 200 breast A-final with personal ‘B’ cut marks of 1:58.63 and 1:58.63, before finishing fourth and fifth overall. Christopher Heye and Aaron Dennis both advanced to the B-final for the Bears.
The Bears had two swimmers win medals in the 200 fly, with Kacper Cwiek (1:48.26) swimming the top time of his career for runner-up honors in the A-final and Matthew Wilson just 0.04 seconds behind for the bronze. Preston Selby completed two personal-best marks finishing the B-final in a time of 1:50.54 for fifth, while Campbell also hit an individual mark of 1:53.37 in prelims.
Garrett Nevels led the Bears’ divers on the 3-meter board, placing fourth overall in the 1-8 finals with 364.15 points.
The 2015 Mid-American Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships wrapped up the Bears’ men’s and women’s team schedules for the season. Several MSU swimmers that have completed NCAA ‘B’ standard times will wait to see if their season has extended, and if they have qualified for the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships beginning on Thursday, March 26, in Iowa City, Iowa. MSU’s Nevels will also compete at the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships this Monday, March 9, on the campus of the University of Iowa.
“That’s the hardest part,” Collins said of the end of the men’s team schedule. “It starts at the beginning of the final session when they parade out the seniors. We had 10 guys standing out there and that’s the hardest part, watching those guys swim their last race as Bears. We recruited those guys, they’ve changed the program. I’ve just really come to respect those guys and I appreciate their efforts. They’re a special group.”
