The University of Denver men’s and women’s swimming team showed another strong
performance on the second day of their double dual meet against the University of Kansas and Missouri
State University. The DU men topped Missouri State by a final score of 243-98, while the women beat
Kansas 188-162 and defeated Missouri State 188-162. The team combined for a final score of 522 over
Missouri State’s 165 to earn their first place victory.
“I’m really proud of our women for responding to a tough challenge that the Kansas women gave us
over the weekend,” head coach Brian Schrader said. “Everyone played a role and scored necessary
points for a team win. Our men did a great job of getting ready to race as well, and it was fun to see
some records go down. I would have to say Johanna Roas and Amanda Sanders led the way with their
individual and relay performances with our women, and our men really committed as a team to racing
hard, lots of wins and solid swims top to bottom.”
Denver’s relay team consisting of Ray Bornman, Kyle Robrock, Tim Cottam and Anton Loncar finished
first in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:22.83. The women’s relay team of Johanna Roas, Zoe
Huddleston, Lauren Moden and Morgan Wice also placed first in this event with a time of 1:34.65.
Both the men and women finished first in the 400-yard freestyle relay, as the men’s relay team of
Bornman, Robrock, Loncar and Luke Williams recorded a time of 3:03.41 and the women’s relay of Roas,
Huddleston, Moden and Wice finished with a time of 3:25.85.
Other first place finishes on the second day of the meet included Borman in the 100-yard free (45.12),
Morgan McCormick in the 200-yard backstroke (1:59.43), Loncar in the 200-yard backstroke (1:47.49,
Roas in the 100-yard butterfly (56.63), Andrew Torres in the 100-yard butterfly (49.51), and Dylan Bunch
in the 500-yard freestyle event (4:33.36). Amanda Sanders also recorded a first place finish in the 200-
yard breaststroke with a time of 2:16.73.
Junior Larissa Grammer placed third in the one meter diving event with a final score of 225.50. Divers
Ryan Reed and Jackson Martin each took part in the three meter diving event, as Reed finished with a
final score of 254.05 and Martin recorded a final score of 135.99.
The DU men’s team will travel to California on Nov. 6th to take on UC Santa Cruz, while the women are
set to host Air Force on Nov. 7th at noon at El Pomar.
Kansas
Moments after being recognized for her contributions to the Kansas swimming and diving program for senior day, Chelsie Miller received a standing ovation for her record-breaking swim in the 400-yard individual medley Saturday afternoon inside Robinson Natatorium.
The Houston, Texas native was one of four swimmers, the only woman, to take down a Robinson Natatorium pool record in the second day of the Denver - Missouri State double dual. Miller recorded a time of 4:18.37 to win the 400 IM by nearly eight seconds and erasing her previous pool record of 4:18.76.
"It was kind of surprising," Miller said of her record-breaking performance. "I saw the coaches on the side getting a little excited so I knew something was up. It's really cool to be this fast this early in the year."
Miller also took first in the 500-yard freestyle, recording a 4:57.44, her fourth first-place finish of the meet.
Denver and Missouri State's men's squads contributed the other three records in the 200-yard freestyle relay, 200-yard backstroke and the 200-yard breaststroke. The Pioneers' relay team consisting of Ray Bornman, Kyle Robrock, Time Cottam and Anton Loncar earned a 1:22.83, barely beating Texas A&M's swim of 1:22.97 in 2003. Sophomore Anton Loncar from DU glided into the record books in the 200 free turning in a time of 1:47.49. The Bears' freshman Artur Osvath claimed the final pool record of the meet with his performance in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:01.94).
The rest of the Jayhawks' senior class also had an impressive outing with Haley Molden claiming KU's second victory of the afternoon in the 100-yard freestyle, turning in a time of 51.78. Bryce Hinde finished fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:22.92) and Laura Bilsborrow recorded a 4:40.02 in the 400 IM.
"Chelsie had a really good meet from top to bottom," head coach Clark Campbell said. "That 400 IM swim was big-time. Also, Haley's win in the 100 free was really good for us, all of our seniors performed really well today."
Kansas' A relay team - Haley Bishop, Molden, Pia Pavlic and Hannah Driscoll - opened up the competition with a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay earning a 1:36.33.
Bishop, a member of the relay team, turned in three top-two finishes. She was also a member of the second-place 400-yard freestyle relay team (3:29.64). The freshman from Apex, North Carolina earned an individual second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.78.
Sophomore Madison Straight (2:03.17) and junior Sammie Schurig (2:04.25) took second and third in the 200-yard backstroke, respectively. Denver's Morgan McCormick won the event in 1:59.43.
Diving duo, Graylyn Jones and Nadia Khechfe swept the one- and three-meter competitions this weekend as Jones won the three-meter with a score of 239.05. Khechfe came in second scoring 231.05 points for the Jayhawks.
"This weekend was great for where we are at this early in the season," diving coach Gabe Downey said. "I was really happy with the outcome and the process of getting there was really good too. We aren't trying to be at our peak performance right now so we are really early but winning still matters and being able to help out the team still matters, so I was really happy with the girls' ability to do that."
Kansas beat Missouri State, 277-69, while falling to Denver, 188-162. The Pioneer's also took the dual against Missouri State, 279-67. On the men's side, Denver beat Missouri State, 243-98.
Up Next: The Jayhawks will head to Fort Worth, Texas to face Big 12 foe TCU on Oct. 31 for their first road meet of the season. The competition will take place at the University Recreation Center and is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
Missouri State
Senior Uvis Kalnins and freshman Artur Osvath earned victories in the men’s 400 IM and 200 breaststroke, respectively, to highlight Missouri State swimming and diving’s final day of competition at the Kansas Double Dual in Robinson Natatorium Saturday, Oct. 24.
The MSU squads wrapped up competition with the men’s team falling in their lone dual versus Denver, 243-98. The women’s team finished up action by dropping duals against Kansas (277-69) and Denver (279-67).
“I felt like we raced a little better today compared to yesterday,” Bears head coach Dave Collins said. “We are looking forward to some good weeks of uninterrupted training going into our mid-season meet.”
Osvath had another top effort for the MSU men’s team. He served as a member of the top 200 free relay squad along with Jack Snow, Brenden Bolman and Will Brand that finished in a time of 1:26.12, but also set his collegiate best and a pool record in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:01.94) to place first in the event.
Kalnins picked up the Bears’ final victory by taking first in the 400 individual medley with a time of 3:59.59 and took second behind Osvath in the 200 breast (2:03.31).
Also competing in the 400 IM for the Bears were Bryce Blattner (4:03.93) and Nicholas Theunissen (4:09.87) who finished third and sixth, respectively. MSU set season-best times across the 200 backstroke as Snow (1:54.57), Will Frisbie (1:56.13) and Canaan Campbell (1:56.67) went 3-5-6 in the event.
Freshman Minki Kang set his new MSU mark in the 500 freestyle with a 4:35.57 finish for runner-up, just two seconds away from a first-place showing. Ethan Bresette placed fifth and Brandon Weissman followed in sixth.
“I really liked the overall effort our team gave this weekend,” Weissman said. “It’s hard to get up and race for the fourth straight weekend, especially when we’re getting into one of our toughest training cycles of the year. But it was nice to see everyone still grinding it out, even if our bodies weren’t feeling as good as we wanted them to.
“It’ll be good to get some full weeks of training under our belts as we look forward to Purdue. If we’re able to make the most of these next few weeks, a little bit of rest at the end should make Purdue a fast and exciting meet for us.”
MSU junior Lauren Pavel had the top finish Saturday for the Bears’ women’s squad after placing third in the 200 breast by touching the wall at 2:21.89.
Several Bears swimmers had fourth-place showings which includes Josie Pearson (100 butterfly), Dora Kiss (500 free) and the MSU 200 free relay squad of Sydney Zupan, Anna Bump, Hope Ernhart and Loretta Stelnicki.
Zupan also placed a team-best fifth in the 200 back (2:05.41), while Briana McCullough and Emily Chesser had their top times of the season in the event.
Ibby Simcox had a season-best time in the 100 fly (59.42) while three Bears – Pearson, Rebecca Amparano and Pavel – placed in the top 10 in their first 400 IM appearances of the year.
“This weekend was a challenge, but as a team we did what we needed to do to improve for our mid-season meet at Purdue in a couple weeks,” Pavel said. “I am excited to get back to training with my team to prepare the rest of the year.”
Missouri State will have almost a month off before competing against opposition. The Bears return to the pool for the Purdue Invitational, which runs from Nov. 20-22 in West Lafayette, Indiana. MSU closes out the 2015 portion of its 2015-16 schedule at the USA Winter National Championships beginning on Dec. 2 in Federal Way, Washington.
