"We were much stronger in the water today, like we had hoped for," associate head coach Dave Collins said. "We are seeing some really nice results and numerous lifetime bests, which is phenomenal."
The MSU men picked up three victories on the evening highlighted by a new MSU record in the 200 free, a NCAA zone qualifying cut, and an NCAA "B" cut in the 800 free relay. In women's action, the Bears picked up a pair of second-place finishes and a 1-2 finish in the 100 breast.
"Our team really seems to be honing in on third events and identifying where the swimmers are going to fit in at the conference meet," Collins added. "We've got a nice balance of upperclassmen leadership and underclassmen that are really catching fire."
After a third-place finish on Saturday, freshman diver Garrett Nevels picked up where he left off in Sunday's 1-meter competition. The rookie placed first in the 1-meter with an overall score of 304.45, almost 30 points higher than second-place finisher Ricky Bradley from TCU. His mark of 304.45 surpassed the 300 points needed to qualify for the 2012 NCAA Zone Diving Championships. In women's diving, Lindsey Conway and Paige Koebbe continued to score points for the Bears, collecting third and fourth, respectively.
The Bears' 200 medley relay team of Megan Holthoff, Renata Sander, Roni Balzam and Anna Ahlin nearly captured first place in the event, but was edged out by Utah (1:43.59). Their time of 1:43.66 was a new season best. Missouri State's men's 200 medley relay (Le, Dennis, Bulak, Baryshok) also recorded a top time for this season.
In the men's 400 IM, Missouri State had three swimmers in the A-Final, as Daan Jansen, Chris Carpenter and Colin Hill placed fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively.
After closing in on the Missouri State varsity records in the 50, 100 and 200 free at the TYR Invitational, freshman Vitalii Baryshok needed just one more meet to take down the previous 200 freestyle record set by Matt Beasley (1:36.55) in 2005. Baryshok won the event by more than two seconds and set the new school record at 1:36.38. The Bears racked up additional points with Caleb Schuermann (3rd), Isaac McKnight (6th) and Garanito (7th) in the A-Final.
The women's breaststroke duo of Renata Sander and Melissa Oishi struck again. One month after junior Oishi had overtaken Sander's school record in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events, Sander rewrote the record in the 100 with a 1:03.05.
Backstroke proved to be another strong event for the men and women as Ahlin and Holthoff finished second and fourth, while Le, Garanito and Wilson all recorded season bests and finished second, fourth and fifth, respectively.
To cap off the successful day, the men registered a NCAA "B" cut in the 800 free relay and took home first place with a time of 6:41.31. Equally as impressive, the men showed off its depth in the 200 freestyle, as the B-Relay finished third overall (6:49.14).
Monday's prelims will begin at 10 a.m. CT with the finals set to start one hour earlier at 4 p.m. CT. Live results may be made available by the Alamo Area Aquatic Association. Check out MissouriStateBears.com for more information.
Another day completed at The Aquatics Center and the Utes continue with strong finishes across the boards.
The Utah women maintain their sweep of relay events after Traycie Swartz, Samantha Zuch, Hannah Caron, and Danielle Caldwell get the win in the 200 medley relay (1:43.59) with Sarah Cox, Kayla Buck, Melissa Paakh and Maddie Jamora, the Ute ‘B’ squad, taking 11th (1:49.88). The top spot in the 800 free relay went to the Utes as Caron, Caldwell, Swartz and Zuch touched in a time of 7:28.64.
With a time of 4:30.45, Ligeza takes fifth place in the 400 IM while also finishing eighth in the 100 breast (1:08.19). Zuch placed fourth in the same event (1:05.62).
The 200 free results landed Zuch with the top time for the Utes, 1:53.65, placing her sixth while Danielle Caldwell rounded out the top-ten (1:53.02).
Swartz earned her second individual win of the meet when she took the crown in the 100 back (56.73). Caron was just two seconds behind as she snagged third place (56.73). Caldwell earned her second 10th place spot of the day in the event (58.62).
The Ute men also pulled out a win in the 200 medley relay as Austin Fiascone, Ken Tiltges, Karson Applin and Nick Soedel touched in a time of 1:30.40. The team of Major Robinson, Andrew Choi, Winter Heaven and Bjorn Gunnarsson placed eighth (1:36.23).
Three Utes found themselves in the top-eight in the 200 free with Soedel leading the way in fourth (1:41.78). Heaven finished in fifth, just milliseconds behind his teammate with a time of 1:41.99 while Gunnarsson placed eighth (1:44.16).
Applin and Tiltges took the two-three spots in the 100 breast (55.74 and 57.92), while Andrew Choi placed 13th (1:00.83).
In the 100 back, Austin Fiascone placed sixth (50.92) and Robinson touched in eighth (52.32).
The Utes 800 free relay team of Eric Murray, Soedel, Robinson and Heaven came in fifth (6:52.40) as the ‘B’ squad of Tiltges, Ryan Hansen, Andy Lamb and Alex Brown took eighth (6:59.27).
TCU’s swimming and diving teams continued their strong run Sunday at the UIW Christmas Invitational inside the natatorium of Palo Alto College.
Freshman Victoria Thicke-Rattray continued to shine for the Horned Frog women, turning in another strong performance in an individual medley. A night after setting a TCU record in the 200-IM, Thicke-Rattray clocked a 4:21.51 in the 400-IM. That mark is the fourth-fastest time in TCU history.
Thicke-Rattray’s first-place finish led a TCU showing in the 400-IM that saw Frog women finish in first, second and fourth. Freshman Ali Bleasdell was second with a personal-best 4:23.65, while Emily Rose-Creighton took fourth-place honors in 4:26.73.
The TCU men were also strong in the 400-IM with Mitch Adshead winning the event in a finals time of 3:54.34.The Hednesford, England, native’s time was good for No. 2 on TCU’s all-time list. Michael Franz finished third in the same event, turning in his top time (3:57.46) in the prelims. That mark is third best all-time at TCU.
Sebastian Arispe continued the TCU trend of the weekend by putting himself on a TCU all-time top-five performance list. He finished second in the 200-free with a 1:38.72, which is good for the No. 5 time at TCU.
Senior leaders Edgar Crespo and Laszlo Gyukro also added to their lengthy lists of accomplishments with wins in the 100-breast and 100-back, respectively. Crespo touched the wall in 54.36, while Gyurko clocked a 48.20. Both swimmers won by more than 1.5 seconds.