Missouri State swept Evansville on the road on Friday night.
Missouri State Press Release
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving team downed Evansville in its Missouri Valley and Mid-American Conference showdown, Friday evening at Wyttenbach Pool.
The Missouri State women outscored Evansville, 133-108, while the men’s squad also defeated the Purple Aces, 131-89. Collectively, the team brought in 17 first-place finishes. Eight of the top spots belonged to the women’s team while the men claimed nine.
Junior Sydney Zupan and sophomore Artur Osvath were standouts for the Bears, each recording two individual victories on the day.
In the 1000 free, freshman Brooke Dreiling swam a first-place time of 10:49.15 to earn the first individual victory for the Bears. Shortly after, Zupan took the crown in the 200 free (1:53.53) as well as the 500 free (5:19.79). Sophomore Loretta Stelnicki placed third in the 200 free, setting a new personal record with a time of 1:57.28.
Hope Ernhart led the women’s team in the 50 free with a 24.53, second-place finish while the Bears – Sara Bacher, Briana Horozewski and Sarah Wehrmeister – finished 2-3-4 in the 200 IM. Sophomore Josie Pearson brought in the women’s fourth golden finish of the day, clinching first in the 100 fly with a time of 57.86 seconds.
Stelnicki and freshman Sarah Allegri followed suit, when Stelnicki placed first in the 100 free (52.86) and Allegri took the top spot in the 100 back (58.22). Senior Lauren Pavel closed out the individual events with a first-place finish in the 100 breast, posting a time of 1:06.78.
Senior diver Alexis Skiniotes was the top finisher for the Bears in the 3-meter diving, bringing in a total of 222.30 points for a second-place finish. Freshman Payton Smith scored 186.37 points in the 1-meter diving, finishing third in the event.
The women’s squad placed well in the meet’s two relays, grabbing a victory in the 200 medley relay and a second-place finish in the 200 free relay. Allegri, Pavel, Zupan and Stelnicki posted a time of 1:46.52 in the 200 medley relay, while the Bears’ A relay finished the 200 free relay in 1:39.73.
Sophomore Bryce Blattner kicked things off for the men’s individual events, dominating the 1000 free with a time of 9:55.87 while junior William Frisbee placed second with a personal-best time of 10:06.58. The Bears controlled the 200 free as well, as freshman Antonio Thomas and sophomore Minki Kang finished first and second, respectively.
Senior Uldiz Tazans earned his first victory of the 2016-17 season, swimming a time of 22.07 in the 50 free. Junior Kacper Cwiek followed behind Tazans, finishing second in 22.23 seconds. Following the 50 free, Will Brand won the 200 IM while Ethan Bresette and Thomas Heye finished third and fourth.
In the 100 fly, transfer Phillip Willet took first easily, finishing the event in 51.33 seconds. Winning two events against Evansville, Osvath placed first in both the 100 free and 100 breast, finishing both events at least one second faster than the second-place swimmers.
Following the first-place trend, Cwiek brought in his first individual victory of the day after recording a time of 4:45.69 in the 500 freestyle. In the event, sophomore Christopher Heye set a new personal record thanks to his 4:48.84 performance.
The men swept the 200 medley and 200 free relays bringing in a total of 22 points for the Bears. In the 200 medley relay, Thomas Heye, Willett, Osvath and Samuel Senn combined for a time of 1:32.57. Earning the Bears’ final victory of the day, Brand, Jake Schultz, Conner Ripp and Cwiek swam a 1:26.32, 200 free relay.
