Southern Illinois Press Release
CARBONDALE, ILL. - The Southern Illinois University women's swimming and diving team was in action for the first time in over a month today, as they squared off with conference opponent, University of Arkansas-Little Rock. The Salukis took down the Trojans, 224-74, in the 16-event meet.
The meet started off on a great note for SIU, grabbing a first place victory in the 400-yard medley relay and a quick 11 points. Sarah James, Samantha Parsons, Kristina Ksarjian, and Bryn Handley won the race by seven seconds.
Handley took this moment to the next event of the meet, the 1,000-yard freestyle. The Saluki junior swam to a beat of 10:02.25 for a first place finish, and for her best time in the event on the season. Nicole Fuller finished in third place, bringing three more points to SIU. Two of the next three events featured Salukis at the top two spots. Lauren Stockton and Jordan Ries finished one, two, in the 200-yard freestyle and two events later Samantha Parsons and Jessica Peck grabbed first and second in the 100-yard breaststroke.
At the halfway point Southern truly shined, dominating both the 50-yard freestyle and one-meter diving. SIU finished in the top three spots in both events, bringing a total of 32 points to the Salukis. Success continued the rest of the meet as SIU went on to win every remaining event.
The Salukis have now won three consecutive regular season matchups against UALR. SIU will be back in action on Jan. 22 in the Butler invite.
Little Rock Press Release
CARBONDALE, Ill. – In its first meet since November, Little Rock swimming and diving took a 224-74 loss to conference opponent Southern Illinois on Saturday at Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium.
The Trojans got the day started with a second-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay as the squad of Laura Ruiz Astorga, Nuria Gallego Murcia, Courtney Coe and Emma Doll came in with a time of 4:02.37.
In the 1,000-yard freestyle, Tori Fryar placed second with a time of 10:33.64 while newcomer Claire Bristow placed fourth and Anela Everett took sixth. Fryar went on to finish third in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:08.04 while Bristow and Everett finished sixth and seventh.
Ruiz Astorga took second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:00.26. Ashley Strohmeyer, Jessie Baldwin and Courtney Goff came in sixth through eighth, respectively. She later took second in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:09.70. Baldwin, Charis Won and Kayla Grimm finished fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
Jinson Kang finished second in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:08.72. Isabelle Finzen, Rachel Maradyn and Coe placed third, fifth and sixth, respectively. Kang then took second in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:36.88 while Maradyn, Amanda Dreyer and Grimm came in fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
The 100-yard freestyle saw Imre van Huyssteen take second with a time of 53.99. Ann Kharlamova, Saidya Kistow and Vasiliki Falaina earned fifth through seventh, respectively.
Coe swam 59.00 in the 100-yard butterfly and took second while Finzen, Strohmeyer, and Cassie Sanchez finished fourth, sixth and eighth, respectively.
Doll finished third in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:00.69. Trojans Kharlamova, Falaina and Won finished sixth through eighth, respectively. Doll was once again the top Trojan in the 50-yard freestyle as she came in fourth with a time of 25.08. Kistow, Sanchez and Goff finished sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
Ginger Bryant placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:08.66. Gallego Murcia, van Huyssteen and KateLin Carsrud came in fourth, sixth and eighth, respectively. Bryant later took second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:26.05 while Carsrud and Gallego Murcia finished fifth and sixth.
In the three-meter dive, Samantha Gray earned a score of 233.32 and finished third. She placed fourth in the one-meter dive with a score of 242.76.
Little Rock closed out the meet with a second place finish in the 200-yard free relay. Ruiz Astorga, Goff, Coe and Doll finished with a time of 1:40.37.
Little Rock will conclude their regular-season schedule at Ouachita Baptist next Saturday in Arkadelphia.
