Swimcloud

Southern Illinois Swims Past Indiana State

Southern Illinois Press Release

TERRE HAUTE, IND. - The Southern Illinois University women's swimming and diving team remains undefeated against Indiana State after winning tonight, 142-111. The women's team have now won two dual matches in a row.

Today's match with Indiana State was the first time in over thirty-seven years that SIU has faced them. ISU has recently reformed their swimming and diving program after years without it.

The meet started off with an SIU victory in the 400-yard medley relay. Newcomer Rita Naude, sophomores Jessica Peck and Audrey Snyder, and junior Penny Bowser took first place with a time of 4:04.83. They edged out fellow SIU relay team by nearly two seconds. Following the relay was the 1,000-yard freestyle. Bryn Handley came in first place, finishing with a time of 10:06.32. Handley is 3-0 in freestyle events over 1,000-yards in 2017. Senior Lauren Stockton jumped in the pool right after Handley's win for a win of her own. Stockton won the 200-yard freestyle by more than a full second for one of her two top three finishes on the day. 

It took only one event after the 200-yard freestyle for SIU to get their next win. Freshman Samantha Parsons swam to a time of 1:07.27 for a first place win in the 100-yard breaststroke. Parson's day was not done here, as she later on finished second in the 200-yard IM. Following Parson's win, Audrey Snyder grabbed the best time in the 200-yard butterfly and Handley took first place in the 50-yard freestyle. 

After seven events SIU had won six of them. The Salukis also won event eight, one-meter diving, as Indiana State had no player compete. 

"This was our first meeting against the newly formed Indiana State," head coach Rick Walker said. "It was nice to come away with the win."

SIU finished the second half of the meet by doing much of what they did in the first half. Avery McKenna started things off with a victory in the 100-yard freestyle,  securing nine points for SIU. Senior Sarah James was the next Saluki to bring in nine points for the Southern, winning the 200-yard backstroke by more than three seconds. The 500-yard freestyle was the next event on the docket and Bryn Handley seized her third win of the day, recording a time just over five minutes flat. Emma Brazeau won SIU's final individual event of the day in the 100-yard butterfly. The sophomore bested the second place finisher by .48 seconds. 

The Salukis ended the meet by winning the 200-yard freestyle relay by nearly two seconds, placing them inside the top ten best times in the MVC this season. 

"We now have to shift our focus on beginning our resting phase so we are prepared for the MVC championships," Walker said. "I credit our women who respect their opponent no matter who it is, because without them there is nothing to compete for. They give their all no matter what. I love that about them."

The Salukis return home for their final match of the regular season against Evansville on Feb. 4. 

Indiana State Press Release

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Indiana State Sycamores fell to the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Champions, the Southern Illinois Salukis, in their final home meet of 2016-2017.
 
Tonight’s meet was also the final regular season meet for Indiana State as they will travel to Iowa City, Iowa for the MVC Championships from Feb. 15-18.

“Coming in today we knew SIU was the conference champions and we just wanted to get up and race and mix up our swims a little bit as we keep preparing for conference. We came out with some great intention and some great energy and unfortunately made some freshmen mistakes that hurt us, but we kept trucking along,” said head coach Matt Leach.

ISU was disqualified in the opening event for a violation, but continued to fight throughout the meet. Elisabeth Peskin followed in the second event with a strong 1000 free, followed by a second place finish from Courtney Skelley in the 200 free and a time of 1:57.93.

The most notable performance came from Cierra Campbell who set the lone record of the night in the 200 fly with a time of 2:07.94.

“We knew she was a butterflyer most of the year and it was just a time where we could get her in that event and she crushed it. She did a great job and also had a season best in the 500 free, but across the board we had some girls that were getting really excited about swimming events they hadn’t swam all year,” said Leach.

Indiana State has improved at every meet throughout their inaugural season. The all freshmen squad has set new school records from week to week and these swims include many season and lifetime bests. There has truly been an evolution of the program from the initial meet at Notre Dame to now.

“It’s really great to see the girls and how they have progressed from the beginning of the season coming in and not really feeling like they deserve to be here. We did a lot of great work over Christmas training and that’s when the team really came together and were able to establish our own unique brand of family,” said assistant coach Rebecca Westfall.

Indiana State has earned themselves three wins this season along with many other close meets. The Sycamores had their most recognizable win over the Butler Bulldogs on Jan. 14 by a score of 143 to 107.

ISU will get a second shot at their conference rivals in three weeks at the MVC meet.

“They now know they deserve to be here and they know that they’ve put in the work and we are really excited to see what the team can do at conference,” said Westfall.

Comments