KIRKSVILLE – – Nikki Sisson was part of eight first-place finishes (six solo, two relay), headlining 15 first-place women’s finishes and three NCAA B-cuts, while the Bulldog men earned four first-place men’s finishes during a weekend of competition against NCAA-I Illinois State and NCAA-II power Lindenwood (Mo.).
The Bulldog women opened the home weekend with a 127-78 win against the Redbirds of Illinois State on Friday night – the first victory in program history against ISU, before the two teams split against the Lions of Lindenwood on Saturday afternoon. Truman’s women garnered a 153-109 win against LWU, while the men fell 180-82.
“After a tough week of training, the women really stepped up and had some great races today,” head coach Ed Pretre said following Friday night’s win against ISU. “You can really tell that both of our teams are growing more confident by the day, and if we can keep it up, it’s going to be a really fun season.”
Sisson picked up three first-place individual finishes on both days, touching first in the 50 Free (NCAA B-cut 24.01 low vs. LWU), 100 Free (52.55 low vs. LWU), and 200 Free (NCAA B-cut 1:52.10 low vs. LWU), while joining up with a relay squad for first-place finishes in both the 200 Free Relay (ISU) and 400 Free Relay (LWU). Evyn Spencer, Alison Strickler, and Jamie Fitzpatrick grabbed a first-place finish of 1:37.14 in the 200 Free Relay and a first-place time of 3:35.10 in the 400 Free Relay.
Spencer locked up four other individual first-place finishes between the two competitions – twice in the 100 Fly and once each in the 200 IM and 100 Back. Emma Barnett brought home two first-place finishes on Friday night, winning the 1000 Free with an NCAA B-cut time of 10:23.57 and 200 Back ( 2:04.5), while Hannah Nicks was first in the 200 Back on Saturday afternoon with a mark of 2:08.91.
On the men’s side, three individuals picked up first-place finishes, with JT Thayer touching first in the 1000 Free (9:47.06), Alec Morgan in the 200 Free (1:45.21), and Neil Girmus in the 100 Free (47.19). The quartet of George Dowdy, Sam Heveroh, Tim Senholtz, and Morgan also captured first-place in the 400 Free Relay with a mark of 3:11.82.
Swimming news courtesy of Truman Swimming & Diving.