Missouri State Concludes 2021 Slate With Drury

Courtesy: Missouri State Athletics

SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State closes out its 2021 slate by welcoming cross-town foe Drury for a dual at Hammons Student Center on Friday with diving events beginning at 1 p.m. and swimming events starting at 5 p.m.

Meet Details

• The dual will be held at Hammons Student Center Pool in Springfield, Mo.
• Diving events will start at 1 p.m. while swimming events begin at 5 p.m.
• Admission is free to all spectators
• Live results can be found on the Meet Mobile app, which is downloadable through the app store.

Scoring

• Relays: 11-4-2
• Individual: 9-4-3-2-1

Order of Events

• Diving (1 p.m.)
• 400 medley relay (5 p.m.)
• – 5 Min. Break –
• 1000 Free
• 200 Free
• 50 Free
• 200 IM
• – 15 Min Break –
• 200 Fly
• 100 Free
• 200 Backstroke
• 500 Free
• – 10 Min. Break –
• 200 Breaststroke
• 400 Free Relay

Springfield Ties

• The Bears and Panthers are no strangers as Missouri State is just 1.2 miles from the campus of Drury University.
• The two programs have met 39 times on the men’s side, with MSU holding a 21-18 series lead. Drury leads the all-time series on the women’s side by a 20-10 margin.
• Last season, Missouri State split the dual with Drury as the Bears won the women’s meet and the Panthers took the men’s matchup.
• Head Coach Dave Collins graduated from Drury in 2005. As a student-athlete at Drury, Collins was an Academic All-American and specialized in the backstroke events. The Panthers won a pair of NCAA Division II national titles (2003-2005) and two national runner-up finishes (2002, 2004) during his four-year career.
• Former Missouri State head coach Jack Steck, who led the Bears from 1983-2011, served as the head coach at Drury from 1968-1983, leading the Panthers to back-to-back NAIA national titles in 1981 and 1982.

Women’s Bear Bites

• The Bears fell (189.50-108.50) in a hard-fought dual against 19^th-ranked Mizzou their last time out on Dec. 4.
• Anna Miller broke three Hammons Student Center Pool records during the dual with the Tigers. Miller won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:47.07, breaking the previous pool record set by Missouri’s Allison Bloebaum in 2019 by over two seconds. The mark was the second-fastest in program history and ranks 48^th nationally this season. She followed up her performance by clocking a 54.03 to win the 100 butterfly, breaking former Bear Sydney Zupan’s (55.12) pool record set in 2016. Miller also set a pool record by swimming the opening 100 in a blistering 49.08, during the Bears’ 400 freestyle relay win. As a result of her efforts, she was named MVC Swimmer of the Week on Dec. 7.
• Missouri State recorded another record when Miller, Jordan Wenner, Libby Howell and Sami Roemer won the 400 freestyle relay by registering a time of 3:20.65.
• The women’s 200 medley relay team consisting of Kelly Sego, Yuliya Zubina, Roemer and Miller combined to swim a 1:39.62 to place second.
• In the 1,000 freestyle, Vera Margula placed second in 10:07.60, while Sam Hietpas (10:34.58) followed in third and Alex Thorson (10:48.20) finished fifth.
• Sego picked up the win in the women’s 100 backstroke with a time of 55.99. She also placed third in the 200 backstroke.
• Howell just missed winning the women’s 500 freestyle, finishing second with a time of 4:51.02, just one-hundredth of a second behind Macy Rink of Mizzou.
• Miller has continued her success this season, having already garnered ten individual wins and tallying 11 top-five finishes this season. She has twice collected MVC Swimmer of the Week honors on Oct. 13, Nov. 23 and Dec. 7.
• At the Purdue Invitational, MSU battled to a fifth-place finish among a loaded field.
• Howell posted a trio of top-five finishes at Purdue by placing second in the 200 (1:47.20) and 500 (4:48.47) freestyles while recording a fifth-place finish in the 1650 freestyle (16:54.99). She collected MVC Swimmer of the Week honors on Nov. 10, after her three individual wins in the Bears’ 221-132 win over Indiana State on Nov. 5-6. Howell is the only MVC swimmer to go a perfect 12-for-12 at the MVC Championships in her career and she currently holds school records in the 200, 1,000 and 1,650 freestyles.
• Adrianna Avila has paced the Bears on both boards this season with marks of 239.40 in 1-meter diving and 243.52 in 3-meter competition.
• Missouri State defeated MVC foe Indiana State, 221-132 at Hammons Student Center on Nov. 5-6.
• The Bears defeated South Dakota and fell to Kansas in the Kansas Tri-Duals on Oct. 22-23 in Lawrence, Kan.
• Missouri State placed fifth against a strong tournament field at the TYR Invitational on Oct. 9 with a score of 247 points.
• The Bears have been in a league of their own when it comes to conference championships, having won five in a row and 17 of the last 19 MVC titles.

Men’s Bear Bites

• The Bears are 2-1 in head-to-head duals this season with wins over Southern Illinois and Missouri S&T while suffering a loss (207-79) to No. 9 Mizzou the last time out on Dec. 4.
• In the 200 medley relay, the quartet of Robbie Hill, Michael Hampel, Arthur Cury and Bruno Guerra clocked a 1:29.51 to take second.
• Brunno Suzuki notched a runner-up finish in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:39.47. Cury (1:40.20) and Dylan Moffatt (1:41.76) also recorded top-five finishes by placing fourth and fifth, respectively.
• Robbie Hill paced the Bears in the 100 backstroke by clocking a time of 48.73 to finish third.
• In the 100 breaststroke, Nick Schuster placed third with an impressive time of 56.03.
• AJ Huskey was just .14 seconds off of winning the 200 butterfly, clocking a 1:47.31 to finish second.
• The Bears made their presence known in the 200 breaststroke by occupying the 2-5 positions in the order of: Schuster (2:05.35) Suzuki (2:05.49), Hampel (2:09.63) and Drew Watts (2:12.69).
• Missouri State finished fourth at the Purdue Invitational (Nov.18-20).
• The quartet of Krawczyk, Suzuki, Moffatt and Cury placed fourth in the 800 freestyle relay with a time of 6:32.80. The mark was the eighth-fastest in MSU history.
• Cury swam the fastest time in the MAC this season with a 1:36.52, 200 Freestyle which was good for ninth-place.
• This season, John David Spence has led MSU on the boards with bests of 258.90 (1-Meter) and 322.65 (3-Meter).
• In their last dual at Hammons Student Center, the Bears were dominant, defeating Missouri S&T, 211.5-102.5, on Nov. 5-6.
• Missouri State defeated South Dakota in the Kansas Duals, 174-158, on Oct. 23.
• Cury was named MAC swimmer of the week on Oct. 29. Cury recorded three wins in a two-day dual against South Dakota on Oct. 22-23. On day one, the Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, native won the 200 freestyle with a blistering time of 1:42.36, as well as the 200 IM, finishing the event in 1:55.19. Cury added a third victory to his weekend with a win in the 100 butterfly on the final day of the dual, clocking in at 51.10. He also helped lead the men’s 400 meter relay squad to victory with a time of 3:06.45. Cury is a two-time all-MAC first-team selection, having garnered five gold medals, four silvers and one bronze at the MAC Championships during his career.
• The Bears defeated Southern Illinois in the season opener on Oct. 2, 205.5-145.5.

Take a Look Ahead

• The dual concludes the 2021 slate for Missouri State. The Bears will resume their season on Jan. 15, 2022, when they travel across town for another matchup with Drury.

Keep Up to Date

• For all the latest information on the Missouri State swimming and diving team, visit MissouriStateBears.com or follow @MoStateSwim on Twitter.