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Missouri State Looks To Capture 20th Conference Championship

In its 51st season of competition, the Missouri State men’s swimming and diving team looks to capture its 20th conference title at the Mid-American Conference Championship, held at the campus of Southern Illinois in Carbondale, Ill., on Mar. 1-4.

Selected to finish third in the MAC, the Bears will go up against six other schools – Ball State, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Evansville, Miami and host Southern Illinois – at Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium. The conference championship takes place over the course of four days, beginning Wednesday, Mar. 1 with two relays. Thursday and Friday (Mar. 2-3), preliminary races are slated for 11 a.m. while the finals begin at approximately 6 p.m. The final day of the championship begins with preliminaries at 11 a.m. Saturday morning and the finals taking place at 5 p.m.

Live updates will be available on Meet Mobile throughout the duration of the four-day meet.

 Mid-American Conference Championships
Dates Wed., Mar. 1 – Sat., Mar. 4
Location Carbondale, Ill.
Sites Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium
Wednesday,
Mar. 1
FINALS @ 6 p.m. – 200 Medley Relay, 800 Free Relay
Thursday,
Mar. 2
PRELIMS @ 11 a.m. – 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 1 Meter Diving Prelims, 1 Meter Diving (9-16)
FINALS @ 6 p.m. – 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 1 Meter Diving (1-8), 200 Free Relay
Friday,
Mar. 3
PRELIMS @ 11 a.m. – 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, 3 Meter Diving Prelims
FINALS @ 6 p.m. – 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, 3 Meter Diving (9-16), 400 Medley Relay
Saturday,
Mar. 4
PRELIMS @ 10 a.m. – 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly
FINALS @ 5 p.m. – 1650 Free, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 3 Meter Diving (1-8), 400 Free Relay
Missouri State Swimming & Diving Home Page
Follow Twitter (@MoStateSwim)


Last Season’s MAC Championship

After two, second-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay and 800 freestyle relay, the Bears finished day one of the championships in third place – two points behind second-place Buffalo. Both relays set new school records and set Missouri State in good standings heading into day two.

On day two, 13 of 15 swimmers either achieved personal bests or season bests. Five swimmers – Uvis Kalnins, Miguel Davila, Artur Osvath, Kacper Cwiek, Ethan Bresette and Minki Kang – reached the podium, as Kalnins earned his third consecutive title in the 200 individual medley.

The Bears worked their way up to second place following day three’s competition, raking in NCAA consideration times from eight swimmers. On the fourth day of competition, two Missouri State swimmers – Davila and Osvath – earned individual titles while the Bears finished third in the league with a total of 634 points.

MVC Top Times

Currently, Missouri State holds the top spot in nine events in the MAC. The Bears boast 24 top-three and 52 top-10 times. Twelve Bears hold top-five times in the MAC heading into the conference championship.

 

Bryce Blattner

500 free, 10th, 4:35.58 | 200 back, 6th, 1:49.57 | 400 IM, 6th, 3:56.53

 

Will Brand

100 free, 2nd, 44.96 | 200 free, 2nd, 1:37.93

 

Brenden Bolman

50 free, 8th, 20.85 | 100 free, 9th, 45.56 | 200 free, 7th, 1:39.72

 

Ethan Bresette

500 free, 5th, 4:31.74 | 200 fly, 7th, 1:50.88 | 400 IM, 3:57.86

 

Kasper Cwiek

200 free, 3rd, 1:38.25 | 200 fly, 3rd, 1:49.07 | 200 IM, 4th, 1:49.12

 

Christopher Heye

200 breast, 2nd, 1:58.33 | 200 IM, 6th, 1:49.91 | 400 IM, 3rd, 3:51.62

 

Thomas Heye

100 back, 4th, 49.57 | 200 back, 10th, 1:50.21

 

Minki Kang

500 free, 2nd, 4:27.11 | 1000 free, 2nd, 9:14.52 | 1650 free, 2nd, 15:12.17

 

Michael Mollak

50 free, 5th, 20.71 | 100 free, 3rd, 44.97 | 200 free, 1st, 1:37.63 | 500 free, 3rd, 4:28.05

 

Artur Osvath

100 breast, 1st, 53.31 | 200 breast, 1st, 1:54.17 | 100 fly, 2nd, 48.14 | 200 fly, 1st, 1:47.04 | 200 IM, 2nd, 1:48.84

 

Conner Ripp

100 Back, 5th, 49.65 | 200 back, 3rd, 1:49.05 | 200 fly, 8th, 1:50.90

 

Jacob Schultz

100 fly, 6th, 49.37

 

Preston Selby

100 fly, 7th, 49.38

 

Samuel Senn

50 free, 2nd, 20.35 | 100 free, 7th, 45.23

 

Uldis Tazans

100 breast, 7th, 55.15

 

Nicholas Theunissen

100 breast, 5th, 54.88 | 200 breast, 4th, 1:58.84 | 200 IM, 6th, 1:50.96

 

Antonio Thomas

200 free, 8th, 1:39.74 | 500 free, 1st, 4:22.87 | 1000 free, 1st, 9:05.39 | 1650 free, 1st, 15:04.50

 

Brandon Weissman

1000 free, 8th, 9:37.38 | 1650 free, 7th, 15:55.91 | 400 IM, 8th, 3:58.62

 

Phillip Willett

100 breast, 4th, 54.87 | 200 breast, 5th, 1:58.94 | 200 IM, 1st, 1:47.40 | 400 IM, 1st, 3:50.54

NCAA Top Times

On the national level, five Bears combine for eight top-100 times. Missouri State’s distance swimmers, Antonio Thomas and Minki Kang, rank no lower than 68th in both the 1000 and 1650 free. Thomas, a freshman, ranks 26th in the 1000 free and 37th in the 1650 free while Kang, a sophomore, sits 60th in the 1650 free and 68th in the 1000 free. Osvath holds the No. 17 spot in the 200 breast and sits at No. 52 in the 100 breast. Newcomer Phillip Willett ranks 79th in the 400 IM while veteran Christopher Heye sits at No. 98 in the 400 IM.

Final Details

Hosted by Southern Illinois, action at the 2017 MAC Championship begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Mar. 1 at Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium in Carbondale, Ill. Live updates will be available via Meet Mobile and Twitter (@MoStateSwim). For more information on the Missouri State swimming and diving team, visit www.missouristatebears.com or Twitter.

News courtesy of Missouri State Athletics.

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About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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