Missouri State vs UIC vs Bellarmine vs Evansville
- Saturday, January 14, 2023
- Evansville, Ind.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Final Scores
Courtesy: Missouri State Athletics
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Missouri State swimming and diving racked up 21 wins en route to a sweep of Evansville, Bellarmine and UIC here Saturday afternoon.
The Bears defeated the Purple Aces, 206-72, on the women’s side and 181-114 on the men’s side, dismantled the Knights, 218-43, on the women’s side and 234-59 on the men’s side and extinguished the Flames, 195-103, on the women’s side and 201.50-94.50 on the men’s side.
On the men’s side, MSU began the meet with a first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay (1:31.16) with the squad of Robert Hill, Nicholas Schuster, Pawel Krawczyk and Lucas Chadwell. Next, in the 1650-yard freestyle, Dylan Moffatt secured first (15:30.81) while Aiden Dunn grabbed second (16:04.21).
MoState continued its winning ways in the 100-yard backstroke when Robbie Hill snagged first (49.59). Additionally, Krawczyk earned first (1:48.66) in the 200-yard butterfly, with Tyler Lewis (1:52.18) and AJ Huskey (1:52.88) landing second and third.
“It’s always nice to swim fast, especially at the end of my career,” Krawczyk said. “I was surprised especially with the fly being my best time in a speedo.”
In the 200-yard backstroke, Robbie Hill recorded his second individual first-place finish (1:52.49) of the day with Alex Boutin placing right behind him in second (1:52.94).
“It’s tough to race after the break, but it’s all about getting better every single day,” Hill said.
In the 500-yard freestyle, MSU also grabbed the top two places with Krawczyk taking first (4:31.71) and Jonathan Hill earning second (4:43.96). The same theme continued into the 200-yard individual medley with Lewis (1:54.27) and Huskey (1:54.84) securing the top two spots for the Bears.
In diving, Storm Opdahl led the way for the Bears, finishing third in both one-meter diving action (266.25) and three-meter diving action (250.65).
Like the men, the MoState women’s side began the meet with a first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay (1:43.14) due to the efforts of Kelly Sego, Yuliya Zubina, Samantha Roemer and Ulyana Zubina. The Bears kept firing on all cylinders early, with Grace Beahan (17:14.82) and Samantha Hietpas (17:17.91) grabbing first and second in the 1650-yard freestyle. Both Beahan’s and Hietpas’ marks were their fastest of the season.
“It was great seeing Sam right next to me the entire time,” Beahan said. “It felt like we were in it together.”
Then, Anna Lucas secured first (1:52.61) in the 200-yard freestyle and Sego (57.76) and Sira Limbu (58.21) captured first and second in the 100-yard backstroke.
In the 100-yard breaststroke, Yuliya Zubina earned first (1:05.36) for the Bears while Alessia Puleo took second (1:05.82). Next, Payton Smith grabbed first (2:05.72) in the 200-yard butterfly and Ulyana Zubina (23.86) and Jordan Wenner (24.20) secured first and second in the 50-yard freestyle.
“It was really exciting to be back and in a good place coming off of good training” Smith said. “It’s really exciting to be going into conference and getting back into racing, and I’m excited to see what we can do in February.”
Keeping in line with MSU’s winning ways for the meet, Wenner (51.98) and Roemer (52.54) recorded first and second in the 100-yard freestyle and Sego grabbed first (2:05.31) in the 200-yard backstroke.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, Puleo added a first-place finish (2:24.17) for MSU, while Lucas earned first (5:08.72) in the 500-yard freestyle. Then, Roemer (55.97) and Smith (57.82) grabbed first and second in the 100-yard butterfly. In the 200-yard individual medley, Roemer (2:06.37), Mai Ortega Bonilla (2:07.06) and Sego (2:09.70) secured all three top spots for the Bears.
“I think that we all had a really good mentality today, and our bodies were just catching up,” Roemer said. “I thought this was a really good sign that I am where I need to be. It’s not the best, but that’s not until conference.”
To punctuate the afternoon, the Missouri State squad of Yuliya Zubina, Wenner, Ulyana Zubina and Lucas grabbed first in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:34.87). In total, the Bears secured a first-place finish in every swimming event on the women’s side.
MoState returns to the pool Friday at 5 p.m. for a rematch with cross-town foe Drury in Springfield. The dual will be held at Breech Pool.