Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Missouri Dual Meet
Swimming and Diving competes at Missouri Dual Challenge
11/04/2007 | 12:00:00 | Swimming & Diving
Nov. 4, 2007
By Ryan Shaw
www.siusalukis.com
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Southern Illinois swimming and diving teams traveled to Columbia for the Missouri Dual Challenge over the weekend. The Salukis faced off against Drury and Missouri on Friday night and Virginia Tech and Missouri State on Saturday.
The Salukis got off to a good start, defeating the 2007 NCAA Division II champion Drury on both the men's and women's side on Friday. The men posted an 88-73 victory over Drury, while the women won 97-70.
SIU also swam against Missouri on Friday night. The women dropped their dual meet to the Tigers by a score of 115-52, while the men fell 112-55.
"I think we were very competitive," said head coach Rick Walker. "It was good to pick up a win against the reigning Division II national champions in Drury. I felt like our kids competed well against Missouri on both the men's and women's sides, despite the loss."
The SIU men's 200-yard freestyle relay team made up of Dennis Hedo, Stephan Ackermann, Gareth McGee and Antonio Santoro posted a victory with a time of 1:24.22.
Julie Ju won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:03.84. Isabel Maderia posted the Saluki's third first-place finish on Friday with a win in the 100-yard freestyle (51.87).
On Saturday the Salukis faced off against Virginia Tech in the morning dual meet. The women dropped their meet to the Hokies by a score of 98-48 and the men fell 87-61.
"I felt like we were very competitive on both ends, they're just a little bit stronger than us right now, certainly on the women's side they're a highly competitive team," said Walker. "We walked away with a couple of wins on both sides."
One of SIU's wins over the Hokies came when Santoro won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:35.64. Kelly Dvorak won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:03.33.
Alex Marrucho picked up another win for the Salukis with his 1:48.36 in the 200-yard backstroke. Ju won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:19.28. Santoro posted his second first-place finish of the dual with a win in the 200-yard butterfly (1:51.66).
The women's 800-yard freestyle relay team made up of Madeira, Ju, Tovah Gasparovich and Therese Mattsson won the event with a time of 7:38.00. The men also won the event when Colton Kleynhans, Zach Harris, Jameson Kuper and Ivan Zgomba posted a 6:44.61 for the win.
The Salukis wrapped up their appearance at the weekend's event with a dual meet against Missouri State on Saturday night. The men lost to the Bears 94-74, while the women collected their second victory of the weekend, beating MSU 85-83.
"I think that was a very good win for the women," said Walker. "I'm not so sure that I would count them out of the running for a championship. It was good to have a win against them. Their guys outperformed us, but credit to our guys, they toughed it out and gave their best effort."
Hedo won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45.83. Ju won her third individual event of the weekend with a 30.24 in the 50-yard breaststroke.
The men swept the top-two spots in the 50-yard freestyle when Hedo finished first with a 21.29 and McGee posted a 21.46 for second place.
Santoro won the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:04.50, for his third victory of the weekend.
The Salukis will return to action on Friday, Nov. 16 when they travel to Lafayette, Ind. for the Purdue Invitational.
Players Mentioned
