Southern Illinois University
Vanderbilt (women)
Swimming and Diving defeats Vanderbilt on the road
10/18/2009 | 12:00:00 | Swimming & Diving
Oct. 18, 2009
By Dana Ingraham
www.SIUSalukis.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Southern Illinois women's swimming and diving team picked up its second dual meet victory Saturday, defeating Southeastern conference opponent Vanderbilt 145-114.
The meet began with a close 400 medley relay that foreshadowed a tight competition for the rest of the race. SIU's team of Therese Mattsson, Kristin Geppert, Melissa Larocque and Tovah Gasparovich clocked in at 4:00.60 for a second place finish, less than one second behind Vanderbilt (4:00.51).
Mattsson posted solid times across the board for the Salukis. The senior captured first-place victories in the 200 free (1:54.71), the 50 free (24.13) and the 100 free (52.40), adding 27 points to the team's total.
Kirsten Groome also notched a pair of decisive first-place finishes. In the 200 fly (2:07.30), she finished more than three seconds before the next time of 2:10.60, and in the 400 IM her time of 4:30.64 was 12 seconds better than second-place.
Geppert contributed significant points for the Salukis as well, picking up nine with a first-place finish in the 100 breast (1:07.09) and nine more in the 200 breast (2:23.61).
A Saluki swimmer finished either first or second in 12 out of the 16 total events of the day, which helped SIU pull away from the Commodores for the win. The women had not competed for 10 days after their season-opener at Evansville Oct. 7.
In the final race, Southern took top honors in the 400 free relay. Gasparovich, Jill Weckbach, Jennifer Kwok, and Keli Kramer swam a combined 3:39.14, good for 11 points for SIU.
The Salukis are scheduled to stay home for the next few weeks, hosting the University of Washington Oct. 30 at 5 p.m. and the University of Illinois Nov. 7.
Players Mentioned
