Southern Illinois University
Western Kentucky
Swimming and Diving drops close meet to Western Kentucky
01/30/2010 | 12:00:00 | Swimming & Diving
Jan. 30, 2010
By Dana Ingraham
www.SIUSalukis.com
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Southern Illinois swimming and diving teams fell to Western Kentucky on the road Saturday afternoon, in what was the last dual meet for the Saluki women before the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
SIU was unable to find its footing against the Hilltoppers, as the women were defeated 183-81 and the men fell short by a score of 149-115.
The Salukis made some noise early when Kristin Geppert and Jameson Kuper captured second-place finishes in 100 breast. Matt Parsons also finished second in the 100 fly, good for four more SIU points.
Distance swimmer Kirsten Groome, who has recorded outstanding times for the entirety of her freshman campaign, shaved nearly one more second off her personal best time in the 1000 free, swimming 9:55.39. Her time currently stands at the top of the MVC and is No. 23 in the nation.
Groome would finish first in every race she competed in on the day, following her record-setting 1000 free performance with wins in the 400 IM and the 200 fly.
Also for the women, senior standout Therese Mattsson earned top honors in the 50 free at 23.98 as well as the 100 free at 51.40.
Southern dominated the diving events, as fellow seniors Emily Gable and Kyle Carevic took first place in the 1-meter.
Bowling Green native Jennifer Kwok swam her way to first place in the 500 free for SIU, and Geppert and Kuper also finished second in the 200 breast to round out the day's individual competition.
Despite the Salukis' strong performance, Western took the 200 free relay for both teams, closing out the day and putting the meet out of reach for SIU. The losses drop both the men and women to a 4-3 record in dual meets this season.
With the regular season schedule now complete for the women, SIU will continue to train for the State Farm/Missouri Valley Conference Championships. The three-day event will take place Feb. 11-13 at the Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium in the SIU rec center.
The Saluki men will have one more chance to fine-tune their races before the Mid-American Conference Championships (March 4-6) when they host Evansville for their final dual meet of the season on Saturday, Feb. 6.
Players Mentioned
