Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Missouri/Kentucky
Salukis finish with season-best times against nationally ranked teams
11/07/2015 | 12:00:00 | Swimming & Diving
By Elizabeth Robinson
SIUSalukis.com
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The men's and women's swimming and diving teams came away with impressive performances and finishes against some of the top teams in the nation this weekend at the two-day quad meet at Missouri. The Saluki men came away with an 11-point win over Northwestern, earning bragging rights in the state as a top men's swimming program.
"For the longest time Northwestern has beaten us and we just haven't been in the same category," head coach Rick Walker said. "This weekend was different."
Both the SIU men and women took on tough opponents in nationally ranked teams from Missouri along with impressive squads from Kentucky, both of which received votes in the CSCAA coaches' poll. Despite top performances from SIU, including several season-bests, the men's and women's teams fell to both Mizzou and Kentucky.
"They're top-25 programs, and while we're trying to get times in the top-100, they're in the top-five. But we did ourselves proud this weekend," Walker said.
The Saluki men finished with 12 wins over Northwestern, including several season bests. The meet started with an impressive 200-yard freestyle relay where the Salukis finished with their best time of the season at 1:23.23 by Joao Facciotti, Andre Brilhante, Lucas de Aquino and Till Pallmann. Per usual, the Salukis' freestyle success continued with strong performances by Michael Wolfe in the 500-yard freestyle and Pallmann in the 100-yard freestyle. Pallmann not only topped Northwestern, but also finished ahead of Kentucky coming in at 44.96, the fastest time for SIU this season.
Lucas de Aquino finished Day One with the third best 200-yard butterfly finish, coming in at 1:50.15, beating SIU's previous best 200 fly finish by nearly five seconds. At the conclusion of Day One, the Salukis trailed Northwestern by only one point.
After being named MVC Swimmer of the Week for the second time this season, sophomore Bryn Handley was the highlight of Day One on the women's side, coming in first overall in the 500-yard freestyle at 4:51.97. Prior to this weekend, Handley ranked No. 80 in the nation in the 500 free at 4:57.36. The Salukis also came in with season best times in the 200-yard freestyle relay , the 100-yard breaststroke (Liane Tatigian), the 200-yard backstroke (Katy Ovington) and 200-yard butterfly (Kelsie Walker). Kaixuan ‘Sherry' Zhang also finished in first place in the women's three-meter dive with a score of 349.45.
Day Two of the meet resulted in even more season-bests for the Salukis, on both the men's and women's side. Michael Wolfe had another impressive freestyle swim, topping swimmers from Missouri and Northwestern and coming in second against Kentucky in the 1,000-yard freestyle at 9:19.49. Pallmann came on strong in the 100-backstroke at 50.24 along with the 200-yard freestyle, coming in second overall with a 1:38.85 finish, beating his previous season-best that ranked 63rd in the nation. Andy Ross and Bobby Wood had a one-two finish over Northwestern in the 200-yard breaststroke, while Lucas de Aquino second to Mizzou and Kentucky and first over Northwestern in the 100-yard butterfly.
Bryn Handley finished Day Two with yet another top finish, coming in first overall in the 1,000-yard freestyle at 10:02.38, once again beating her No. 25 ranked time, 10:02.91. The Salukis had a top finish in the 400-yard freestyle as well, finishing in second place behind Kentucky at 3:32.01. Kaixuan ‘Sherry' Zhang once again came out on top in the one-meter dive with a 307.85, remaining undefeated in both the one- and three-meter dives this season.
"What I'm always looking for is a group of athletes that regardless of whether they're tired or rested, they're going to step up there and compete hard and swim fast. We're starting to see that really coming through and I think our athletes out to be proud of themselves," Walker said.
The Salukis will take a week off from competition and will return to the pool on Friday, Nov. 20 for the start of the three-day Purdue Invite.
Players Mentioned
