Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Salukis to host Evansville in final dual meet on Saturday
02/04/2016 | 12:00:00 | Swimming & Diving
| SIU vs. Evansville | |
| Date/Time | Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016 // 10 a.m. CST |
| Location | Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium - Carbondale, Ill. |
| Season Stats | SIU Performance Lists |
| Media Guide | SIU 2015-16 Media Guide |
| Record Book | SIU Swimming & Diving Record Book |
| Social Media | @SIU_SwimDive | Saluki Swimming and Diving |
By Elizabeth Robinson
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Saluki men's and women's swimming and diving teams return to their home pool on Saturday to host conference rival Evansville in the final dual meet of the 2015-16 season. Saturday's meet, beginning at 10 a.m., will honor SIU's eight seniors for Senior Day.
SIU is coming off a two-week break after competing at the Butler Invitational on Jan. 24, where the team came away with 18 top-three finishes. Now, the Salukis will face a familiar opponent in Evansville, whom both the men's and women's teams beat earlier this season at Evansville. The Salukis have a nearly perfect record against the Purple Aces under head coach Rick Walker, with the men posting a 27-0 record in dual meets against Evansville and the women leading the series 16-1.
This weekend's meet is the last leading up to the MVC and MAC Championships taking place Feb. 17-20 and Mar. 2-5, respectively. The women's team will host the MVC Championships for the eighth consecutive year, marking the 25th time SIU has hosted the meet. The Saluki women head into the weekend with an undefeated record against MVC opponents this season. Saturday's meet will serve as the last opportunity for the Salukis to experience a competition setting prior to the Championships.
"Obviously for everyone that's competing, they have to continue to compete so that we're primed and ready," head coach Rick Walker said. "It's a last chance meet situation where we're able to focus in on race situations and identify issues that we need to correct."
While the men have more time to prepare for the MAC Championships, this weekend's meet is just as important.
"This is the final step before the big show, and the guys have to wait a little bit longer, but it's the same for them as well," Walker said. "For the men, not everything is quite solidified, so we'll be looking hard at some of those swims."
During Saturday's meet, eight Saluki seniors will be recognized for senior day. On the men's side, Till Pallmann, Andres Saavedra and Brandon Vuong will graduate, while the women's side will lose Helena Amorim, Kiley Handley, Katy Ovington, Morgan Timms and Kaixuan 'Sherry' Zhang. Combined, the seniors have earned 11 conference champion titles, have earned all-conference recognition 13 times and have been named conference scholar athletes 13 times.
"This has been an awesome class that has helped guide the team we currently have. So much of our success rests on the shoulders of this class, and we will never be able to replace them," Walker said. "Without them we wouldn't be who we are, so we are in great debt to everything they've done to build this program."
Saturday's meet is set to begin at 10 a.m. in the Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium in the SIU Rec Center. Senior recognition will take place midway through the meet.
| Order of Events |
| 100 Medley Relay (W) |
| 400 Medley Relay (M) |
| 500 Free (W) |
| 1,000 Free (M) |
| 100 Free (W) |
| 200 Free (M) |
| 25 Free (W) |
| 50 Free (M) |
| 100 IM (W) |
| 200 IM (M) |
| Diving (M/W) |
| 50 Fly (W) |
| 100 Fly (M) |
| 50 Free (W) |
| 100 Free (M) |
| 50 Back (W) |
| 100 Back (M) |
| 250 Free (W) |
| 500 Free (M) |
| Diving (M/W) |
| 50 Breast (W) |
| 100 Breast (M) |
| 100 Free Relay (W) |
| 200 Free Relay (M) |
| Women's National Rankings | |||
| 400 Free | Kelsie Walker | 27th | 4:48.37 |
| 500 Free | Kelsie Walker | 66th | 4:48.10 |
| 800 Free | Kelsie Walker | 13th | 9:51.91 |
| Bryn Handley | 24th | 10:03.97 | |
| 1,000 Free | Bryn Handley | 60th | 10:02.38 |
| 1,650 Free | Kelsie Walker | 91st | 16:45.68 |
| Bryn Handley | 98th | 16:47.30 | |
| 800 Freestyle Relay | 48th | 7:23.04 | |
| Men's National Rankings | |||
| 400 Free | Till Pallmann | 61st | 4:27.90 |
| 1,000 Free | Michael Wolfe | 67th | 9:19.49 |
| 1,500 Free | Michael Wolfe | 21st | 15:45.43 |
| 1,650 Free | Michael Wolfe | 82nd | 15:30.70 |
| 100 Fly | Joao Facciotti | 74th | 47.85 |
| Lucas de Aquino | 83rd | 47.98 | |
| 200 Freestyle Relay | Brilhante, Facciotti, Aquino, Crawford
| 58th | 1:22.24 |
| 400 Freestyle Relay | Brilhante, Facciotti, Seguine-Hall, Crawford
| 66th | 3:02.62 |
| 800 Freestyle Relay | Brilhante, Jones, Wolfe, Aquino
| 61st | 6:44.18 |
| 200 Medley Relay | Crawford, Wood, Aquino, Facciotti | 74th | 1:31.31 |
| 400 Medley Relay | Crawford, Wood, Aquino, Brilhante
| 74th | 3:20.88 |
Players Mentioned
