Swimming and diving with strong showing at Butler

Sunday, January 22

Indianapolis, IN

12:05 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Butler Invite

01/22/2017 | 9:04:00 | Swimming & Diving

By: By Drew Hoffman, SIUSalukis.com

RESULTS / SCORES

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. - The Southern Illinois University swimming and diving team's competed in the a six team meet today, hosted by Butler University. The men's team finished the meet in first place, ending the meet with 749 points.The women's team came in fifth place, ending the day at 224 points.

The meet started off with a close victory for the men's squad in the 200-yard medley relay. Alex Crawford, Bobby Wood, Joao Facciotti, and Andre Brilhante logged a time of 1:32.49, just edging out Xavier by .38 seconds. This exciting finish sparked SIU for the next two events. First, Bryn Handley grabbed a victory in the longest race of the meet, the 1,650-yard freestyle. It was the first time Handley had swam the event since back in November at the Louisville Invite. Her time of 17:04.54 was forty second better than the second place finisher. After Handley's win, it was the guy's turn with the 1,650-yard freestyle. SIU had a performance to remember, finishing in the top three spots. Michael Wolfe, Chris Cole, and Kevin Kluge, went 1, 2, 3, to dominate the field and to give the Salukis an even bigger lead in the standings.

It was four events before SIU found themselves back on top. Crawford and Facciotti finished first and fourth in the 100-yard backstroke, respectively. SIU's dominance continued in the 100-yard breaststroke. The Salukis finished the race with four people inside the top-10, the best finish coming from Matthew Lee, who came in fourth place.

Brilhante sped things up for Southern when he shot into the pool for the 50-yard freestyle. The senior swam to a beat of 21.06 to claim first place in the fastest race of the day. His time was .24 seconds faster than the second place finisher. Brilhante's win was Southern's fifth time the Salukis had someone finish inside the top two.

"This has always been a tough meet to perform well," SIU head coach Rick Walker said. "It's a pretty quick out and back for our guys. A lot of travel with very little down time and then back for morning practice the next day."

Going to the diving board the Salukis dominated the field in the one-meter. Both, the men and women, finished in the top two spots in this event stretching out Southern's lead. The Salukis kept their foot on the gas, picking up wins in the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke thanks to Andre Brilhante and Alex Crawford. The Salukis finished with at least one person in second or first place in eight of the next eleven events to wrap up the meet.

"I was pleased with the efforts we got from each of them in each of their events," Walker said. "They never cease to amaze me, not one whimper out of any of them. When we head to conference, mental toughness is not going to be an obstacle for them. They make a coach proud. Pulling off the win was just a cherry on top of their solid efforts."

SIU finished the meet winning 14 of the 32 events.

The swimming and diving team will be back in action this coming Friday to take on Indiana State in Terre Haute, Indiana.