Handley sets MVC best time at Purdue Invite

The Salukis posted more season and conference bests today in the opening day of competition at the Purdue Invite.

Five Salukis advanced past the morning's preliminary round to compete against some of the nation's best swimmers and divers in the evening's finals. Senior Bryn Handley continued what has been a strong fall season with a 13^th overall finish in the women's 500-freestyle. Handley swam the race in 4:48.53 to improve on her Missouri Valley Conference leading time by more than four seconds. It was the fifth-fastest time in school history. Fellow senior Nicole Fuller also advanced to the finals in the 500-freestyle placing 31^st. Her preliminary time of 4:46.67 was her fastest of the season.

On the men's side of the 500-yard freestyle, senior Michael Wolfe advanced to the finals after setting a new season best for the Salukis with a time of 4:33.45. Junior Chris Cole and sophomore Kevin Kluge were just short of reaching the finals. Both swimmers were less than a second short of qualifying for the D final.

In the women's 50-yard freestyle, McKenna Avery reached the finals with a time of 23.74 and finished 30^th overall. Her preliminary time is a new best for Southern this year.

In the women's 400-yard medley relay, the team of Sophomores Rita Naude and Laura Carver, junior Emma Brazeau and Handley finished fifth with a time of 3:50.85. It is a new best for Southern this season and the second-best time in the Missouri Valley.

The Saluki men's relay teams finished sixth in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:23.94, a new best time for the men in the event this season. The men were also sixth in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:23.48.

In diving, Sophomore Beibei Ji reached the finals and finished in seventh with a score of 277.35. She was just nine points short of a second place finish and less than four points from a top-five finish. In the men's one-meter dive, sophomore Kai Hoffman-Dussome and Eli Mercado were just short of qualifying for the finals. The divers were 13^th and 14^th respectively. The top-12 from the preliminaries advanced to the finals.

In the women's 200-yard individual medley, Carver finished 33^rd with a time of 2:05.21 in the preliminaries. She was one spot away from earning a spot in the finals.

The Purdue Invite continues tomorrow with swimming preliminaries starting at 9 a.m. and the final round starting at 5 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

McKenna Avery

Emma Brazeau

Laura Carver

Chris Cole

Nicole Fuller

Bryn Handley

Beibei Ji

Kevin Kluge

Eli Mercado

Rita Naude

Michael Wolfe

Scoreboard

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