Swim and Dive to compete in the Mizzou Invite
11/14/2018 | 3:50:00 | Swimming & Diving
Meet:Â Mizzou InvitationalÂ
Where:Â Mizzou Aquatic Center (Columbia, MO)Â
When:Â November 15-17
Live stats:Â http://stats.mutigers.com/live/mizzouinvite18/
Teams:Â Southern Illinois, Arkansas, Boise State, BYU, California Baptist, Drury, Florida International, McKendree, Missouri, Oklahoma Baptist, San Diego State, Wyoming
The Saluki swimming and diving program heads to Columbia, Missouri to compete in the annual Mizzou Invitational which will take place from November 15-17 at the Mizzou Aquatic Center. This marks the first time since 2013 that Southern will participate in the invite.Â
Early season recapÂ
An injury filled Southern roster opened the 2018-19 campaign to defeats against McKendree. The program separated for their second meet of the season. The women hosted Illinois and Illinois State for a tri-meet, falling to both teams. The men's team competed in a quad meet hosted by McKendree, which was not scored. The Salukis have been away from competition for nearly a month, with the last meet occurring on October 20.
On the men's side, swimmers Fu Kang and Chris Cole have delivered noteworthy performances for the Salukis. Kang's 100-yard breaststroke time of 55.40 tops the Mid-American Conference and is the second best amongst NCAA Division I Mid-Major schools. Cole's mark of 4:02.08 in the 400-yard IM ranks third is the MAC.Â
On the women's side, swimmers Emma Brazeau and Laura Carver have impressed early on. Brazeau, a three-time All-MVC selection, holds the third fastest 100-yard butterfly (57.52) in the Missouri Valley Conference. Carver's time of 4:32.20 in the 400 IM also ranks third in the MVC.Â
The Salukis have garnered six victories in diving events as well.Â
For the Saluki women, junior Beibei Ji holds three wins. In addition, Beibei is at the peak of the MVC leaderboard in the one-and three-meter diving events. Her twin sister Baobao is second in the MVC in both events.Â
For the Saluki men, Eli Mercado took first in the one-meter dive (339.05) and Kai Hoffman-Dussome won the three-meter dive (343.68) in their lone meet of the season. Mercado's holds the top one-meter score in the MAC and seventh amongst Mid-Major schools. Hoffman-Dussome's three-meter score is good for second in the MAC.Â
Hear from head coach Rick WalkerÂ
"This is a great opportunity for us to get up and swim, while not as tired from heavy workouts. If we can walk away with majority season bests and maybe some lifetime bests — we will have made the best of it. The divers have a chance to stack up against some of the best in the country as well. It does not get much better than that."
Hear from junior Samantha ParsonsÂ
"I'm very excited for the Mizzou Invite. There's gonna be some fast and talented teams, but I think that we can put up a good fight. We have been training hard and this is another opportunity for us to race and see where we are at this time in the season. I just want us to go out there and have some fun!"Â
Hear from senior Chris ColeÂ
"I am really looking forward to competing with a more complete team. We had a lot of guys out at the beginning of the year and I'm excited to see what they can do. This is a great meet to test where we are at as a team and individually."
Further information about the Mizzou Invite can be found on the program attached.
For the latest updates on the Salukis at the Mizzou Invite, follow the team on Twitter @SIU_SwimDive, on Instagram @SIUSwimAndDive and Facebook at Saluki Swimming and Diving.
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Players Mentioned
