Southern Illinois University
Missouri Invite
Salukis show potential at Mizzou Invite
11/17/2018 | 11:55:00 | Swimming & Diving
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Southern Illinois swimming and diving program traveled to Columbia, Missouri to compete in the Mizzou Invitational from Nov. 15-17 at the Mizzou Aquatic Center. The men's team placed sixth out of 11 teams, with 220 points. The women's team finished eighth out of 13 teams, tacking 104 points. The competition primarily consisted of NCAA Division I schools, and also Power-Five universities Arkansas and Missouri.
The host of the invite, Missouri, claimed first by a large margin on both the men's and women's side.
The Salukis compiled 11 top-finishes during the three-day meet. Southern swimmers broke several season and career personal records in the process.
- 3rd
- Three-meter dive - Beibei Ji (303.70)
- 4th
- Three-meter dive - Baobao Ji (294.00)
- 5th
- Men's 800-yard freestyle relay - Yeap, Garman, Phillips, Kang (6:43.91)
- 6th
- One-meter dive - Baobao Ji (265.40)
- 1650-yard freestyle - Chris Cole (15:44.60)
- 7th
- 100-yard breaststroke - Fu Kang (55.37)
- 1650-yard freestyle - Kevin Kluge (15:52.59)
- 8th
- 100-yard butterfly - Emma Brazeau (55.23)
- 9th
- 200-yard freestyle - Reilly Garman (1:38.34)
- 10th
- Men's 200-yard freestyle relay - Hajtman, Kang, Garman, Chelberg (1:23.83)
- Men's 400-yard freestyle relay - Hajtman, Yeap, Kang, Garman (3:02.30)
DAY ONE HIGHLIGHTS
- Senior Emma Brazeau swam a PR of 54.96 in the 100-fly preliminaries, which qualified her for the A-finals. In the final, she placed eighth (55.23). Her two marks were the second and fourth fastest times in Saluki history. Brazeau's prelim time surpassed Karen McIntyre's time of 55.02 — set in 1987. The senior now holds the second, fourth and fifth fastest times all-time at SIU.
- Junior Rita Naude was close behind Brazeau, placing 10th (55.76) in the prelims and finishing 14th overall (56.21).
- Tamas Hajtman, Fu Kang, Reilly Garman and Robert Chelberg finished 10th (1:23.83) in the 200-yard free relay.
- One second separated sixth through 10th place in the event.
- The distance trio of Zheng Yeap (4:32.37), Kevin Kluge (4:37.37) and Chris Cole (4:38.54) claimed 11-15-16 in the 500-yard freestyle finals.
- The event was Yeap's first of his collegiate career.
- Brazeau followed up her impressive performance in the 100-fly, with a PR in the 200-yard IM prelims (2:04.48).
- She swam 2:04.52 in the final to finish 18th.
- Southern was led by Hajtman in the 50-free, who posted a time of 21.07 in the B-final, good for 14th overall.
- Beibei Ji (303.70) and Baobao Ji (294.00) went three-four in the three-meter A-finals, scoring 31 combined points for the Salukis.
- Laura Carver scored for the Salukis in the 400 IM (4:26.54), placing 16th overall.
- The mark ranks fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference.
- Senior Reilly Garman swam a PR of 1:38.34 in the 200-free to claim first in the B-final and ninth overall.
- The time is atop of the Mid-American Conference.
- Kang finished seventh in both the 100-breast prelims and A-finals (55.22, 55.37). His prelims mark is the fourth fastest time in Saluki history.
- Kang's 100-breast time ranks first in the MAC and amongst Mid-Major schools.
- Baobao claimed sixth place in the one-meter dive A-finals with a score of 265.40, far below her season best of 303.45.
- Her twin sister Beibei went on to finish third in the B-final with a score of 264.80.
- Southern closed day two with a fifth place mark in the 800-free relay (6:43.91). Yeap, Garman, Phillips and Kang teamed up to earn the men's team their best finish in the invite.
DAY THREE HIGHLIGHTS
- Cole and Kluge went six-seven (15:44.60, 15:52.59) in the 1650-free, which compiled 25 combined points for the Salukis.
- Samantha Parsons finished 12th (2:16.84) and Brazeau finished 13th (2:18.80) in the 200-yard breaststroke.
- Parsons was .76 seconds shy of breaking into the top-10.
- Brazeau's mark was a PR.
- Beibei Ji and Baobao Ji went three-four in the three-meter A-finals, scoring 31 combined points for the Salukis.
- Kang placed 12th (2:02.09) in the 200-breast.
- The mark is a season best by any Saluki.
- Audrey Snyder claimed 13th place (2:05.10) in the 200-fly.
- Hajtman, Yeap, Kang and Garman posted a time of 3:02.30 in the 400-free relay, which earned the group a top-10 finish.
THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH RICK WALKER
"I was very pleased with how our team did this week at the Mizzou Invite. Teaching our athletes to perform at the highest level even when conditions are not perfect is paramount for where we want to go and who we want to be. Having each athlete accept that challenge makes the end result a little less daunting. I coach a great group of young go-getters."
NEXT UP
The Salukis are back at Shea Natatorium on Saturday, Dec. 1 against conference opponent Missouri State.
Players Mentioned
