Salukis remain in fourth at MAC Championships

Thursday, March 1

Oxford, OH

All Day

Southern Illinois University

MAC Men's Swimming and Diving Championships

03/01/2018 | 7:39:00 | Swimming & Diving

By: Tony McDaniel, SIUSalukis.com

The Salukis men continued to compete this evening at the MAC Swimming and Diving Championships and recorded two top-five finishes. As a team, the Salukis remained in Fourth place and are 99.5 points behind third-place Miami. Missouri State leads the Conference meet.

The night kicked off with Southern's best event of the day, the 500-yard freestyle. Southern qualified three swimmers for the A final. Senior Michael Wolfe led the way with a fourth place finish in the event. He swam the finals with a time of 4:28.01. In the prelims, Wolfe's time of 4:26.88 was the best for the Salukis this season. Sophomore Kevin Kluge was fifth and junior Chris Cole was tied for seventh. In the B final, Nolan Fahey was 16^th.

In the 50-yard freestyle, sophomore Tamas Hajtman was the only Saluki to swim in the finals. His time of 20.39 was good for seventh place and a new best time this season in the event for SIU.

In one-meter diving, sophomore Kai Hoffman-Dussome was seventh in the finals with a score of 244.80. His prelim score of 281.70 was his best performance on the season. Sophomore Eli Mercado was 10^th overall.

In the 200-yard IM, sophomore Chris Phillips was the only Salukis to swim in the finals. He was 14^th overall with a time of 1:50.09. His prelim time of 1:48.75, his best swim of the season and the fourth-fastest in men's program history.

In the final event of the night, the 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of Hajtman, senior Alex Crawford, sophomore Matt Ciezczak and senior Joao Facciotti placed fourth with a time of 1:22.29, the fastest for the Salukis this season.