Southern Illinois University
Missouri State University
Salukis drop pair of dual meets to Missouri State
11/09/2019 | 8:00:00 | Swimming & Diving
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Southern Illinois swimming and diving program hanged tough, but dropped a pair of conference dual meets to Missouri State on Saturday afternoon at the HSC Pool. The women's team lost by a narrow margin, 111-132, while the men's team fell 82-159.
"I think we got off to a really good start with the divers setting the tone by winning all four events," head coach Geoff Hanson said. "We were excited with their results and they put us in a good position since all of the diving events started first. Swimming wise, we started strong with good relay wins, but battled the rest of the way. We had some really good performances, but we weren't able to match with some of the Missouri State swimmers."
EVENT WINS
* Women's team
Baobao Ji
• One-meter dive (287.48)
• Three-meter dive (294.60)
Sierra Forbord
• 200-free (1:54.33)
Samantha Parsons
• 200-breast (2:23.66)
Speed, Vogt, Naude, Forbord
• 400-medley relay (3:53.02)
* Men's team
Adam Cernek
• 200-IM (1:52.97)
• 200-back (1:47.85)
Kai Hoffmann-Dussome
• One-meter dive (313.05)
• Three-meter dive (317.78)
Cernek, Dooley, Hajtman, Yeap
• 400-medley relay (3:23.05)
MEET HIGHLIGHTS
* Women's team
Baobao Ji led the Saluki women with a team-best two individual victories. She scored 287.48 in the one-meter dive and 294.60 in the three-meter dive to capture her sixth and seventh wins of the season. It is the third time in four meets that the Taiyuan, China native has earned the sweep on the boards. Beibei Ji placed second to Baobao in both diving events with scores of 267.30 (One-meter) and 279.45 (Three-meter).
Junior transfer Sierra Forbord paced SIU in short-distance events with a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (1:54.33) and a third-place mark in the 100-yard freestyle (53.37). She outlasted Bear swimmer Alex Thorson by .15 seconds to earn the win in the 200-free.
Forbord also helped the 400-yard medley relay team to a commanding victory with a time of 3:53.02. Deven Speed, Sarah Vogt and Rita Naude raced the first three legs, while Forbord anchored in the winning effort.
Samantha Parsons led the Saluki charge in the 200-yard breaststroke with a first-place finish at 2:23.66. Behind Parsons in the race was Laura Carver in second (2:24.49), Sarah Vogt in third (2:26.95) and Justina Lanni in fourth (2:30.71).
Eden Girloanta strung out a pair of top-three marks in distance events, as she placed second in the 500-yard freestyle (5:05.80) and third in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:29.13).
Carver and Payton Parman raced to second-place finishes in individual events. Carver was runner-up in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:08.76. Parman was shy of first in the 200-yard butterfly by a mere .11 seconds with a time of 2:07.96.
Abigail Young (200-fly // 2:09.32) and Naude (50-free // 24.62) added key points with third-place marks for SIU.
* Men's team
Kai Hoffmann-Dussome and Adam Cernek each shined against Missouri State, as the duo combined for all five of SIU's victories.
Hoffmann-Dussome handily swept events on the boards against three Bear divers. The senior won the one-meter dive with a score of 313.05 and the three-meter dive with a score of 317.78. He was the lone diver to reach the 300-plateau in both events.
All three events that Cernek competed in resulted in wins. Individually, Cernek recorded the meets fastest times in the 200-IM (1:52.97) and 200-yard backstroke (1:47.85). The Turany, Slovakia native holds a team-high eight individual victories on the season.
The freshman also teamed up with Jimmy Dooley, Tamas Hajtman and Zheng Yang Yeap to win the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:23.05.
The three other relay members finished with top-three finishes in their respective events. Yeap added points with runner-up finishes in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events with times of 46.75 and 1:41.84. Dooley swam to third in the 200-breast (2:10.55) and Hajtman was third in the 50-yard freestyle (21.52).
MORE THOUGHTS FROM COACH HANSON
"Cernek was a real bright spot on the men's side. With how he swam today, I'd imagine he's leading the conference in the 200-IM and 200-back. Samantha Parsons and Sierra Forbord winning events was key to keeping the women's matchup close. Some races went our race, others didn't. But overall, I was happy with our effort and how we've progressed from the start of the season to now."
NEXT UP
Southern will be back in action at the SIU Invitational from Nov. 14-16 inside Shea Natatorium. Evansville and Wisconsin Whitewater are set to partake in the home midseason meet.
Players Mentioned
