Southern Illinois University
MAC Championships (Men)
Fu Kang breaks school record on day three at MAC Championships
03/06/2019 | 8:23:00 | Swimming & Diving
OXFORD, Ohio — The Southern Illinois men's swimming and diving program remains in third place through three days at the MAC Championships. With seven finals events left, the Salukis trail Miami (OH) and Missouri State for first and second.
Fu Kang and Reilly Garman were the stars of day three, as both came away with second place finishes for the Salukis.
In the 100-yard breaststroke, Fu Kang broke the school record in the finals with a time of 53.86. The mark bested former SIU swimmer Bobby Wood's time of 54.26 set during the 2016-17 season. The newcomer also posted the top 100-breast time (54.64) in the preliminaries, which was the second fastest in SIU history.
Chris Phillips and Jimmy Dooley also placed in the top-10 for Southern in the 100-breast. Phillips qualified for the A final and finished seventh with a time of 55.60, while Dooley won the B final with a time of 56.20.
Reilly Garman sprinted to a career-best time of 1:36.80 in the 200-yard freestyle finals. He was .07 shy of first-place finisher, Pawel Krawczyk. Along with being second overall, his time was the fifth-fastest mark in SIU history. Close behind was fellow Saluki Zheng Yang Yeap, who finished sixth (1:39.35) in the top heat.
Both Kang and Garman helped lead SIU to a third-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay as well. The two paired with Ryan Lehane and Tamas Hajtman in the event and swam a season-best time of 3:18.41.
Additionally, several other SIU swimmers excelled on day three.
Chris Cole delivered a historic performance in the 400-IM prelims. The senior swam a time of 3:52.56, which ranked first in the prelims and was the second fastest in SIU history. In the finals, Cole swam the fifth-fastest mark in school history (3:54.82) to place fifth overall.
Freshman Drake Manuello also qualified for the top final in the 400-IM and finished seventh with a time of 4:02.22. In the B final, Kyle Berquist placed second (4:03.58), which earned him 10th overall.
In the 100-yard butterfly, Hajtman was the lone Saluki to qualify for the A final and went on to finish eighth with a mark of 49.12.
Lehane and Alex Netzel qualified for the B final in the 100-yard backstroke for the Southern. The duo went one-two in the final with times of 50.93 and 50.84.
SIU is back in action tomorrow for the final day at the MAC Championships. Prelims are set to commence at 9:30 a.m. CT. and finals will start at 3:45 p.m. CT with the 1650-free event.
Along with following the MAC Championship Central page, follow @SIU_SwimDive on twitter, @SIUSwimandDive on Instagram and Saluki Swimming and Diving on Facebook for the latest updates on the Salukis.
DAY THREE STANDINGS
1. Miami (OH) - 623.5
2. Missouri State - 599
3. Southern Illinois - 382.5
4. Ball State - 220.5
5. Evansville - 212.5
Players Mentioned
