Saluki men's swimming and diving picked third in MAC preseason coaches poll

Saluki men's swimming and diving picked third in MAC preseason coaches poll

09/30/2019 | 10:10:00 | Swimming & Diving

By: By Alex Underwood, SIUSalukis.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Southern Illinois men's swimming and diving team was picked to finish third in the Mid-American Conference preseason coaches poll, the league announced Monday.

Missouri State (23) received three first-place votes to finish first, while defending MAC champion Miami (OH) was projected second with two first-place votes and 21 points. Behind SIU (15) was Ball State in fourth (10) and Evansville (6) in fifth.

Southern is under the direction of first-year head coach Geoff Hanson, who took over for 32-year coaching veteran Rick Walker. He will be assisted by Ivan Sanchez (2nd year), Johno Fergusson (1st year) and long-time Saluki diving coach Chunhua Zhao (17th year). Hanson spent the last three seasons as the head swimming and diving coach at Division II Colorado Mesa. He led the Mavericks to their highest-ever finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships in both 2018 and 2019 and was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2019.

The Salukis took third in the MAC last season, which was its best finish since 2012. Swimmers Tamas Hajtman and Chris Phillips headline the returners, as both were named All-MAC second team in 2019. Jimmy Dooley, Kai Hoffmann-Dussome, Kevin Kluge, Ryan Lehane, Drake Manuello, Eli Mercado and Zheng Yang Yeap were on the fringe of All-MAC honors with top-10 performances at the 2019 MAC Championships.

SIU also welcomes five freshmen and two transfers to the roster. Adam Cernek spent his prep career overseas in Slovakia and won four events at the 2019 Slovak National Swimming Championships. Jacob Hepper, Ian Marshall and Max Ransom each placed in one or more event at their high school state championship meet in 2019. Uriel Tejeda Barajas and Kyle Campbell transfer over as sophomores. Barajas swam at Grand Canyon as a freshman and Campbell began his collegiate career at Cleveland State.

Southern will open the 2019-20 season on Oct. 4 with a dual meet at McKendree.

For the latest updates on the Saluki swimming and diving program, follow the team on Twitter @SIU_SwimDive, on Instagram @SIUSwimAndDive and on Facebook at Saluki Swimming and Diving.

PRESEASON COACHES POLL