Saturday, April 10
Oxford, OH
ALL DAY
Southern Illinois University
at
MAC Championships (Men)
SIU Breaks two Records in MAC Championship Finale
04/10/2021 | 9:30:00 | Swimming & Diving
OXFORD, Ohio — The Southern Illinois men's swimming and diving team finished in third-place with 588.5 points at the Mid-American Conference Championships. The final session of swimming brought two broken school records for the program, as Miami University of Ohio took the first-place title with 932.
After breaking the school record at last year's event, sophomore Adam Cernek broke his own record again at the conference championship in the 200-backstroke, clocking in at 1:43.17 for another individual first-place title for SIU. The Slovakia native surpassed his morning preliminary time by nearly a three-second margin.
With a .57 second margin, previously set in 2015, relay team A of Marc Avery, Will Chavez, Zheng Yang Yeap, and Donat Csuvarszki broke the 400-freestyle relay school record. The time of 2:56.40 gave the Salukis a second-place finish in the final event of the weekend.
The Salukis saw a double top-three placement on Saturday night. Freshman Csuvarszki swam his career-best in the 100-freestyle, 43.94 seconds, for the second Saluki individual first-place title of the evening. Following behind his teammate, freshman Avery garnered a third-place spot for Southern, clocking in his own new personal best with 44.26. Both freshman have shaved off their event times from the start off the season to the conference championship by near four seconds.
Freshman Gustav Persson and sophomore Max Ransom battled out in two "A" finals for SIU. Persson completed a 2:01.52 race in the 200-breaststroke for a seventh place finish, while Ransom hit the wall at 1:50.03 during the 200-butterfly event in eighth place.
After building a second career-best performance on the three-meter board in preliminaries to be ranked number one going into Saturday, junior Kyle Campbell grabbed a fifth place finish for SIU in diving. Heading into the water with 277.65 points and surpassing his previous MAC Championship three-meter final by over 50 points.
In going the long distance, freshman Austin Kinsler swam a 16:14.97 in the 1650-freestyle mile, placing seventh as the only Saluki in the water, as teammate Ben Rutledge competed in exhibition.
Seniors Michael Stern and Kyle Berquist concluded their Saluki careers over the weekend with Stern competing in a bulk of exhibition races and dropping his 500-freestyle race by over seven seconds (4:51.25) and his 200-freestyle event by two seconds (1:44.39). Berquist joined in the 200-medley relay squad, swimming the breaststroke leg to a second place finish (1:28.56) for SIU on Friday. The Oregon native was the lone Saluki to reach the class "A" final in the 100-breaststroke event, garnering a sixth-place finish (55.63) in the preliminaries, composing his new personal record, and racing to an eighth-place finale in the event for SIU.
SIU went back-to-back with three individuals named First team All-MAC. The three honorees were Cernek, Zander Minano and Csuvarski. Freshman Marc Avery was tabbed All-MAC Second Team, being the first freshman in SIU history to receive the honors.
As the MAC Championships marked the end of the season for the men's program, the women's team is in preparation for the Missouri Valley Championships, hosted at home inside Shea Natatorium, April 14-16.
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Miami of Ohio - 932
2. Missouri State - 687
3. Southern Illinois - 588.5
4. Ball State - 511.5
5. Evansville - 301
After breaking the school record at last year's event, sophomore Adam Cernek broke his own record again at the conference championship in the 200-backstroke, clocking in at 1:43.17 for another individual first-place title for SIU. The Slovakia native surpassed his morning preliminary time by nearly a three-second margin.
With a .57 second margin, previously set in 2015, relay team A of Marc Avery, Will Chavez, Zheng Yang Yeap, and Donat Csuvarszki broke the 400-freestyle relay school record. The time of 2:56.40 gave the Salukis a second-place finish in the final event of the weekend.
The Salukis saw a double top-three placement on Saturday night. Freshman Csuvarszki swam his career-best in the 100-freestyle, 43.94 seconds, for the second Saluki individual first-place title of the evening. Following behind his teammate, freshman Avery garnered a third-place spot for Southern, clocking in his own new personal best with 44.26. Both freshman have shaved off their event times from the start off the season to the conference championship by near four seconds.
Freshman Gustav Persson and sophomore Max Ransom battled out in two "A" finals for SIU. Persson completed a 2:01.52 race in the 200-breaststroke for a seventh place finish, while Ransom hit the wall at 1:50.03 during the 200-butterfly event in eighth place.
After building a second career-best performance on the three-meter board in preliminaries to be ranked number one going into Saturday, junior Kyle Campbell grabbed a fifth place finish for SIU in diving. Heading into the water with 277.65 points and surpassing his previous MAC Championship three-meter final by over 50 points.
In going the long distance, freshman Austin Kinsler swam a 16:14.97 in the 1650-freestyle mile, placing seventh as the only Saluki in the water, as teammate Ben Rutledge competed in exhibition.
Seniors Michael Stern and Kyle Berquist concluded their Saluki careers over the weekend with Stern competing in a bulk of exhibition races and dropping his 500-freestyle race by over seven seconds (4:51.25) and his 200-freestyle event by two seconds (1:44.39). Berquist joined in the 200-medley relay squad, swimming the breaststroke leg to a second place finish (1:28.56) for SIU on Friday. The Oregon native was the lone Saluki to reach the class "A" final in the 100-breaststroke event, garnering a sixth-place finish (55.63) in the preliminaries, composing his new personal record, and racing to an eighth-place finale in the event for SIU.
SIU went back-to-back with three individuals named First team All-MAC. The three honorees were Cernek, Zander Minano and Csuvarski. Freshman Marc Avery was tabbed All-MAC Second Team, being the first freshman in SIU history to receive the honors.
As the MAC Championships marked the end of the season for the men's program, the women's team is in preparation for the Missouri Valley Championships, hosted at home inside Shea Natatorium, April 14-16.
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Miami of Ohio - 932
2. Missouri State - 687
3. Southern Illinois - 588.5
4. Ball State - 511.5
5. Evansville - 301
Players Mentioned
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Dive
/ Swimming & Diving
Back/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
IM/Breast
/ Swimming & Diving
Free/Fly
/ Swimming & Diving
Breaststroke
/ Swimming & Diving
Fly/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
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