Wednesday, February 16
Iowa City, IA
All Day
Southern Illinois University
at
MVC Championship
Salukis Finish Fourth at 2022 MVC Swim and Dive Championships
02/19/2022 | 9:30:00 | Swimming & Diving
IOWA CITY, Iowa – With steep competition in the pool, the Salukis battled from Wednesday on to finish in fourth place (473.5 points) inside the CRWC Natatorium at the 2022 MVC Swimming and Diving Conference Championships. Missouri State took home their sixth straight title, followed by runner-up Illinois State, and Indiana State in the bronze spot. SIU saw two individual champions and numerous growth in season and lifetime bests.
The women kicked off in the longest swim event of the meet, the "mile" 1650-freestyle with freshman Drew Penick and senior Eden Girloanta pre-qualifying for the championship heat to start the evening. Penick clocked in 17:58.22 and dropped into 19th place, while Eden struck the competition in sixth place with a time of 17:13.03.
Celia Pulido took home her second individual first-place title Saturday evening. The freshman dropped .74 seconds from the morning to earn gold at 1:55.28 in the 200-backstroke, while teammate Lucia Romero improved by two seconds at 1:59.32 for fourth place.
Topping off the last individual freestyle event of her career, fifth-year Sierra Forbord marked a near-best time of 50.73 in fifth place as the Salukis' only final placer in the scoring heat.
The "underdawg" story of the evening went to freshman flyer Jules Atkinson. The Oklahoma native earned a fifth-seed placement (2:04.40) during the morning's preliminaries of the 200-butterfly. She pushed in a tight race loaded with stiff competition from Indiana State and Illinois State within milliseconds. Atkinson preserved to clock in at 2:01.70 to earn a gold for the Salukis, just ahead of Indiana State's Marni Gray.
On the diving boards for the night, freshman Farida Moussa scored her second-best on the board, performing a 237.80 in jumps, while averaging 39.63 points in each dive. Senior Laura Mircea, who qualified for the first "A" final of her career, jumped to seventh place, recording a 232.65 score.
To wrap up the events of the meet, the Saluki sqaud of Sierra Forbord, Abbey Desmet, Lucia Romero, and Celia Pulido swam into sixth place, clocking in at 3:25.74 in the 400-freestyle relay.
Pulido was named the 2022 MVC Freshman Swimmer of the Year, for her performances now owning four school records throughout the season. Pulido, along with Jules Atkinson and Sierra Forbord were named to the All-MVC team. Nine Salukis, Eden Girloanta, Ella Kerr, Laura Mircea, Farida Moussa, Jasmine Rau, Ali Robertson, Lucia Romero, Fernanda Sanchez, and Melanie Scheiblein were tabbed honorable mentions.
The men's program continues their post-season competition where Southern Illinois will host the MAC Men's Swimming and Diving Championship inside Shea Natatorium March 2-5.
FINAL STANDINGS
Missouri State - 889.5
Illinois State - 492.5
Indiana State - 474
Southern Illinois - 473.5
Northern Iowa - 431.5
Evansville - 328
Little Rock - 281
Valparaiso - 68
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
For all things Saluki Swimming and Diving, be sure to follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The women kicked off in the longest swim event of the meet, the "mile" 1650-freestyle with freshman Drew Penick and senior Eden Girloanta pre-qualifying for the championship heat to start the evening. Penick clocked in 17:58.22 and dropped into 19th place, while Eden struck the competition in sixth place with a time of 17:13.03.
Celia Pulido took home her second individual first-place title Saturday evening. The freshman dropped .74 seconds from the morning to earn gold at 1:55.28 in the 200-backstroke, while teammate Lucia Romero improved by two seconds at 1:59.32 for fourth place.
Topping off the last individual freestyle event of her career, fifth-year Sierra Forbord marked a near-best time of 50.73 in fifth place as the Salukis' only final placer in the scoring heat.
The "underdawg" story of the evening went to freshman flyer Jules Atkinson. The Oklahoma native earned a fifth-seed placement (2:04.40) during the morning's preliminaries of the 200-butterfly. She pushed in a tight race loaded with stiff competition from Indiana State and Illinois State within milliseconds. Atkinson preserved to clock in at 2:01.70 to earn a gold for the Salukis, just ahead of Indiana State's Marni Gray.
On the diving boards for the night, freshman Farida Moussa scored her second-best on the board, performing a 237.80 in jumps, while averaging 39.63 points in each dive. Senior Laura Mircea, who qualified for the first "A" final of her career, jumped to seventh place, recording a 232.65 score.
To wrap up the events of the meet, the Saluki sqaud of Sierra Forbord, Abbey Desmet, Lucia Romero, and Celia Pulido swam into sixth place, clocking in at 3:25.74 in the 400-freestyle relay.
Pulido was named the 2022 MVC Freshman Swimmer of the Year, for her performances now owning four school records throughout the season. Pulido, along with Jules Atkinson and Sierra Forbord were named to the All-MVC team. Nine Salukis, Eden Girloanta, Ella Kerr, Laura Mircea, Farida Moussa, Jasmine Rau, Ali Robertson, Lucia Romero, Fernanda Sanchez, and Melanie Scheiblein were tabbed honorable mentions.
The men's program continues their post-season competition where Southern Illinois will host the MAC Men's Swimming and Diving Championship inside Shea Natatorium March 2-5.
FINAL STANDINGS
Illinois State - 492.5
Indiana State - 474
Southern Illinois - 473.5
Northern Iowa - 431.5
Evansville - 328
Little Rock - 281
Valparaiso - 68
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Players Mentioned
Fly/IM
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Fly/Free
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Freestyle
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Breast/IM
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Diving
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Dive
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Breast/Free/IM
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Back/Fly
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Free/Fly
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Breast/Free/IM
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Back/Free/Fly
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IM/Breast
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