Wednesday, March 2
Carbondale, IL
All Day
Southern Illinois University
vs
MAC Championship
Salukis Take Second at 2022 MAC's, First Time in Program History
03/05/2022 | 11:00:00 | Swimming & Diving
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- For the first time since joining the Mid-American Conference in 2008, the Southern Illinois University Salukis placed second among the six competing schools, earning a record-high 727 team points and four titles on the final session of competition for the Salukis. Defending champions Miami of Ohio took home the team title, earning 823 points for another first-place.
"This night of swimming and diving was something really, really special", said head coach Geoff Hanson. "We've traditionally had great final sessions, but to go out like that to secure second. Nobody out there expected that."
Kicking off the first event of the evening, distancers Ben Rutledge and Ian Marshall swam the 5,280 feet in the 1650-freestyle "mile" to open the final session's competition. Junior Marshall edged Missouri State for a fifth-place finish (15:52.37), while the sophomore clocked in at 16:18.39 -- shaving 11 seconds off his entry time.
Taking the third title in the event of his career, junior Adam Cernek clocked in at 1:44.29 in the 200-backstroke to reach gold. Grinding down for a medal in the tight race, freshman Alex Brodsky marked the podium in the individual event. Brodsky hit the wall in 1:47.09 for a bronze medal. Junior Terry Yang also pushed through in for the "A" final, the California native finished sixth with a 1:49.09 and personal best.
Gracing his perviously set record, sophomore Donat Csuvarszki earned himself the gold medal in the 100-freestyle with a 43.27 finish. The Hungarian owns the school, pool, and MAC record from his 43.13 performance in preliminaries. Coming out of the woodworks by the second leg, sophomore Will Chavez sent the crowd in a roar with a push into second-place for a 44.41 finish, shaving half a second off his preliminary time. Sophomore Alex Schlueter dug up more points for SIU, taking seventh in a good 45.13 stretch.
In a battle of the breaststroke, sophomore Gustav Persson and junior Sam Flessner just edged the podium in the "A" final with a fifth-place finale (2:00.47) for Persson and eighth-place final (2:01.51) for Flessner marking career bests for both.
Showcasing his young talent, freshman Jack Khrypunov took home his second gold medal of the week in a incredibly close race for the 200-butterfly. The school. pool, and MAC record holder clocked in at 1:44.30 to earn himself an NCAA B cut time. Max Ransom narrowed close to his lifetime best. The junior finished up the race in sixth-place at a 1:49.62 speed.
On the three-meter boards, senior Kyle Campbell set and moved forward to accomplish his goal and earned a bronze medal in the event, with a score of 292.95 sufflicing to Ball State's Hunter Ongay by only four points. Freshman Lee Haywood was challenged, placing fifth in the final at 276.70 but has still qualified for NCAA Zones on the board previously this season.
Wrapping up the last event of the 2022 MAC Swimming and Diving Championships, Southern Illinois shook the building. In the 400-freestyle relay, the leadoff sophomore Will Chavez swam a 44.30 leg, outpacing the Redhawks of Miami Ohio by a near .60 seconds. Diving in next was sophomore Alex Schlueter to widen the competition gap with a 43.80 leg followed by freshman Alex Santiago with a speedy 43.68 pace. In the final push, sophomore Donat Csuvarszki hunkered down with a 42.66 second 100-freestyle leg to finish the evening with gold for SIU. Shaving 2.39 seconds off the entry, the Salukis clocked in 2:54.44 marking yet another record for the books.
Adding to the awards, a record-high five were named All-Conference Second Team -- Zander Minano, Ian Marshall, Gustav Persson, Alex Schlueter, and Will Chavez, while Adam Cernek, Donat Csuvarszki, and Jack Khrypunov were tabbed All-Conference First Team for their four day performances. Khrypunov also took home the MAC Men's Freshman Swimmer of the Year, while earning NCAA B cut timing and owning two school records.
The Salukis are staying tight in the NCAA individual time standings for where swimmers rank nationally at the end of the season. SIU has three divers heading to NCAA Zones in Ann Arbor, Michigan next week to compete for post-season accolades, while Celia Pulido from the women's program is headed to Atlanta for NCAA's at the end of the month.
FINAL MEET STANDINGS
Miami of Ohio - 823
Southern Illinois - 727
Missouri State - 688
Ball State - 428.5
Evansville - 354
Valparaiso - 191.5
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"This night of swimming and diving was something really, really special", said head coach Geoff Hanson. "We've traditionally had great final sessions, but to go out like that to secure second. Nobody out there expected that."
Kicking off the first event of the evening, distancers Ben Rutledge and Ian Marshall swam the 5,280 feet in the 1650-freestyle "mile" to open the final session's competition. Junior Marshall edged Missouri State for a fifth-place finish (15:52.37), while the sophomore clocked in at 16:18.39 -- shaving 11 seconds off his entry time.
Taking the third title in the event of his career, junior Adam Cernek clocked in at 1:44.29 in the 200-backstroke to reach gold. Grinding down for a medal in the tight race, freshman Alex Brodsky marked the podium in the individual event. Brodsky hit the wall in 1:47.09 for a bronze medal. Junior Terry Yang also pushed through in for the "A" final, the California native finished sixth with a 1:49.09 and personal best.
Gracing his perviously set record, sophomore Donat Csuvarszki earned himself the gold medal in the 100-freestyle with a 43.27 finish. The Hungarian owns the school, pool, and MAC record from his 43.13 performance in preliminaries. Coming out of the woodworks by the second leg, sophomore Will Chavez sent the crowd in a roar with a push into second-place for a 44.41 finish, shaving half a second off his preliminary time. Sophomore Alex Schlueter dug up more points for SIU, taking seventh in a good 45.13 stretch.
In a battle of the breaststroke, sophomore Gustav Persson and junior Sam Flessner just edged the podium in the "A" final with a fifth-place finale (2:00.47) for Persson and eighth-place final (2:01.51) for Flessner marking career bests for both.
Showcasing his young talent, freshman Jack Khrypunov took home his second gold medal of the week in a incredibly close race for the 200-butterfly. The school. pool, and MAC record holder clocked in at 1:44.30 to earn himself an NCAA B cut time. Max Ransom narrowed close to his lifetime best. The junior finished up the race in sixth-place at a 1:49.62 speed.
On the three-meter boards, senior Kyle Campbell set and moved forward to accomplish his goal and earned a bronze medal in the event, with a score of 292.95 sufflicing to Ball State's Hunter Ongay by only four points. Freshman Lee Haywood was challenged, placing fifth in the final at 276.70 but has still qualified for NCAA Zones on the board previously this season.
Wrapping up the last event of the 2022 MAC Swimming and Diving Championships, Southern Illinois shook the building. In the 400-freestyle relay, the leadoff sophomore Will Chavez swam a 44.30 leg, outpacing the Redhawks of Miami Ohio by a near .60 seconds. Diving in next was sophomore Alex Schlueter to widen the competition gap with a 43.80 leg followed by freshman Alex Santiago with a speedy 43.68 pace. In the final push, sophomore Donat Csuvarszki hunkered down with a 42.66 second 100-freestyle leg to finish the evening with gold for SIU. Shaving 2.39 seconds off the entry, the Salukis clocked in 2:54.44 marking yet another record for the books.
Adding to the awards, a record-high five were named All-Conference Second Team -- Zander Minano, Ian Marshall, Gustav Persson, Alex Schlueter, and Will Chavez, while Adam Cernek, Donat Csuvarszki, and Jack Khrypunov were tabbed All-Conference First Team for their four day performances. Khrypunov also took home the MAC Men's Freshman Swimmer of the Year, while earning NCAA B cut timing and owning two school records.
The Salukis are staying tight in the NCAA individual time standings for where swimmers rank nationally at the end of the season. SIU has three divers heading to NCAA Zones in Ann Arbor, Michigan next week to compete for post-season accolades, while Celia Pulido from the women's program is headed to Atlanta for NCAA's at the end of the month.
FINAL MEET STANDINGS
Miami of Ohio - 823
Southern Illinois - 727
Missouri State - 688
Ball State - 428.5
Evansville - 354
Valparaiso - 191.5
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Players Mentioned
Free/Back
/ Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Swimming & Diving
Back/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Dive
/ Swimming & Diving
Fly/Free/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Free/Fly
/ Swimming & Diving
Breaststroke
/ Swimming & Diving
Back/Fly
/ Swimming & Diving
Fly/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Free/Back
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