Recap | Salukis Open Weekend with Wins Over Little Rock, Henderson State

Calendar

Oct 3

4 PM / 10 AM

Swimming & Diving

Missouri State

Oct 10

3 PM

Swimming & Diving

UIC

Oct 11

11 AM

Swimming & Diving

Northwestern/Miami (OH)

Oct 24

5 PM / 11 AM

Swimming & Diving

Illinois/Illinois State (Women)

Nov 13

Swimming & Diving

A3 Performance Invite

Nov 20

Swimming & Diving

Missouri

Jan 9

2 PM

Swimming & Diving

Purdue (Men)

Jan 10

1 PM

Swimming & Diving

Indiana State/Evansville

CARBONDALE, Ill. – On the first day of back-to-back meets, the Southern Illinois swimming and diving team traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, on Friday. Both SIU squads took on Henderson State, while the women's team also faced Little Rock. It was another successful meet for the Salukis. The men's team downed Henderson State, 200-86, and the women's team beat Little Rock, 214-73, and Henderson State, 233-47.

"Another very strong day of competition for the Saluki swimmers and divers in Little Rock today," said head coach Geoff Hanson. "With two more competitions remaining for women and just one more for the men, we feel good about where we are as a team."

Inside the Results

There was a total of 67 podium finishes for the Salukis across the 32 events. Of those 32 events, SIU occupied all three spots of the podium seven times.
Southern Illinois had 27 different first-place finishes throughout the competition.
Celia Pulido, Olivia Herron, Willem Huggins, and Alex Santiago all tied for the lead in gold medals with four each.

How It Happened
The day started with the one-meter dive. Farida Moussa and Audrey Leno opened the Salukis' day by taking second and third place, respectively. Then, on the men's side of the one-meter dive, AJ Stone and Graham Arteta captured first and second place; Stone's score of 219.30 is a career-best in the one-meter dive for the freshman.

Once the swimming events began, the 400-yard medley relay teams were the first ones in the pool. SIU occupied the top two spots on the women's podium, while the men's "A" team finished in first place and their "B" squad took third.

Next up was the 1000-yard freestyle event. Apryl Paquette won the women's event thanks to her swim of 10:33.18. Joshua Aceves then added another gold medal to SIU's collection after winning the men's 1000-yard freestyle. Moving onto the 200-yard freestyle, Susanna Hernandez snagged a silver medal in the women's race while Bea Padron finished in third, just a second behind Hernandez. Meanwhile, the men swept the 200-yard freestyle thanks to Rodrigo Ramos, Alex Cimera, and Juraj Barcot.

Another Southern Illinois sweep came in the women's 100-yard backstroke, with Pulido, Liseska Gallegos Gutierrez, and Tia Jankovics all standing on the podium. Pulido's race of 52.94 met the NCAA's provisional "B" standard. The men's 100-yard backstroke was bookended with Salukis, as Huggins placed first and Alex Brodsky was third.

The top three spots in the women's 100-yard breaststroke event belonged to SIU in the order of Herron, Madalyn Booker , and Ali Robertson, with Booker setting a new career-best after her 102.15 race. Herron's swim of 1:00.44 also the NCAA's "B" standard. As for the men's 100-yard breaststroke, Henrique Pacheco Januario's 55.41 swim was a career-best for him and captured first-place while Benedek Andor took home third in the event.

Moving to the 200-yard butterfly event, Brooklyn Anderson set a new career-best with her first-place time of 2:04.17. Tamara De la Torre and Jules Atkinson followed up Anderson in second- and third-place, respectively. In the men's field, Nate Worsham finished in third. The 50-yard freestyle saw plenty of Salukis on the podium too, with Masha Zhukova and Zaria Terry bookending the women's event while Santiago and Donat Csuvarszki were first and second in the men's pool, respectively. Santiago also reached NCAA "B" standard with his time of 19.69.

The swimmers took a brief break while the divers reentered the competition. In the three-meter dive, Leno set a new career-high with her score of 237.60 to finish first. Corrin Williams placed third in the same event. On the men's side, Stone set another career-high while grabbing first place with his 242.25 dive. Arteta was the runner-up in the event.

Swimming events returned with the women's 100-yard freestyle, and Hernandez and Zhukova grabbed second and third place, respectively. In the men's 100-yard freestyle, Santiago captured another gold while Csuvarszki finished in third place.

The Salukis swept another podium in the women's 200-yard backstroke with Pulido, Gallegos, and Jankovics. Then, Huggins won the men's side of the 200-yard backstroke while Barcot was the runner-up.

All three spots on the women's 200-yard breaststroke belonged to Salukis, and Herron's first-place time of 2:13.10 met NCAA "B" standards. The men's team saw a first-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke thanks to Pacheco. In the 500-yard freestyle, Ale Hoyos Horvath was the event's runner-up while Paquette rounded out the podium. Ramos claimed first on the men's side of the 500-yard freestyle, and Aceves finished less than a second after Ramos did to claim second place.

Two more Salukis finished in first place in the 100-yard butterfly; Padron did so on the women's side of the event and Cimera was the men's winner. Jasmine Rau and Hazem Aboustate also had podium finishes in the 100-yard butterfly.

The final individual event of the afternoon was the 400-yard IM. In the women's race, three Salukis, Herron, Fernanda Sánchez, and Anderson finished first, second, and third, respectively. Then, Barcot added another podium finish to his resume by taking first and Pacheco was right behind him in second place.

The competition ended with the 200-yard freestyle relays. SIU's women's "A" team, made of Zaria Terry, Zhukova, Gallegos, and Pulido, was the event's winner while the "B" team made a podium appearance as well. Finally, the men's "A" team, featuring Aj Terry , Csuvarszki, Huggins, and Santiago, ended the day in first place, with Southern Illinois' "B" sitting in third place.

Up Next
The Salukis have a quick turnaround as they host Eastern Illinois tomorrow afternoon for Senior Day. There will be a distance swim at 11 a.m. with the Senior Day ceremony slated for 11:45 a.m. The rest of the meet commences at 12 p.m.

Follow the Salukis
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on X at @SIU_SwimDive, on Instagram at @SIU_Swimdive , and on Facebook at facebook.com/SIUSwimDive. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.

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