Mid-American Conference Championship Preview

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By Andrew Ross, Swimming World College Intern

With final exams over and fall invitationals in the books, it is time for some hard training while swimmers across the nations are on winter break. The Men’s Mid-American Conference Championships are set to take place the first weekend of March. The athletes have plenty of time to get themselves ready by then, but let’s take a look at the season so far.

The Missouri State Bears are the defending champions and look strong to repeat this year. They currently lead the conference in four relays and have defending MAC swimmer of the year Uvis Kalnins and 2013 All-American in Senior Paul Le fighting for them. If there is a team that can challenge Missouri State, it is Eastern Michigan led by head coach Peter Linn. The Eagles lead the conference in the 200 medley relay with their time from the EMU Invitational. The Eagles are known for having a big taper, with a lot of swimmers coming out of early heats and outside lanes to make noise in prelims.

The Southern Illinois Salukis, led by head coach Rick Walker, are another team on the rise. They are currently second in the 200 free relay and 800 free relay behind the Bears after swimming right beside them at the Louisville Invite. With a few mid-season international additions, they could be right in the thick of things in all relays come March.

The Buffalo Bulls finished third in their home pool last year. They also graduated the largest senior class out of all the seven schools in the conference, but their strengths right now are in the medley relays. The Bulls are flying under the radar this year because they did not compete on the first day of the Cleveland State Invite due to travel issues. Keep an eye on them on the first day of the MAC Championship, since they missed the opportunity to swim those races tapered at the invitational.

The Miami Redhawks finished fourth last year and have a very competitive team this year. They shocked everyone last year when they finished second in the 200 free relay. All four of those guys are returning, including the 50 free champion, senior Joe Baumgartner. The Redhawks are sleepers in the 200 free relay and have a chance to win a title for head coach Pete Lindsay.

The Indiana teams in Ball State and Evansville currently sit at the bottom of the conference, but Ball State’s star breaststroker Joe Morris is back after sitting out last season. He is an outside shot to win the 100 and 200 breast this year, so keep an eye on him. The Purple Aces from Evansville recently finished sixth at the House of Champions Invitational at IUPUI. They are an improving team with a lot of heart and are very good competitors.

The Swimmers and Divers of the week thus far:

10/6 Paul Le, Missouri State

10/13 Till Pallmann, Southern Illinois

10/20 Garrett Nevels, Missouri State

10/27 Uvis Kalnins, Missouri State

11/3 Uvis Kalnins, Missouri State

11/10 Andrew Henry, Eastern Michigan

11/17 Jordan Lesser, Eastern Michigan

11/24 Miguel Davila, Missouri State

12/8 Joe Baumgartner, Miami

The MAC Championships are just over 50 days away. There is still a lot of preparation that all seven teams will be doing between now and March, and all the swimmers will be looking to improve upon last year’s performances.

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