The No. 6/20 Missouri men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams concluded the regular season with a sweep over Southern Illinois on Friday afternoon at the Mizzou Aquatic Center. The Tiger men defeated the Salukis 188-111, while the women notched a 174-111 victory.
Junior Grant Reed and sophomore Allison Bloebaum each won two events to led Mizzou. An addition 17 other Tigers also won events on the day.
Reed claimed first in both the 50 free and 200 free, with times of 20.33 and 1:37.17, respectively. Bloebaum was victories in both distance events, as she won in 500 free in 4:52.92 and the 1000 free in 9:57.85.
In the women’s 200 free, junior Sarah Thompson won the race with a personal-best time of 1:48.64 for her team-leading ninth win of the season.
Mizzou claimed three of four wins in the diving well. Sophomore Ike Khamis took top honors in the men’s 1-meter with a 326.18, freshman Carlo Lopez scored a 345.6 to win men’s 3-meter, and freshman Maddie Huitt won the women’s 3-meter with a 319.28.
Freshman Joseph Gutierrez notched a personal-best 9:14.26 to win the men’s 1000 free. Additionally, sophomore Megan Keil touched first in the women’s 50 free in 22.41 and senior Giovanni Gutierrez Lozano won the men’s 500 free in 4:30.58.
The Tigers also earned men’s and women’s sweeps in the 100 free with sophomore Kyle Leach and freshman Alex Moderski, the 100 breast from senior Nick Staver and freshman Katrina Brathwaite, the 200 fly from senior Micah Slaton and sophomore Danielle Hepler, the 200 back from seniors Nick Alexander and Jennifer King and the 200 breast with wins from freshman Will Goodwin and junior Emily Snyder.
“I thought the Tigers did an incredible job with Zou Style today,” Mizzou Head Coach Andrew Grevers said. “We’ve been working hard with our mental performance coach to help evolve Zou Style and fine tune it as we prepare for championship season. Each and every athlete did an incredible job of taking care of their business. We had a lot of people dealing with illness step up and swim hard. Each and every one of our seniors performed well today. They showed the team exactly what it means to be a Missouri Tiger and left it all in the water. I couldn’t be happier with our final dual of the season. We’re excited to prepare for SECs and show the SEC what Zou Style is.”
From Southern Illinois:
Saluki swimming and diving broke two school records against the No. 6/20 Missouri men’s and women’s program.
SIU tallied four individual event wins and 13 top-three finishes against the Southeastern Conference powerhouse.
“Any time you set a school record in-season when swimmers and divers aren’t rested is special,” head coach Geoff Hanson said. “They were lifting at their heaviest all week and it shows all the hard work they have put in. Adam Cernek barely a missed a school record as well. What they showed today is a great sign of things to come.”
Lucia Romero swam to a pair of record-breaking performances in her third-career meet as a Saluki. The freshman shattered the school-record in the 100-yard backstroke with a mark of 54.64. The time bested former Saluki Sarah James’ mark of 55.24 set during the 2016-17 season. Romero swam the opening leg in the women’s 200-yard medley relay, which placed second with an SIU-record time of 1:42.70. Sarah Vogt, Rita Naude and Sierra Forbord swam the remaining three legs.
Naude also came away with a victory, as she topped the podium in the 100-yard butterfly with a personal-best time of 54.89.
Baobao Ji led Southern on the boards with a victory in the one-meter dive (294.60) and runner-up finish in the three-meter dive (287.33).
Adam Cernek was the lone Saluki to earn a win on the men’s side. The freshman dropped a PR of 48.23 in the 100-back to win the event. He placed third overall in the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:50.89.
In diving, Kai Hoffmann-Dussome tabbed a pair of top-three finishes. The senior placed second in the one-meter (286.95) and third in the three-meter (306.23).
Jimmy Dooley impressed in breaststroke events, as he finished third in the 200-breast (2:03.94) and fourth in the 100-breast (56.86). He teamed up with Cernek, Tamas Hajtman and Zheng Yang Yeap to take third in the 200-medley relay (1:30.64).
Other top finishes came from Ian Marshall and Yeap. Marshall raced to third place with a season-best time of 9:42.26 in the 1000-yard freestyle, while Yeap claimed third in the 100-yard freestyle (45.77).
