TCU, Missouri St. Swim Joint Practice, Race Dual Meet And Hold Free Clinic

TULSA, Oklahoma, December 15. TCU and Missouri State practiced together under the guidance of both school’s coaching staff, competed in part one of a two-day dual meet, then held a free stroke clinic yesterday in Tulsa. The second half of the dual meet concludes this afternoon.

TCU Press Release

The TCU swimming and diving team had a strong showing in day one of its two-day dual with Missouri State in Tulsa, Okla. The unique meet situation included a combined training session followed by a free swimming clinic hosted by both teams.

In a unique meet situation, the Horned Frogs began the day with a combined training session at the Jenks Trojan Aquatic Center. During training, both the men’s and women’s teams had the opportunity to break down into stroke groups and complete practices led by the coaching staffs from both universities. Despite difficult practices, both teams rallied together and cheered each other on.

Once meet competition began, the TCU women came out strong out of the gate with the relay team of Julia Grace Sanders, Ali Bleasdell, Mackenzie Schuler and Hannah Briant posting a first-place finish with a 1:36.21. First place finishes were also posted by Bleasdell (50 butterfly and 200 IM), Mikayla Winkler (200 freestyle) and Ashley Alspaugh (100 backstroke).

Sophomore transfer Lyndsie Gibson led the Horned Frogs in a 1-2-3 sweep of the 1000 freestyle. Gibson finished first with a 10:20.53, Sara Brzozowski took second with a 10:24.88 and Carley Stevens finished third with a 10:28.77. The relay team of Gibson, Gabi Korac, Bleasdell and Sanders capped off the first session with a win (3:54.51).

On the men’s side, Cooper Robinson, Ford Story, Adam Szilagyi and Josh Mangus posted a second-place finish in the 400 relay (3:24.26) while Corey Nix, Ryan Wilcox, Szilagyi and Mangus posted a silver-medal finish in the 200 free relay (1:23.51).

Following the session, the teams combined to host a free swimming clinic for 125 local age group swimmers. Each participant had the opportunity to work with groups of student-athletes from both teams. The hour-long clinic included six stations working on various aspects of the sport including starts, turns, breakouts and relay starts. Following the clinic, participants had the opportunity to interact and get autographs from the student-athletes.

The dual continues tomorrow, Sunday, Dec. 15 at 4 p.m. at the Jenks Trojan Aquatic Center.

Missouri State Press Release

The Missouri State swimming team opened the 2013 Oklahoma Splash Bash at the Trojan Aquatic Center Saturday with several solid swims as the men won all 20 events contested and the women received victories from sophomore Dora Kiss and seniors Anna Ahlin and Renata Sander.

Through the first day of the meet, the MSU men lead TCU 133-53, while the women trail, 131-55.

Kiss claimed the 200-yard butterfly in a career-best and pool-record 1:51.31. Ahlin and Sander took the 100 backstroke in 57.47 and Sander the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.61 to lead the MSU women. Junior Roni Balzam was third in the 200 fly and also achieved a career-best 1:53.61.

Junior Paul Le paced the men, winning the 100 back in a pool-record and NCAA-`B’- time of 47.91, exciting a large crowd seeing the Moore, Okla., native compete collegiately in his home state for the first time.

In all, the Bears set pool three pool records in individual events on the day, which stated with a combined practice session with the student-athletes and coaching staffs of both schools, and ended with a free swim clinic that drew 125 area children from third to eighth grades.

“Today was a special day for our program,” said head coach Dave Collins. “To have the opportunity to train in a combined setting with TCU created a very unique and beneficial experience. Then, to watch both teams compete in many close races, helps our season development.

“Finally, having the chance to provide a great free swim clinic for 125 young area swimmers, was just awesome,” Collins said. “To see the smiles on their faces as they received advice from our athletes was very neat to see.”

Le also set the pool record in the 50 freestyle in 20.33, led the 200 free relay and 400 medley relay squads to victory in pool-record times of 1:22.57 and 3:19.36, respectively.

Sophomore Uvis Kalnins was the only other Missouri State swimmer to win multiple events as he took the 200 free (1:40.64) and 200 IM (1:50.72).

Other event victories came from Isaac Springer in the 100 breast (56.32), Vitalli Baryshok in the 50 fly (22.72), Matthew Wilson in the 200 fly (1:51.31) and Miguel Davila in the 1,000 free (9:27.01).

The Bears benefitted from the unique chance to train with TCU prior to the meet.

“I felt the training set went great,” said senior Jared Roberts. “It was completely different than anything we had done before. Since we intermixed the teams, it took the normal practice aspect out of the set and made it a two-hour, non-stop race.”

Sophomore Kate Gately agreed. “I thought we got a lot out of the set and training with a good team like TCU this morning. Even though the main set was tough, we all pushed each other and everyone was going really fast. It was cool mixing up the lanes and getting the chance to get to know some of the TCU swimmers.”

The schools will conclude the meet Sunday beginning at 4 p.m.

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