Delta State/Ouachita Baptist Dual Meet Results (HTML)
CLEVELAND - The Delta State Swimming and Diving teams put together strong performances to defeat Ouachita Baptist in dominating fashion Saturday afternoon. The Statesmen defeated the Tigersharks 172-62 and the Lady Statesmen prevailed 134-83.

The Statesmen nearly pulled off the sweep in the dual meet as Delta State swimmers combined for 12 straight victories. The 13th and final race proved to be the only blemish as the Tigersharks won the 400-Freestyle relay.

Delta State opened up the meet with four straight victories. Shawnee Gundry, Laura Nichols, Danielle Dugas and Hannah Core teamed up for the victory in the 400-Medley Relay with a 4:01.55, winning by five seconds.

Yvan Nys, Christian Barrett, Karl-Richard Hennebach and Bear Iles matched the Lady Statesmen, putting together a time of 3:28.25 for a victory of 5 seconds as well.

Maria Torres, Elizabeth Frye and Kelcie Winterrowd followed up the relays with a sweep of the top three spots in the 1000-Freestyle. Torres touched the wall with a 10:55.29 time for the victory.

The Statesmen then went one more, sweeping the top four spots in the men's 1000-Freestyle. Miles Duke edged teammate Rhett Guinot by .23 seconds for the victory. Bryce Anderson and Gabriel Cruz took third and fourth.

One of the biggest stories of the day came with the return to competition for Ben Vaughan. After missing the last 12 months, Vaughan put winning performances together in his two individual events. The sophomore picked up the victory in the 400-Individual Medley in his first race, finishing with a 4:12.26. Tobias Tombers took second in the event with a 4:14.86.

Vaughan was also victorious in the 500-Freestyle, leading the Statesmen to a top three sweep. Vaughan won by nearly 10 seconds with a 4:44.15. Guinot and Duke took second and third in the event.

Laura Nichols also had a pair of wins today for the Green-and-White. Nichols first took a victory in the 50-Freestyle edging teammate Gundry with a 24.71. Gundry took second with a 25.05.

Nichols then won the 100-Freestyle with a 54.08. Core took third in the event for the Lady Statesmen with a 56.47.

Heidi Nichols also picked up a victory in the event, winning the 200-Breaststroke by more than four seconds with a 2:32.80. Rebekah Napier-Jameson took third overall in the event with a 2:37.20.

Heidi also took second in the 400-Individual Medley with a 4:51.35. Stephanie Gonzalez took third in the event for Delta State.

Tombers took the victory in the men's 200-Breaststroke, as the Statesmen put together another sweep. Tombers won with a 2:10.85, edging Clayton Boyd, who touched with a 2:11.19. Barrett took third with a 2:14.86.

The Statesmen had two more double winners Saturday with strong performances from Hennebach and Nys. In one of the most anticipated race of the night, Hennebach edged Marcus Schlesinger in the 50-Freestyle, winning by .03 seconds with a 20.88. Iles and Barrett took third and fourth in the event.

Later on in the event, Hennebach won the 100-Freestyle with a 46.12, winning by over a second.

Nys put together a pair of victories in 200-yard events. In the 200-Freestyle, Nys edged Emile Maritz of Ouachita Baptist, winning by .1 seconds with a time of 1:46.46.

In the 200-Backstroke, Nys beat Maritz again, this time winning by over six seconds with 1:54.15. Tombers and Jake Blegen claimed third and fourth in the event.

In diving, Matthew Swaine scored a pair of victories. Swaine defeated Conner Bennett 287.4-224.4 to take the top two spots in 1-meter diving. Emir Sonmez took third.

Swaine also won 3-meter diving with a 252.4, with Sonmez taking second.

Cherlyn Wilhelm edged fellow Lady Statesmen Nicole Robinson 199.8-197.95 in women's 1-meter diving.

Dani Meerholz also picked up a victory for the Lady Statesmen in the meet, winning the 500-Freestyle event, while avenging a loss in the 200-Freestyle earlier in the event. Jennifer Steele edged Meerholz in the 200, winning by less than a second with a late surge.

In her final individual event of the night, Meerholz returned the favor and defeated Steele, again with a late surge, winning by .15 seconds with a 5:13.32. Torres took third, just behind Meerholz and Steele.

Meerholz did it again in the final event of the night, coming from behind in the final leg of the 400-Freestyle Relay to give the Lady Statesmen the victory. Torres, Kelsey Fallstrom, Frye and Meerholz combined for a 3:42.86 time in the victory.

Michael DuBose rallied in the 200-Butterfly to pick up an event victory as well. DuBose swam 1.3 seconds faster than Carl Johnson in the last lap to overtake the OBU swimmer and win with a 1:57.64.

The wins for the Statesmen and Lady Statesmen Saturday give the Green-and-White a sweep of Ouachita Baptist in dual meets on the season and three straight dual meet sweeps dating back to January of 2012.

The Statesmen and Lady Statesmen will return to the pool next Saturday as Delta State looks for the sweep of Hendeson State in dual meets this season.