Meet Notes
CLEVELAND, Miss. - The Delta State University Swim & Dive teams return to the pool at the DSU Aquatics Center on October 12 when the Hilltopppers from Western Kentucky University visit Cleveland. Delta State will do so finding both the Lady Statesmen (No. 7) and Statesmen (No. 8) ranked in the Top-10 according to CollegeSwiming.com.
Last time the Statesmen / Lady Statesmen competed, the Alabama Crimson Tide came into the DSU Aquatics Center and claimed victory in all but one event on the way to setting four pool records, with the lone victory coming in the 200-Butterfly when
Vlad Zinca took victory in his first meet since suffering a shoulder injury last season.
Western Kentucky claimed the conference title on the women's side last season in the Sun Belt Conference, while coach Bruce Marchionda was named co-coach of the year in the conference. Claire Conlon placed third in the 100-Breaststroke with a season-best time of 1:02.10 while also finishing third in the 200-Breaststroke after setting a new school record with a time of 2:13.34. Also returning for the Hilltoppers is school record holder Hannah Runyon-Hass, owner of the schools top mark in the 400-IM with a time of 4:14.48. This will be the first meet of the season for Western Kentucky.
DSU will be looking to improve on the times posted in the season opener from September 20th. Zinca got the 200-Butterfly victory with a time of 1:52.23,and was edged at the line in the 100-Butterfly. Zinca currently sits second in the D-II standings in both distances.
The Statesmen turned in several early season times that are ahead of the pace the team had last season.
Tobias Tombers (59.14) took home third place in the 100-Breaststroke;
Fabrice Wendel (21.44) and
Bear Iles (21.48) finished second and third place in the 50-Freestyle.
The Lady Statesmen had several strong performances in their season opener, capped by the third place finish of
Dani Meerholz in the 200-Freestyle (1:58.57) with a time just shyof the school's top-10. A trio of third place finishes for several other Lady Statesmen gave a strong start to the season;
Danielle Dugas (2:18.96) in the 200-Butterfly,
Kierstin Page (59.66) in the 100-Backstroke, and
Melanie Tombers (4:35.12) in the 400-Individual Medley which tied for tenth in school history. Page sits sixth in both the 100-Backstroke and 200-Backstroke in the national rankings, while
Kirsten Stroven (1:08.19) sits fifth in the 100-Breaststroke. Tombers adds to her early season success, adding the second best time in the country in the 400-IM.
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