MEET NOTES

CLEVELAND, Miss. - After an exciting 2012-13 season that saw the Lady Statesmen swim team crowned as New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference (NSISC) Champions, and the Statesmen finished second, the Delta State University Aquatics Center will host the University of Alabama on Friday, Sept. 20.  The meet will also be the first action since renovations to the pool were completed over the summer.

Coach Dan'l Murray has many new faces to both sides of his roster, but there are also some decorated veterans that return to the program.

Sitting at the top of the Lady Statesmen are Dani Meerholz and Maria Torres. Meerholz took home NSISC titles in the 200 Freestyle, 500 Freestyle and 1000 Freestyle - events that she holds the school records in. Torres set the school record (17:06.50) while winning the 1650 Freestyle, as DSU swept the top four in the event with Elizabeth Frye, Kelcie Winterrowd and Rebekah Napier-Jameson rounding out the finishing order.

Other returning conference champions include Danielle Dugas (100 Butterfly, 200 Medley Relay), along with teammates from the relay team of Shawnee Gundry and Hannah Core.

The Statesmen finished a slight 41.5 points behind Missouri University of Science and Technology in last season's meet, one the Missouri S&T has won for seven consecutive seasons. DSU returns two legs of last year's NSISC Championship 200 Medley Relay, in Yvan Nys and Bear Iles. Nys also joined with Matt Williams to win the 400 Medley Relay.

Nys took home third place in the 100 Backstroke and sits with a Top 10 time (49.52) in school history. He later came back to the pool to finish runner-up in the 200 Backstroke, an event he has five of the top times in school history.

Murray was also honored as NSISC Women's Coach of the Year, as the Lady Statesmen won the conference title for the first time in 11 seasons.

Alabama has replaced nearly half of the roster last year, bringing in more than 30 newcomers. One such newcomer is Anton Mckee, who finished in the Top 30 at the Fina World Championships in the 400 IM.

Click here for live GoStatesmenTV coverage from the DSU Aquatics Center.