Meet Results - Statesmen / Lady Statesmen    Photo Gallery

CLEVELAND, Miss. - The Statesmen and Lady Statesmen Swimming and Diving teams opened the season Friday with a strong showing while hosting the University of Alabama from the DSU Aquatics Center.

Vlad Zinca returned to the pool for the Statesmen, picking up the lone victory for DSU in the 32-event format.  Zinca missed most of last season with a shoulder injury, but was able to put aside the pain of recovery to claim victory in the 200-Butterfly event with a time of 1:52.23 as he narrowly edged Hunter Hinson from Alabama.  Zinca came back later in the meet to finish second in the 100-Butterfly with a time of 50.12.

Other strong performances for the Statesmen were turned in by Tobias Tombers with a third place finish in the 100-Breaststroke (59.14), along with Fabrice Wendel (21.44) and Bear Iles (21.48) finishing second and third in the 50-Freestyle.

Dani Meerholz continued her success in the Freestyle events, finishing third in the 200-Freestyle (1:58.57) to sit just outside the top-10 times in an event she has all of the top times.

Danielle Dugas scored third place points with a time of 2:18.96 in the 200-Butterfly. 

Kierstin Page scored a third place finish in the 100-Backstroke (59.56) in her first meet as a freshman.  While fellow freshman Melanie Tombers finished third in the 400-Individual Medley with time of 4:35.12 - good enough to tie for tenth place in the school record book.

Both teams return to action on October 12 when Western Kentucky visits the DSU Aquatics Center.