CLEVELAND, Miss. - After more than a month away from competition, the Delta State University Statesmen and Lady Statesmen Swimming Diving teams return to action this weekend, as they host the annual Christmas Invitational this Wednesday, Dec. 18 through Saturday, Dec. 22 at the Ronnie Mayers Aquatics Center. The four-day meet features six teams in NCAA Division II. 

"The level of competition at this year's Christmas Invitational will be outstanding," DSU head coach Dan'l Murray said. "In a lot of ways, the Christmas Invitational serves as a preview for the New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference Championship and NCAA DII Championship meets. Our teams are excited to be back in the water this week after the long break and we're ready to see how we stack up this weekend against five nationally ranked opponents."

The Christmas Invitational will feature six men's teams, including Delta State, Lindenwood University, Missouri Institute of Science & Technology, University of Missouri at St. Louis, Ouachita Baptist, and theUniversity of Montevallo. The women's competition features Delta State, Lindenwood University, University of Missouri at St. Louis, and Ouachita Baptist, and Montevallo. 
 
Ouachita Baptist and Montevallo are fellow members of the NSISC. Montevallo is in its first season as a competitive program and will be swimming at the Ronnie Mayers Aquatic Center for the first time.

The women's meet will feature two teams in the top 15 in the CSCAA Poll with DSU coming in at 15 and Lindenwood at 10. On the men's side four of the schools are in the top 25, Lindenwood comes in at number nine in the country, Missouri S&T is number 12, DSU is 13, and Missouri-Saint Louis is 22^nd in the poll.
 

The meet will get jumpstarted on Wednesday at 1 p.m. with 3-Meter Diving trials. Timed finals will get underway at 5 p.m. in the 800-Free, 1000-Free, 200-Medley Relay, and 3-Meter Diving. A complete schedule is outlined below.

Live results will be available online and through the MeetMobile app. Live video will also be available during each finals session.
 
WEDESDAY, DEC. 18 | 5 P.M. 
• 800 Free Relay (W)
• 1000 Free (M)
• 200 Medley Relay (W)
• 200 Medley Relay (M)
• 1000 Free (W)
• 3-Meter Diving (W)
• 800 Free Relay (M)

THURSDAY, DEC. 19 | 10 A.M. PRELIMS/5 P.M. FINALS
• 500 Free (M)
• 500 Free (W)
• 200 Individual Medley (W)
• 200 Individual Medley (M)
• 50 Free (W)
• 50 Free (M)
• 1-Meter Diving (M)
• 200 Free Relay (W)
• 200 Free Relay (M)

FRIDAY, DEC. 20 | 10 A.M. PRELIMS/5 P.M. FINALS
• 400 Individual Medley (W)
• 400 Individual Medley (M)
• 100 Butterfly (W)
• 100 Butterfly (M)
• 200 Free (W)
• 200 Free (M)
• 100 Breaststroke (W)
• 100 Breaststroke (M)
• 100 Back (W)
• 100 Back (M)
• 1-Meter Diving (W)
• 400 Medley Relay (W)
• 400 Medley Relay (M)

SATURDAY, DEC. 21 | 10 A.M. PRELIMS/4 P.M. FINALS
• 200 Back (W)
• 200 Back (M)
• 100 Free (W)
• 100 Free (M)
• 200 Breaststroke (W)
• 200 Breaststroke (M)
• 200 Butterfly (W)
• 200 Butterfly (M)
• 1650 Free (W)
• 1650 Free (M)
• 3-Meter Diving (M)
• 400 Free (W)
• 400 Free (M)