CLEVELAND, Miss. – The Delta State University Statesmen and Lady Statesmen Dive teams started the first day of the 19^th annual Christmas meet with a strong showing in several events. The Lady Statesmen won the 200 medley relay and 3-meter diving while the Statesmen won the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay as well. The Lady Statesmen are in first place after the first night while the men are in second place.
 
Off The Starting Blocks:

• Event: Delta State Christmas Invite
• Date/Time: December 18-22, 2019
• Location: Ronnie Mayers Aquatic Center
• Lady Statesmen: 444 points 1st place
• Statesmen: 306 points 2nd place
• Get Social: @DeltaStateSWD

 
Inside The Ropes:

• The Lady Statesmen 800 yard medley relay "A" team took second place with a time of 7:28:69. The team of Lucia Martelli, Celeste Turner, Peyton Osborn, and Victoria Brady came in second to Lindenwood by less than three quarters of a second.
• Michael Maly finished in sixth in the 1000 free with a time of 9:21:10
• The first win came in the 200 yard medley relay. Madelyn Byrd, Madison Lavoie, Celeste Turner and Lucia Martelli won with a time of 1:43:43 winning by a full half second.
• The Statesmen won the men's 200 medley relay as well by over half a second. Emanuel Fava, Savio Ragonesi, Alex Miller, and Danyyil Gayuk won with a time of 1:28:29 which is a B Standard for the NCAA qualifications.
• Peyton Osborn took second in the 1000 free with a time of 10:14:56 which was good enough to set a NCAA A cut standard invited time.
• Victoria Brady came in third with a time of 10:18:53 which was a NCAA B cut standard time.
• The Statesmen ended the night with a win in the 800 free relay. Matey Rezashki, Michael Maly, Danyyil Gayuk, and Emanuel Fava won the race with a time of 6:36:91. They won by just over two seconds.

On The Boards:

• Gillian Pratt took the 3 meter diving title with a score of 447.90 setting a personal and school record in the process.
• .Mackenzie Blomquist finished in fourth with a score of 340.42. Megan Black was fifth with 315.83. Madeline Prusinowski was 6^th with 306.00 points.
• Pratt's score of 447.9 was high enough to qualify for NCAA nationals.

 
 Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 6                
 
  1. Delta State University                    444     2. Lindenwood University             401
  3. University of Missouri-St. Louis    229     4. University of Montevallo         178
  5. Ouachita Baptist University          154     
 
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 7                       
 
  1. Lindenwood University                 332     2. Delta State University                     306
  3. Missouri Univ of Science and T    284    4. University of Missouri-St. Louis    217
  5. Ouachita Baptist University        112        6. University of Montevallo              96
  7. Unattached                         13               
 
 
Up Next: The Statesmen and Lady Statesmen continue the meet tomorrow starting at 10 Am with the prelims and then at the finals at 5 Pm