2019 Mid-American Men’s Championship Day 3: Miami, Missouri State Continue Battle

Photo Courtesy: Miami Athletics

By Mark McCluskey, Swimming World College Intern

After Missouri State caught up to Miami (Ohio) on Day 2, lead by their freshmen talent, Miami (Ohio) managed to pull away a bit on Day 3. However, the Mid-American Conference Championship could still go to either after the teams finished competing in the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, and the 400 medley relay.

Scores

Miami University (Ohio): 623.5
Missouri State University: 599
Southern Illinois University: 382.5
University of Evansville: 220.5
Ball State University: 212.5

Results

400 IM

Photo Courtesy: Miami Athletics

Miami (Ohio) sophomores James McGuire and Kayky Mota had a close battle in the 400 IM, pushing each other to get a NCAA Division 1 B cut. McGuire ended up winning the race in 3:50.84, with Mota coming in just .11 back with a 3:50.95.

Antonio Thomas (Missouri State) came in third with a 3:52.67, Minki Kang (Missouri State) came in fourth with a 3:54.14, Christopher Cole came in fifth with a 3:54.82, Bryce Blattner (Missouri State) came in sixth with a 3:55.11, Drake Manuello (Southern Illinois) came in seventh with 4:02.22, and Ryan Sego (Miami) came in eighth in 4:04.79.

100 Butterfly

Iago Moussalem (Miami) won the 100 butterfly, finishing in 46.37. Not far behind was Artur Osvath, a senior from Missouri State. He was the only swimmer besides Moussalem to break 47, going 46.88. Both swimmers walked away with D1 B cuts.

Behind them were Jacob Pelolquin (Miami) coming in third with a 47.52, Spencer Klinsky (Miami) coming in fourth with a 47.98, Jake Shultz (Missouri State) coming in fifth with a 48.34, Conner Ripp (Missouri State) coming in sixth with a 48.62, Ben Andrew (Ball State) coming in seventh in 48.91, and Tamas Hajtman (Southern Illinois) coming in eighth in 49.12.

200 Freestyle

In the 200 freestyle, freshman Pawel Krawczyk from Missouri State out-touched senior Reilly Garman of Southern Illinois, the swimmers going 1:36.73 and 1:36.80, respectively. Both swimmers were just shy of a D1 B cut, needing to go 1:36.32 to qualify. Despite not making the top 2, Miami (Ohio) still filled up the A Heat with strong finishes.

Finishing behind them in the A Heat were Gordon Wheeler (Miami) finishing third in 1:37.37, Diego Valentim (Miami) finishing fourth in 1:39.03, Nic Wamsley (Miami) finishing fifth in 1:39.26, Zheng Yeap (Southern Illinois) finishing sixth in 1:39.36, Nick Ward (Miami) finishing seventh in 1:39.53, and Iago Moussalem (Miami) finishing eighth in 1:44.06.

100 Breaststroke

Photo Courtesy: Jesse Scheve/Missouri State University

Blair Bish (Missouri State) dominated the field, finishing ahead of the closest competition by a full second, getting a 52.86. The real battle came for second, between sophomores FuKang Wong (Southern Illinois) and Noah Barr (Miami). Wong ended up touching the wall just ahead of Barr, the two finishing in 53.86 and 53.91, respectively. The top three swimmers all succeeded in getting Division 1 B cuts.

Alexander Stamatin (Missouri State) finished fourth in 54.72, Samuel Senn (Missouri State) finished fifth in 55.13, Nikola Andjelic (Miami) finished sixth in 55.33, Chris Phillips (Southern Illinois) finished seventh in 55.60, and Blake Brockman (Miami) finished eighth in 55.94.

100 Backstroke

After getting third in the 100 butterfly, Jacob Peloquin turned around and won the 100 backstroke, finishing in 47.87, the only swimmer in the heat to break 48, just a tenth of a second away from a Division 1 B cut. Finishing second and also coming from the 100 butterfly where he finished sixth was Conner Ripp, who finished the 100 butterfly in 48.54.

Coming in after them were Jake Precious (Miami) finishing in 48.96 for third, Credence Pattinson (Evansville) and James Wray (Miami) tied for fourth with 49.39, Jake Shultz (Missouri State) finished sixth with a 49.68, Thomas Heye (Missouri State) finished seventh in 49.96, and Brandt Hudson (Evansville) finished eighth in 50.24.

400 Medley Relay

In possibly the most exciting event of the night, Missouri State (Ripp, Bish, Osvath, Paloschi) just out-touched Miami (Ohio) (Peloquin, Barr, Mota, Ward) in the 400 Medley Relay, coming down to just .06, as Missouri State finished with a 3:10.71 and Miami (Ohio finished with a 3:10.85. This was a crucial win for Missouri State as they continue to chase Miami (Ohio) in pursuit of winning the MAC Championship.

Coming in behind them were Southern Illinois (Lehane, Wong, Hajtman, Garman) finishing third in 3:18.41, Ball State (Ackley, Reichle, Andrew, McLarty) coming in fourth in 3:22.22, and University of Evansville (Hudson, James, Pattinson, Sutphin), finishing fifth in 3:22.56.

After Day 3, Miami (Ohio) still holds the lead, just 24.5 points ahead of Missouri State, who has stayed relentless in their pursuit of passing them. Behind them, Southern Illinois holds a comfortable third, over 100 points ahead of University of Evansville (4^th) and Ball State (5^th), who are separated by just 7.5 points at the end of Day 3. Day 4 should be exciting as the teams wrap up the Mid-American Conference Championships.

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