In the first of two meets the Bears will swim in this weekend, Missouri State defeated Lindenwood University on Nov. 6. The men defeated the Lions 63-45 and the women won 61-42. The meet was dominated by the Missouri State swimmers, many of whom were swimming in unfamiliar events.  In addition to top swimming performances, the Bears' diving squad dazzled the crowd.

Junior Eric Ducourneau was the highlight of the evening, achieving a score of 333.37 off of the three-meter board, which qualifies him for the zone "D" diving championships.  He also scored a 294.30 in the one-meter event.  For the women, Senior Chelsea Ray swept the boards with top scores in both the three-meter (274.27) and one-meter (254.40).

In the swimming events, the Bears were strong across the board.  Of the 24 swimming events, the Bears won 21.  The most impressive showing came from the men's and women's 200-yard individual medley groups.   On the women's side, Hilary Morrow finished first (2:13.34), followed by Rene Smith (2:16.62) and Kaylee Steffen (2:16.90).  The fourth-place finisher turned in a time of 2:25.83, a full nine seconds behind the last Missouri State swimmer.  It was more of the same with the men's team, with the freshman duo of Niklas Gustafsson and Cameron Case finishing at 1:56.11 and 2:00.17, respectively.  The third-place finisher came in at 2:08.23, nearly eight seconds behind Case.

"We really like meets like this," head swimming coach Jack Steck said. "We get to move people around.  It was a fun and relaxed environment.  These guys (Lindenwood) are an NAIA powerhouse and can really make noise in their conference.  We just tried to put our people in the water to push them.  This was very useful to us too, as we got different looks at our personnel to see what we are capable of.  We are always shining the apple for the conference tournament."

The Bears now take to the road and will travel to Kirksville, Mo. to take on Truman State.  The meet will begin at 2:00 p.m.