Missouri State University

The Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving team topped Truman State on Saturday at Hammons Student Center Pool.  The win (Missouri State, 168, Truman State, 104) gave the men’s squad its seventh straight dual meet victory of the 2008-09 season.  On the women’s side, the Bears moved to 4-5 on the season, scoring 168 points to beat Truman State at 104.

The last home meet highlighted four seniors on the men’s side and eight for the women.  Top senior performances of the meet included Victor Serra in the 100 and 200 butterfly, Victor Riffel in the 500 freestyle, Eduardo Pajares in the 1000 freestyle and Jordan Hawkins in the 200 backstroke. 

On the men’s side, Serra captured first place in the 100 and 200 fly events.  He swam times of 50.96 and 151.02, respectively.  Riffel also swam a fast time in the 500 free, clocking a time of 4:44.74 to place first in the event.  Pajares and Riffel posted a one-two finish in the 1000 with times of 9:52.02 and 9:52.72, respectively. 

Other top swims for the Bears’ men came from freshman Bryson Cramer and sophomore Roko Simunic.  Cramer won the 200 free with a time of 1:45.47 and Simunic swam a time of 49.46 in the 100 back to place first. 

On the women’s side, Hawkins recorded a fast time in the 200 back, placing first for the Bears with a time of 2:03.77.  In the 100 back, the Bears finished one-two-three with sophomore Chelsea Dirks-Ham leading the women.  She finished with a time of 58.89 and was followed by senior Francy Palma in second at 1:02.35.  In third was sophomore Nina Bailey clocking a time of 1:02.42. 

Freshman Dimi Drakopoulos and Hilary Morrow finished one-two in the 500 and 1000 freestyle.  Drakopoulos posted times of 5:12.30 in the 500 and 10:34.90 in the 1000.  Morrow followed Drakopoulos closely in each event, recording times of 5:12.54 and 10:36.26 in the 500 and 1000 free, respectively. 

Men’s diving was led by sophomore Eric Ducourneau with 281.4 points on the one-meter board and 306.00 points for his three-meter dives.  In second place was freshman Ryan Borup.  Borup scored 231.83 and 236.33 on the one-meter and three-meter boards, respectively. 

Juniors Chelsea Ray and Heather Fulton split the top spot for women’s diving.  Fulton captured first place for the Bears’ squad with 233.78 points on the one-meter board.  Ray was closely behind with 215.55 points.  On the three-meter board, Ray took first place with 230.70 points, while Fulton came in second with 221.03 points.

The Bears are back in action on Thursday, January 22.  The squads will challenge Springfield rival Drury for the second time this season.  The meet has a scheduled start time of 6:00 p.m. and will be held on the Drury campus.