MSU Swimming wins 20th conference championship

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Returning to the Mid-American Conference Championship with a vengeance, the Missouri State men’s swimming and diving team was dominant through four full days and brought home its 20th conference title on Saturday, Mar. 3 at the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center in Oxford, Ohio.

The Bears, who fell by one point at last years’ championship, claimed the league crown with 857.5 points. Eastern Michigan surrendered its title in second place (807) and host Miami (Ohio) finished third (740). Southern Illinois tallied 476.5 points in fourth place and was followed by Evansville (203) and Ball State (190).

“Proud and love are the only two words that I can come up to describe this team and all they have done,” head coach Dave Collins expressed. “I feel so incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to watch them accomplish the number one goal they set for this season.”

Two student-athletes earned specialty awards following the conclusion of the meet. Voted on by coaches around the league, Christopher Heye was named the 2018 MAC Outstanding Senior for his performances both in and out of the pool. Heye finished the week as the 400 IM champion, where he set the pool record. Collecting one silver and two gold medals, junior Artur Osvath was named the 2018 MAC Co-Outstanding Swimmer of the Year. He emerged as the champion in the 100 fly and 200 IM and was the runner up in the 200 breast. Over the week, he set a program record in the 100 fly and was a member of the conference record-breaking 200 and 400 medley relays.

For the second consecutive season, Collins was named the 2018 MAC Coach of the Year. Even though it is called the “Coach of the Year” award, he attributed all of the credit to his staff.

“The coaching award is a staff award, and that is all secondary,” Collins explained. “In fact, if you ask any of these men, all of the individual championships and awards are secondary to our one team goal, which was to get back and try and win that trophy. We learned a lot last year and I think we grew a lot. I love these guys.”

MSU snapped MAC records in three separate relays, and one individual event, and established six new standards in the MSU record book. Boasting ten conference titles, MSU outlasted the Eastern Michigan Eagle for its second title since joining the MAC in 2010.

Defending his title from one year ago, Antonio Thomas led the Bears with a 15:09.84, gold-medal performance in the 1650 free. Thomas, who set the conference record at last season’s championship, was followed by Minki Kang – who earned the league’s silver medal in 15:15.13. Both Thomas and Kang recorded NCAA B-standard times. Also finishing in the top eight, junior Kevin Douglas took fifth overall after clocking in at 15:35.41.

Continuing a fantastic meet, Will Frisbie kicked off the prelims with a career-best mark in the 200 back. He led the Bears with a fourth-place, 1:46.55 swim in the event and was followed by Conner Ripp in seventh. The two returned later in the evening and Frisbie led the way for MSU with a sixth-place finish in 1:46.81. Ripp finished eighth overall in 1:48.00 while Bryce Blattner and Thomas Heye finished 11th and 14th, respectively.

Three Bears – Lucas Paloschi, Samuel Senn and Will Brand – swam their way into the 100 free championship final, going 2-6-7 in the prelims. Following a 44.24-second swim in the finals, Paloschi earned his second individual medal of the weekend and took home the bronze. Senn finished closely in fifth (44.81) and Brand finished eighth overall.

“I am so incredibly proud of every guy on this team,” Brand exclaimed. “The senior class has been working towards this goal for four years now, and it feels incredible to see everyone’s hard work pay off in such a big-time way. I am so proud to be a Bear.”

MSU had great representation in the 200 breast, as four men placed in the top eight. Claiming the silver medal, Osvath captained MSU’s efforts with a NCAA B-cut time of 1:55.29.

“This is probably the happiest moment of my life,” Osvath said. “Even though the 200 breast didn’t go the way I wanted it to, we won by 50 points. I’m just extremely happy and I’m very proud of my team and my teammates.”

Standout Blair Bish continued a phenomenal week in the pool with a bronze-medal finish in the 200 breast and Heye took fourth overall. Nicholas Theunissen was the final Bear to finish in the top eight, and touched the wall seventh in 1:59.66. Bish and Heye both recorded NCAA B-standard times.

“What I am feeling right now is indescribable,” Heye admitted. “I would not have wanted to do this with any other group of guys. Going out on top feels absolutely incredible.”

Kacper Cwiek and Phillip Willet were the two Bears to represent MSU in the 200 fly finals. After placing fourth and fifth in the prelims this morning, they both jumped one spot and Cwiek touched the wall third for his second bronze medal of the week. He finished the event in 1:46.71 and Willett clocked in at 1:47.39 for fourth.

After earning a spot in the three-meter diving finals yesterday afternoon, freshman Michael Claunch placed eighth in the night’s session with a total of 269.40 points. Claunch paced MSU’s divers all season.

In the final relay of the four-day meet, Paloschi, Brand, Senn and Jacob Schultz posted a third-place time of 2:57.51 in the 400 free relay. Eastern Michigan posted the top time in 2:27.38, while second-place Miami clocked in at 2:57.44.

2018 MAC Co-Outstanding Swimmer of the Year

Artur Osvath

2018 MAC Coach of the Year

Dave Collins

2018 MAC Outstanding Senior

Christopher Heye

2018 All-MAC First Team

Blair Bish

Kacper Cwiek

Christopher Heye

Minki Kang

Artur Osvath

Lucas Paloschi

Antonio Thomas

Phillip Willett

2018 All-MAC Second Team

Will Frisbie

Samuel Senn

Jacob Schultz

2018 Gold Medalists

Blair Bish – 100 breast (MAC record)

Christopher Heye – 400 IM

Artur Osvath – 100 fly (MSU record), 200 IM

Lucas Paloschi – 50 Free (MSU record)

Antonio Thomas – 500 free, 1650 free

200 Free Relay (MAC record)

200 Medley Relay (MAC record)

400 Medley Relay (MAC record)

2018 Silver Medalists

Kacper Cwiek – 200 IM

Minki Kang – 1650 free

Artur Osvath – 200 breast

2018 Bronze Medalists

Blair Bish – 200 breast

Kacper Cwiek – 200 free, 200 fly

Minki Kang – 500 free

Lucas Paloschi – 100 free

Samuel Senn – 50 free

Nicholas Theunissen – 100 breast

Phillip Willett – 400 IM

400 Free Relay

800 Free relay

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