CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois swimming and diving team defeated UIC decisively on Saturday. The final scores were 187-111 for the men and 202-96 for the women.
The Salukis broke four program records, three pool records and one MVC record against the Flames.
Olivia Herron highlighted the meet by breaking her own program and school records in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke, and 400-yard individual medley.
The Saluki women kicked off the meet strongly in the 400-yard medley relay, setting a new program and pool record. The relay team of Celia Pulido, Herron, Bea Padron, and Susana Hernandez broke the existing record by a second with a 3:37.46 finish.
The men’s team also started strong, placing first and third in the 400-yard medley relay. Willem Huggins, Tiago Falerios, Nico Lanuza, and Alex Santiago took first with a time of 3:13.99, finishing three seconds ahead of UIC. The third-place relay team of John Cameron, Henrique Pacheco, Hazem Aboustate, and Donut Csuvarszki finished in 3:19.73.
Apryl Paquette posted the top Saluki finish in the women’s 1,000-yard freestyle, placing second with a time of 10:32.51. Joshua Aceves and Tomas Peciar took first and second in the men’s 1,000-yard freestyle.
Hernandez and Padron secured the top two spots in the women’s 200-yard freestyle, while Alex Cimera took the top spot on the men’s side. Huggins finished first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 48.87.
In the women’s 100-yard backstroke, the Salukis swept the podium with Pulido in first, followed by Liseka Gallegos and Tia Jankovics. Pulido’s 52.82 finish qualifies as an NCAA B-cut time. The same three also swept the 200-yard backstroke podium.
Herron broke her own program and pool record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a 1:01.00 finish, taking first place. Madalyn Booker and Ali Robertson placed second and third, respectively, sweeping the event for the Salukis. The same trio swept the 200-yard breaststroke.
Faleiros and Pacheco took first and second in the men’s 100-yard breaststroke.
The Saluki men swept the 50-yard freestyle, with Santiago in first, followed by Csuvarszki and AJ Terry. The women also swept the event, with Zaria Terry taking first, followed by Masha Zhukova and Elli Oploh.
The Salukis captured the top two spots in both the men’s and women’s 100-yard freestyle, with Hernandez finishing first for the women and Santiago for the men. Pulido, Gallegos, and Jankovics swept the 200-yard backstroke for Southern Illinois.
In the women’s 400-yard individual medley, Herron finished first with a 4:17.17, breaking her own program record. Herron claimed first place in all three of her individual events.
Wrapping up the meet, the Salukis secured first-place finishes in both the men’s and women’s 200-yard freestyle relays. The women’s relay team of Hernandez, Gallegos, Ava Rines, and Terry finished in 1:34.27, while the men’s team of Santiago, Csuvarszki, Huggins, and Andor finished in 1:21.44.
On the diving side, Farida Moussa scored the highest in the women’s 1-meter dive with 247.58 points. Oliver Mebs took first place in the men’s 3-meter dive with 343.58 points.
The Salukis will host Illinois State and Illinois on Friday, Nov. 1, at 2 p.m.
