The SIU swim team sent six distance swimmers to participate in the second annual CSCAA National Collegiate Open Water Swimming Championship on Saturday. The event at Lonestar Lake in Lawrence, Kansas consists of a 5-kilometer (3.1 mile) loop marked by buoys that racers compete on for individual and team honors.

Head coach Rick Walker chose junior Jordan Ries and seniors Kelsie Walker, Bryn Hadley and Nicole Fuller to represent the women’s swimming team. From the men’s squad he brought sophomore Kevin Kluge and junior Chris Cole.

This is the second year of the event, which brings in collegiate swimmers from as far as the University of Alaska – Fairbanks.

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Scoring is based on what place swimmers individually finish in, with the placement of the top three swimmers on each team determining the team score. The higher a swimmer finishes, the lower the point total they incur. The team with the lowest point total at the completion of all participants’ swims is the champion.

Hadley won the women’s event with a time of 1:04:39.22. Walker followed in 16th with a time of 1:08:18.08. Ries came in shortly after with a time of 1:08:36.27, placing 19th.

Fuller rounded out the Saluki women’s squad, coming in 31st with a time of 1:10:20.80. The Saluki women’s team placed fourth overall with 36 points, coming in behind third-place University of Missouri, second-place Rice University and first-place University of Kansas.

The men’s team did not race enough swimmers for a team score. Cole was the top Saluki in the men’s race, finishing in 18th place with a time of 1:04:54.03. Kluge was close behind with a time of 1:06:21.87, finishing 21st.

SIU’s next meet is against the University of Evansville Purple Aces in Evansville, Indiana. The diving portion of the meet will take place 4:00 p.m. Friday with the swimming portion scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning.

Sports reporter Jacob Selsor can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jacobselsor_DE.

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