The SIU men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams both placed first at Saturday’s tri-meet with Truman State and host McKendree University in O’Fallon.

The Salukis captured 20 out of 32 events in total. Senior freestyler Bryn Handley paved the way for the women’s swimmers, winning two solo events and anchoring the winning women’s 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relay squads.

Handley dominated the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:56.74. She also took the 200-yard freestyle event, finishing with a time of 1:50.94.

Sophomore Samantha Parsons took the 200-yard breaststroke event with a 2:24.33 time. She also won the 100-yard breaststroke event with a 1:07.50 time.

Senior Kelsie Walker claimed the 1000-yard freestyle event with a final time of 10:31.69. Senior Nicole Fuller was right behind her with a 10:36.88 finish.

Junior Chris Cole won the 1000-yard freestyle for the Saluki men with a 9:33.83 time. Sophomore Kevin Kluge was right behind him, finishing in 9:35.93.

Senior Alex Crawford claimed the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke events. He finished the 100-yard with a 51.50 time and the 200-yard in 1:51.17.

Freshman Sam Drew claimed the men’s 200-yard breast with a 2:06.02 time.

Sophomore Rita Naude earned a first-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing at 58.56 seconds. She also placed second in the 100-yard fly event.

Junior Emma Brazeau won the 100-yard fly event for Southern, finishing in 57.66. Junior Audrey Snyder took the 200-yard fly event with a 2:05.64 time.

Sophomore Juliana Carvalho placed first in the 200-yard backstroke event with a time of 2:05.10.

The Saluki divers saw much of the same success that the swimmers had while suffering no losses in any event.

Sophomore diver Eli Mercado continued his success, winning the 3-meter dive with a 345.52 score and the 1-meter with a 340.27 score.

Sophomore Beibei Ji took both events for the women, finishing the 1-meter dive with a 299.77 score and the 3-meter with a 315.38 score.

SIU’s next meet is a women’s only event scheduled for Saturday against Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal. The diving is slated for 10:30 a.m., while the swimming events begin at 4 p.m.

Sports writer Ryan Demer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @RyanDemer_DE 

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