Carbondale Reporter

Southern Illinois University's swim and dive teams had a full schedule over the weekend, competing on both Friday and Saturday. The Salukis began their trip by defeating UIC in both men's and women's competitions. However, they were unable to secure wins against Northwestern and Miami (OH) the following day.

Head coach Geoff Hanson commented on the team's performance: "Another good weekend of racing against three very good teams. We were looking for individual and team improvement from last weekend to this weekend, and I believe we saw that overall. Several of our top performers showed their experience throughout the two days and our newcomers continued to learn and grow early in this season."

On Friday at UIC, Southern Illinois started strong with victories in both the women's 200-yard medley relay and the men's equivalent event. Freshman Lívia Munkácsi-Nagy won the women's 1000-yard freestyle by a significant margin, while Joshua Aceves took first place in the men's race for that distance. Susana Hernandez narrowly secured victory in the women's 200-yard freestyle, followed by Alex Cimera's close win in the men's event.

The Salukis dominated several events, sweeping podium spots in both men’s and women’s 100-yard backstroke races. Olivia Herron led a one-two finish for Southern Illinois in the women’s 100-yard breaststroke; Maddax Thompson and Tiago Faleiros achieved similar results for the men’s team.

Additional wins included Carter Ruthven in the men’s 200-yard butterfly, Zaria Terry in the women’s 50-yard freestyle, as well as podium sweeps in multiple backstroke events later on. Ale Hoyos Horvath won gold in the women’s 500-yard freestyle; Herron added another win with her performance in the women’s 100-yard butterfly. Munkácsi-Nagy finished first again in the women’s 400-yard IM while Juraj Barcot claimed victory for SIU on the men’s side.

Saturday brought tougher competition at Northwestern against both Northwestern University and Miami (OH). The first SIU win came during event nine when Liseska Gallegos Gutierrez took first place in the women’s 100-yard backstroke. Olivia Herron added more victories for Southern Illinois by winning both backstroke events as well as taking first place in the women’s 200-yard IM—her final win of Saturday.

The Salukis will not compete next weekend but will return to action with a women's meet versus Illinois and Illinois State scheduled for October 24-25.

For updates about Southern Illinois swim and dive teams, fans can follow them on Twitter at @SIU_Soccer, Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiSoccer or Instagram at @SIU_Soccer. The “Salukis” Mobile App is also available through major app stores.