Neaveill, Dyke Set Personal-Bests With First Place Touches At Saint Louis

Leathernecks compete with Billikens and Arkansas Little Rock

FULL MEET RESULTS

ST. LOUIS – Chris Neaveill and Jerod Dyke each scored first place finishes Friday (Oct. 21) in Western Illinois' meet with Arkansas Little Rock and Saint Louis at the Billikens' Simon Rec Center.

Neaveill roasted his competition in the 50-free, setting a personal-best for first place in 21.57. Freshman Samir Almhiemid, swimming in his first race of the season, came in second with a time of 22.18 in the event.

Dyke also etched a new personal record with a time of 1:54.48 to place first in the 200-back. Meanwhile, Chance McQuigg also marked a new personal-best while finishing second with a 47.09 mark in the 100-free.

"We had a pretty solid meet where we are seeing the results of what we have done training-wise over the past couple of weeks," said head coach Greg Naumann. "I'm seeing our longer races being finished better than what we saw in our first meet of the season. We are seeing great results in our speed right now. That had been a huge focus on the beginning part of the season, and our relays and sprint events are showing the results of the teams hard work in our speed training."

The Leathernecks' men's relay teams were strong, with the quartet of Brennan Bladel, McQuigg, Neaveill and Joshua Hill placing second in the 400-medley relay (3:31.76). In the 400-free, Almhiemid, Seth Brady, Dyke and Deven Ries came in third with a time of 3:16.47.

Bladel registered a third-place touch in the 200-free in 1:45.92, with Hill earning fifth place in the event (1:48.03). Western Illinois also saw Kyle Siebert (2:13.05), McQuigg (2:13.49) and Connor Owens (2:14.99) sweep spots three through five in the 200-breast.

The Purple and Gold's 400-free women's relay team came in third, the best of any Leatherneck in the female events. Miranda Mathus, Dana Kaftan, Erica Hagen and Casey Roberts combined to touch in 3:41.62. Western came in fourth in the 400-medley relay with a 4:03.88 touch from Haley Locke, Hagen, Mathus and Roberts.

The freshman Roberts had the best individual touch of any Western woman, finishing fifth in the 200-free with a mark of 1:59.64.

"We definitely saw some tired swimming as we got to the last couple of events," Naumann said. "We had three straight days of very difficult training, accompanied with some big gains in the weight room. Some are pretty tight and tired, but this is part of what we do in our sport."

Melanie Pearson (237.30) and Colin Parker (241.80) posted sterling dives for the Leathernecks to each claim their respective 1-meter event. Quetzal Gallagher's score of 219.40 claimed him second in the men's 1-meter.

"The divers all did very well," said Naumann. "Melanie (Pearson) is diving very consistently, which is a not of a surprise even with her nursing department demands on her time, as well as her own chronic injuries. She definitely gives her best for a short amount of dives. Our two guys continue to show improvement, and are challenging one another on a regular basis."

Western Illinois will next swim on Saturday, November 12 at Valparaiso, with the meet beginning at 1 p.m.

Tweet #W1U

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Samir Almhiemid: Fly/Back; Sophomore; Chelsea

Seth Brady: Sprint Free; Sophomore; Valley

Quetzal Gallagher: Diving; Sophomore; Pueblo County

Joshua Hill: Sprint Free/Fly; Sophomore; Clinton

Chance McQuigg: Breast/IM; Sophomore; Richwoods

Chris Neaveill: Sprint Free/Fly; Senior; Peoria Notre Dame

Deven Ries: Distance Free; Senior; Pekin

Kyle Siebert: Breast; Junior; Mundelein

Erica Hagen: Breast/Sprint Free; Sophomore; Lisle

Dana Kaftan: Free; Sophomore; De Pere/Lindsey-Wilson College

Melanie Pearson: Diving; Senior; Franklin

Brennan Bladel: Fly/IM/Back; Freshman; Davenport North

Players Mentioned

Samir Almhiemid
: Sophomore; Chelsea
: Fly/Back

Seth Brady
: Sophomore; Valley
: Sprint Free

Quetzal Gallagher
: Sophomore; Pueblo County
: Diving

Joshua Hill
: Sophomore; Clinton
: Sprint Free/Fly

Chance McQuigg
: Sophomore; Richwoods
: Breast/IM

Chris Neaveill
: Senior; Peoria Notre Dame
: Sprint Free/Fly

Deven Ries
: Senior; Pekin
: Distance Free

Kyle Siebert
: Junior; Mundelein
: Breast

Erica Hagen
: Sophomore; Lisle
: Breast/Sprint Free

Dana Kaftan
: Sophomore; De Pere/Lindsey-Wilson College
: Free

Melanie Pearson
: Senior; Franklin
: Diving

Brennan Bladel
: Freshman; Davenport North
: Fly/IM/Back