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Men's Swimming and Diving Saturday, February 20, 2016 WIU Athletic Communications

Leathernecks Conclude Championships With Seven More Top-10 Times

Western Illinois men finish meet in fourth, women settle for seventh

The 2016 Summit League Championships Results - Day 4
The 2016 Summit League Championships Full Results

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Western Illinois swimming and diving team concluded The Summit League Championships with seven more top-10 times in school history, as the men finished the four-day meet Saturday (Feb. 20) in fourth place with 443 points, while the women came in seventh with 169 points. Over the four days in Indianapolis, the Leathernecks set five school records and had 25 new times enter the top-10 in program history.

"We had a good conference championship," said head coach Greg Naumann. "It was a meet where we saw a passing of the torch between out seniors and our freshman class. We saw our freshman step up on relays where our seniors were getting a little tired. Seeing what our team did this weekend shows great signs for the direction our program is going. It is definitely sad to see our seniors compete in their final meet for Western, but great to see who will fill in their shoes."

Freshman Chance McQuigg continued his strong championship performance by racing to a 2:02.92 time in the 200-breast, a fifth-place meet finish and the second-best mark in school history. Fellow first-year Cameron Van De Velde finished seventh in the 200-fly with a time of 1:51.90, also the second-best in Western Illinois history.

The Leatherneck men also recorded a pair of top-10 times in the preliminaries. Samir Almhiemid's 46.48 etched his name into 10th place in the record books in the 100-free, while Kyle Siebert tied for 10th with a 2:08.64 time in the 200-breast.

A day after becoming the first Western Illinois Summit League swimming champion since 2007, Chris Neaveill sprinted to a third-place run in the 200-fly in 1:48.57, less than a quarter-second off his school record time. A pair of seniors swimming in their last races, Matt Abercrombie and JD Furr, each won the B-Finals in the 200-back (1:52.18) and 200-breast (2:04.54), respectively.

On the women's side, Haley Locke entered the record books in the 200-back with a 2:10.37 time in the prelims, the seventh-best in Western history. In the 100-free prelims, Marissa Purdum rumbled to a 53.97 mark, good for eighth in school history. Erica Hagen improved upon a personal-best with a 2:28.92 swim in the 200-breast prelims, the ninth-best of any Leatherneck woman.

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Players Mentioned

Erica Hagen: Breast/Sprint Free; Freshman; Lisle

Marissa Purdum: Sprint Free; Freshman; Burlington Community

Matt Abercrombie: Freestyle; Senior; Macomb

JD Furr: Breast/Free; Senior; Crawfordsville

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

Kyle Siebert: Breast; Sophomore; Mundelein

Samir Almhiemid: Fly/Back; Freshman; Chelsea

Cameron Van De Velde: Fly/IM; Freshman; West Forsyth

Chance McQuigg: Breast/IM; Freshman; Richwoods

Haley Locke: Back/Fly; Freshman; Jackson

Players Mentioned

Erica Hagen
: Freshman; Lisle
: Breast/Sprint Free

Marissa Purdum
: Freshman; Burlington Community
: Sprint Free

Matt Abercrombie
: Senior; Macomb
: Freestyle

JD Furr
: Senior; Crawfordsville
: Breast/Free

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

Kyle Siebert
: Sophomore; Mundelein
: Breast

Samir Almhiemid
: Freshman; Chelsea
: Fly/Back

Cameron Van De Velde
: Freshman; West Forsyth
: Fly/IM

Chance McQuigg
: Freshman; Richwoods
: Breast/IM

Haley Locke
: Freshman; Jackson
: Back/Fly