Senior Jon Osa recorded three top-eight individual finishes, including a second-place showing in the 200-yard backstroke, while helping UMSL to a fifth-place finish in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. (Photo by Patrick Clark/Athlete’s Eye Photography)
Men’s and Women’s Swimming
Both University if of Missouri–St. Louis swimming teams recorded their best-ever finishes at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Swimming and Diving Championships by placing fifth in the five-day meet at the Deaconess Aquatic Center in Evansville, Indiana. Senior Jon Osa‘s second-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke on Saturday helped the 17th-ranked Tritons men’s team finish with a total 789 points in the team competition. Osa also placed sixth in both the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke with times of 20.18 seconds and 48.05 seconds, respectively. He teamed with Guillem Masjuan Roca, Austin Stevenson and Conley Savage to take fifth in the 400 medley relay (3:16.32) and joined Stevenson, Savage and David Reynolds in placing sixth in the 200 medley relay (1:28.71). Masjuan Roca finished sixth in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:49.46, just ahead of Savage, who placed eighth in 1:49.65. Savage was fifth in the 200 butterfly (1:47.56) and sixth in the 400 individual medley (4:00.96). Masjuan Roca teamed with Stevenson, Aiden Clark and Reynolds to finish sixth in the 400 freestyle relay (3:01.59), and he, Savage, Ryan Clark and Aiden Clark were seventh in the 800 freestyle relay (6:44.59). Aiden Clark also turned in eighth-place finishes in both the 100 breaststroke (54.82) and the 200 breaststroke (2:02.39).
Zara Konstapel was UMSL’s top individual finisher on the women’s side, contributing to a team total of 792 points by finishing fourth in both the 100 breastroke and 200 breaststroke with times of 1:02.98 and 2:19.25, respectively. Konstapel also teamed with Kate Nelson and Sarah Nelson and Ava Boehning to finish fourth in the 200 medley relay (1:44.47) and Stephanie Schoemans, Kristen Stalder and Boehning to finish fifth in the 400 medley relay (3:50.64). Mackenzie Greenley took fifth in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:08.97. Boehning was seventh in the 50 freestyle (23.57) and helped UMSL to fifth-place finishes in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. She teamed with Franziska Hauptmann and Sarah and Kate Nelson to post a time of 1:35.33 in the 200 freestyle relay, and she joined Schoemans and Sarah and Kate Nelson to record a time of 3:30.41 in the 400 freestyle relay. Schoemans was eighth in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:06.94, and she joined Isabella Gruidl, Sarah Nelson and Madison Bottorf to finish sixth in the 800 freestyle relay (7:43.62). The Tritons will next compete in the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships from March 8-11 in Indianapolis.
The Tritons have dropped three straight games after blowing an eight-point lead and losing 76-75 on a driving layup in the waning seconds Thursday at Missouri S&T and scoring a season-low in points Saturday in a 69-58 loss at Drury. The Miners scored the final nine points in Thursday’s game after UMSL took a 75-67 lead on free throws from Matt Enright with 1:38 left. That included a five-point possession when Kaden Froebe while getting fouled, missed his free throw but watched teammate Julien Smith hit a deep 3 with 1:15 left after the Tritons failed to secure the rebound. Froebe added a putback bucket with 33 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to one, and Lovell Williams raced the length of the floor and scored the go-ahead basket with 1.5 seconds remaining. Trever Moore led four UMSL players in double figures with 17 points in the loss. The Tritons got outscored 44-27 in the second half Saturday against the Panthers. Victor Nwagbaraocha finished with a team-high 16 to points to lead four players in double figures in that game, but UMSL was undone by 18 turnovers. The Tritons (18-7, 10-7 GLVC) will look to get on track when they play at Maryville Thursday in their only game of the week.
Women’s Basketball
UMSL dropped road games at Missouri S&T and Drury last week to fall to 9-14, including 7-10 in GLVC play. The Tritons made a late rally from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit against the Miners, cutting the margin to 69-65 after a jumper by Amaya Blake with 38 seconds remaining before the comeback stalled. Jalysa Stokes finished with 23 points in the loss, Blake added 16 and Kiara Stewart notched a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Drury, ranked second in the country in the latest WBCA Coaches’ poll, overwhelmed the Tritons, outscoring them by 14 points in the first half and 15 more points in the third quarter. Stokes finished with 27 points to lead three UMSL players in double figures. The Tritons turned the ball over 20 times. UMSL will visit Maryville Thursday in its only game of the week.
Men’s and Women’s Track
The Tritons sent competitors to the Pittsburg State Gorilla Indoor Classic and the Illinois Wesleyan’s Titan Open over the weekend in their final tune-ups before the GLVC Indoor Track and Field Championships begins on Feb. 25 in Indianapolis. Lily Wagemann was UMSL’s top finisher in the Titan Open, placing seventh in the mile with a time of 5 minutes, 38.65 seconds. Kennedy Moore was ninth in the 400 meters in a time of 1:03.77, and she also finished 16th in the 200 meters with a time of 28.24 seconds. On the men’s side, Brett Lynch, Sam Savastino and Matthias Shelp each finished in the top 15 of the 3,000 meters with Lynch placing highest in 12th place with a time of 9:11.28. Jacob Warner was UMSL’s top individual performer with 32nd-place showings in both the men’s 5,000 meters on Friday in a time of 15:14.04 and in Saturday’s 3,000 meters with a time of 8:45.24. The men’s distance medley relay team of Toby Middleton, Benjamin VandenBrink, Michael Wright and Gavin Love placed 17th with a combined time of 10:20.54.
Baseball
UMSL opened its season by splitting two double-headers against Alabama-Huntsville. The Tritons won the first two games 9-4 and 2-0 on Friday before losing 8-7 and 26-5 in the second twinbill on Saturday in Huntsville, Alabama. Senior outfielder Carson Holin had seven hits and drove in a team-high four runs on the weekend. Catcher Kameron Laskowski and outfielder Braedon Stoakes each had six hits, and Laskowski scored three runs. Dylan Wobbe struck out five in two innings of relief while collecting the victory in the opener, and Nick Torres and Trent Anderson combined to shut out Alabama-Huntsville in the second game. The Tritons (2-2) will play a four-game series against Rogers State beginning Friday in Claremore, Oklahoma.
