Freshman Justice Beard was selected Freshman of the Year and Tony Hernandez Coach of the Year at the GLVC Swimming and Diving Championships. Beard won conference titles in both the 1,000-yard and 1,650-yard freestyle races, and Hernandez oversaw the UMSL women’s team’s fifth-place finish in the five-day meet in Evansville, Indiana.

Men’s and Women’s Swimming
Justice Beard shined brightest among a number of University of Missouri–St. Louis freshmen who excelled in their first Great Lakes Valley Conference Swimming and Diving Championship. Beard took first place in the 1,000-yard on Wednesday to become the first UMSL woman to win a conference championship, and she became a two-time champion on Saturday when she won 1,650-yard freestyle races by nearly 15 seconds over Indianapolis’ Jamie Glover with a time of 16 minutes, 40.74 seconds. Beard also placed ninth in the 500-yard freestyle and was a member of the school-record-setting 800-yard freestyle relay team that placed fifth on the opening night of the five-day meet at the Deaconess Aquatics Center in Evansville, Indiana. In all, Beard contributed to 90 UMSL points and was named the GLVC Freshman of the Year. She was not the only first-year swimmer helping the UMSL women’s team pile up 865 points to finish fifth in the team competition. Freshman Ella Lantz took fourth in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstrokes and contributed to third place finishes in the 200-yard and 400-yard medley relays and fifth-place finishes in the 400-yard and 800-yard freestyle relays. Her twin sister Audrey Lantz was also part of the two medley relay teams and the 400-yard freestyle relay, and she finished eighth in the 100-yard butterfly. Freshman Kelsey Roth swam the lead leg for the 800-yard freestyle relay that finished fifth and was seventh in the 200-yard freestyle, eighth in the 200-yard backstroke and 10th in the 500-yard freestyle. There were some strong showings by upperclassmen as well, including graduate student Zara Konstapel placing third in 100-yard breaststroke and seventh in 200-yard breaststroke. She also was part of the third-place 200-yard and 400-yard medley relay teams. Freshman Hendrik Bechtel led the men’s team, which finished sixth in the team competition with 643 points. Bechtel took fourth in the 1,650-yard freestyle, eighth in the 500-yard and 1,000-yard freestyle races, and swam the opening leg for the 800-yard freestyle relay team that placed fifth. Senior Conley Savage swam the second leg of the 800-yard freestyle relay, was fifth in the 200-yard butterfly, placed eighth – just behind teammate Aaron Wicklund – in the 400-yard individual medley, and contributed to seventh-place finishes in both the 200-yard and 400-yard medley relays. UMSL also placed seventh in the 200-yard freestyle relay and ninth in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Drury won the women’s team championship, and Indianapolis won the men’s title. Tritons Coach Tony Hernandez was named the GLVC Women’s Coach of the Year. UMSL will next compete in Drury’s Last Chance Qualifier meet on Saturday in Springfield, Missouri.

Men’s Basketball
The Tritons returned home last week having lost six of their last seven games but turned their fortunes around with victories over Illinois Springfield and Quincy at the Mark Twain Athletic Center. Troy Glover II scored a game-high 20 points, including a tie-breaking layup with 21 seconds remaining in a 64-62 victory over the Prairie Stars on Thursday night. UMSL never trailed in the game and pulled ahead by as many as 11 points in the second half before holding off Illinois Springfield, which tied the game three times in the final eight minutes. Savon Wykle added 17 points, Emanuel Prospere II had 12, and Matt Enright scored 10. Enright matched his season-high with 22 points two days later in the 61-55 victory over Quincy, hitting 6 of 11 3-pointers. Mayson Quartlebaum and Prospere II scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, and the Tritons yielded a season-low 55 points while holding the Hawks to 34.5% shooting, including 29% shooting in the second half. UMSL (10-13, 8-7 GLVC) heads to southwest Missouri to play road games against Drury on Thursday and Southwest Baptist on Saturday.

Women’s Basketball
UMSL ran its winning streak to three games after blitzing Illinois Springfield 71-53 on Thursday and topping Quincy 68-60 on Saturday at the Mark Twain Athletic Center. Five UMSL players finished in double figures against Illinois Springfield with Emerson Weller, Morgan Ramthun and Alex Wolff each scoring 14 points, Amaya Blake adding 12 and Mara Rieder finishing with 10 points off the bench. The Tritons defense was also stout, holding the Prairie Stars to 26.8% shooting in the victory. Quincy was only moderately more successful offensively against UMSL, shooting 35.7% through the first three quarters as the Tritons opened up a 52-42 lead. The Hawks fell behind as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter and didn’t get the deficit back under 10 until 14 seconds remaining. Wolff finished with a team-high 18 points, Blake and Audrey Martinez-Stewart had 12 each, and Rieder added 11 off the bench. UMSL (11-12, 9-8 GLVC) takes to the road this week with games against Drury on Thursday and Southwest Baptist on Saturday.

Men’s and Women’s Track and Field
The Tritons track and field teams had athletes competing in both the Grand Valley State University Big Meet in Allendale, Michigan, and Illinois Wesleyan’s Titan Open in Bloomington, Illinois, over the weekend, combining for 13 top-15 finishes in the two meets. Dominica Rooks placed third in the women’s 400 meters at the Titan Open after posting a time of 1 minute, 3.90 seconds. Ella Tynan finished 10th in the mile, and Megan McMillen and Peyton Brueck were 13th and 15th, respectively, in the 3,000 meters. On the men’s side at Illinois Wesleyan, Sean Ede and Sebastian Meyer were third and fourth, respectively, in 3,000 meters with Ede posting a time of 9:11.40. Devon Fanning was 13th in the same race while Gavin Love had a seventh-place finish in the 800 meters. At Grand Valley State, Benjamin VandenBrink and Jacob Warner each finished third in their heats of the men’s 5,000 meters, and Warner also finished sixth in the 3,000 meters. Jonny Key and Caleb Leach were ninth and 12th, respectively, in the mile. UMSL will compete in its final tune-up before the GLVC Indoor Track and Field Championships when they run at the Illinois College Hilltop Classic next Friday in Jacksonville, Florida.