Sophomore Justice Beard touched the wall in a conference-record time of 4:50.42 while winning the women’s 500-yard race at last week’s GLVC Swimming and Diving Championships. (Photo courtesy of UMSL Athletics)
Men’s and Women’s Swimming
University of Missouri–St. Louis sophomore Justice Beard shined throughout last week’s Great Lakes Valley Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, winning one event and finishing in the top five in three others during five days of competition at the Elkhart Aquatic Center in Elkhart, Indiana. Beard, who won a pair of conference championships last year, added a third on Friday when she won the women’s 500-yard freestyle race in conference-record time of 4 minutes, 50.42 seconds, besting her own conference record set in Friday’s prelims and also finishing six seconds faster than runner-up Jamie Glover of Indianapolis. Beard also took second in the women’s 1,000-yard race on Wednesday with a time of 9:53.87 and in the women’s 1,650-yard race on Saturday with a time of 16:34.77 seconds. She added a fifth-place finish in the women’s 200-yard freestyle on Thursday. Beard also contributed to the Tritons’ fifth-place finish in the women’s 800-yard freestyle relay and fourth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay and helped account for 215 of the team’s 738 points, which were enough to place fifth in the team competition. The UMSL women’s also benefited from three top-eight finishes by Audrey Lantz, who took fourth in the 50-yard freestyle in 23.33, fifth in the 100-yard freestyle in 50.76 and seventh in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.62 seconds. Her sister Ella Lantz finished ninth in the 100-yard backstroke and 10th in the 200-yard backstroke. The women also registered fourth-place finishes in the 200 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay. The men finished sixth in the team competition with 602.5 points. Ryan Conner turned in the Tritons’ top performance on the men’s side with a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:47.03, and he also placed 10th in the 100-yard backstroke. Mattia Nardi finished eighth in the 400-yard individual medley and also had a 10th-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly, a 14th-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke and a 21st-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley. Conley Savage touched the wall in eighth place in the 200-yard butterfly and also took 13th in the 400 IM, 14th in the 200 backstroke and 16th in the 200 IM. Aaron Wicklund was ninth in the 400 IM. Hendrik Bechtel finished 12th in the men’s 1,000-yard freestyle, and Landon Hanesworth was 12th in the 100-yard breaststroke. The men’s team placed sixth in the men’s 200 freestyle relay, the 200 medley relay and the 400 medley relay, and the Tritons were seventh in the 800 freestyle relay. They were disqualified for an early departure in the men’s 400 freestyle relay. UMSL will find out Feb. 26 how many swimmers it will send to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Indianapolis. The meet will be held March 11-15 at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Men’s Basketball
The Tritons stretched their winning streak to a season-best four games after home victories against Quincy and Upper Iowa. UMSL routed the Hawks 85-62 on Thursday night as it shot 57.6% from the field, including 14 for 26 from 3-point range. Matt Enright led the long-range shooting success, going 7 for 10 from beyond the arc on his way to 23 points. Savon Wykle was 3 for 5 from 3-point range and scored 16 points. Troy Glover II gave the Tritons an inside presence with 12 points, nine rebounds and five steals. UMSL held Quincy to 41% shooting, including 36.7% in the first half as it opened up a 41-26 lead. Upper Iowa gave the Tritons a tougher test on Saturday, but UMSL pulled out a 70-67 victory as it honored its seniors. The Tritons’ five starters combined for all of their points with Enright scoring a game-high 18 points and Glover adding 16 while seniors Wykle, Janeir Harris and Emanuel Prospere II each scoring 12 points. UMSL held the Peacocks to 40% shooting and led by as many as 12 points. Glover and Wykle combined to go 5 for 6 from the foul line in the final minute to hold off Upper Iowa’s rally. The Tritons (14-10, 12-5 GLVC) will look to continue their winning streak as they travel to William Jewell on Thursday and Truman State on Saturday.
Women’s Basketball
UMSL split home games against Quincy and Upper Iowa last week, losing to the Hawks 64-58 on Thursday but blowing out the Peacocks 76-49 on Saturday. The Tritons squandered a 48-41 lead entering the fourth quarter against Quincy, getting outscored 23-10 over the final 10 minutes. Quincy turned things around with an 11-0 run to start the period and wound up shooting 44.4% in the quarter to rally for the victory. UMSL made only 28.6% of its field-goal attempts in the final quarter, including going 1 for 7 from 3-point range. It also turned the ball over three times during the Hawks’ decisive surge. Mara Rieder scored 16 points off the bench to lead the Tritons, who also got 13 points from Kate Rolfes and 10 from Alex Wolff. Rolfes led four UMSL players in double figures with 14 points in Saturday’s victory. Aalia Carlson got to start as the Tritons honored their four seniors, and she scored 11 of her 13 points in the first quarter while shooting 6 for 8 from the field in the game. Morgan Ramthun had 11, and Rieder scored 10 off the bench. UMSL outscored Upper Iowas 20-5 in the second quarter – holding the Peacocks to 2 for 12 shooting in that span – to take control of the game. UMSL (18-6, 12-5) travels to William Jewell on Thursday and Truman State on Saturday in its final road trip of the regular season.
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field
Benjamin VandenBrink ran a personal-best time of 14 minutes, 24.05 seconds to finish second in his section of the men’s 5,000 meters on Friday at Grand Valley State University’s Big Meet in Allendale, Michigan. VandenBrink bested his previous mark by 12 seconds while leading eight UMSL runners in the field. He also finished sixth overall in the men’s 3,000-meter race on Saturday with a time of 8:27.98. The Tritons also had athletes competing in the Washburn Ichabod Invite in Topeka, Kansas. Caleb Cody-Jackson had the top finish of the weekend, taking second in the men’s 400 meters with a time of 48.63 seconds. He also finished 18th in the 200 in 22.02 seconds. Rashad Smith placed eighth in the men’s triple jump with a top mark of 45 feet 8 1/2 inches. On the women’s side, Kennedy Moore was 22nd in the triple jump with a top mark of 34-9 3/4 inches and also placed 30th in the long jump with a best jump of 16-5. Both the men’s and women’s teams will compete on Friday in the Illinois College Hilltop Classic in Jacksonville, Illinois, in their final tuneup before the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships on March 1-2.
Men’s Golf
The 18th-ranked Tritons opened their spring schedule by finishing seventh out of 16 teams in the Houston Classic played at the Golf Club of Houston last week in Humble, Texas. The tournament was shortened to 36 holes because of rain in the Houston area last Tuesday, but UMSL posted a combined score of 598 through two rounds to finish one shot ahead of Dallas Baptist. The Tritons were 29 shots behind tournament winner Central Oklahoma. Logan Mayo led UMSL with a 36-hole score of 144, which tied him for 15th on the individual leaderboard. Leo Baudry was UMSL’s next highest finisher, tying for 29th with a total of 149, and Dani Solavera was one shot back in a tie for 32nd. Midwestern State’s Seth Bearden was the individual medalist with a 36-hole score of 138 (69-69) finishing two shots ahead of Central Oklahoma’s Baylor Bostick. The Tritons will next play as the host team in the Las Vegas Desert Classic, which begins March 2 at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada.
Women’s Tennis
UMSL knocked of Southern Indiana 5-2 in its spring opener on Saturday at the Evansville Tennis Center in Evansville, Indiana. The Tritons won two of three doubles matches, clinching the doubles point when the No. 1 duo of Hannah Tse and Aleksandra Lopez picked up a 7-6 (7-4) victory over Sofia Davidoff and Anais Negrail. Tse lost a match tiebreaker to Negrail in the No. 1 singles match, but UMSL got singles victory from Lopez at No. 2 singles, Morgan Lint at No. 4 singles, Guiliana Cunza at No. 5 singles and Lauren Sweeney at No. 6 singles. All the victories came in straight sets. UMSL improved to 3-0 in dual meets this season and will next play Purdue Northwest on March 9 at the UMSL Tennis Courts.
Men’s Tennis
The Tritons fell 6-1 in a dual meet against Southern Indiana to open their spring schedule. Tanin Ramnath and Daniel Berdecio picked up a 6-0 win in the No. 2 doubles match against Quinten Gillespie and Eytan Michaeli, but UMSL dropped the other two doubles matches to fall behind 1-0 in dual. The Tritons managed only one singles victory, an 8-6 victory by Henry Roberts over Gillespie in the No. 5 singles match. Percy Siercke split the first two sets with Michaeli at No. 3 singles but lost a match tiebreaker 10-1. UMSL (2-2) will be back on the court on March 9 against Purdue Northwest at the UMSL Tennis Courts.
