UMSL swimmer Audrey Lantz contributed to three first-place finishes in the women’s team’s dual meet with Southwest Baptist on Friday in Rolla, Missouri. Lantz won the 100-yard backstroke, swam the butterfly leg of the winning 200-yard medley relay and also swam the opening leg of the first-place 200-yard freestyle relay. (Photo by Patrick Clark/Athlete’s Eye Photography)

Men’s and Women’s Swimming
The University of Missouri–St. Louis swimming teams competed for the final time in the 2025 calendar year Friday against a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference foes at the Missouri S&T Swimming Pool in Rolla, Missouri. The women’s team won its dual with Southwest Baptist 162-39 while the men split with the Bearcats and Miners, beating the former 161-37 but losing to the latter 141-63. Justice Beard led the women’s team with victories in the 200-yard individual medley and the 500-yard freestyle. She on the former by 13 seconds over runner-up Briley Larcom of Southwest Baptist with a time of 2 minutes, 10.79 seconds, and she had a time of 5;09.13 in the 500 freestyle. Beard was swam the anchor leg of UMSL’s winning 200-yard freestyle relay. Audrey Lantz won the 100-yard backstroke in 59.55 seconds, was part of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay and swam the butterfly leg of the 200-yard medley relay, which placed first with a time of 1:50.57. Ella Lantz finished first in the 100-yard freestyle (54.62 seconds) and joined her sister on the 200-yard medley relay team. Libby Smith won the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:56.95. Kelsey Roth took first in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:00.90, Madison Bottorff won the 50-yard freestyle in 25.18, and Callie Clinton won the 100-yard butterfly in 59.55. Uxue Ortiz de Pinedo was the winner in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.70. On the men’s side, Mikael Larsson edged Missouri S&T’s Colin Shaffer to win the 1,000-yard freestyle relay in 10:03.39 after a final lap that was more than a second better than Shaffer’s. Larson also finished as the runner-up in the 500 freestyle. The Tritons also got second-place finishes from Donald Saunders in the 200 freestyle, Aaron Wicklund in the 200 individual medley and Kaleb Suitor in the 100 butterfly. UMSL also took second in the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay. The Tritons will next race against NCAA Division III Washington University in St. Louis on Jan. 16 at Millstone Pool before playing host to Henderson State on Jan. 17 at the Mark Twain Athletic Center.

Men’s Basketball
The Tritons went 1-1 at the River City Holiday Classic in San Antonio, beating Texas A&M–Kingsville 61-56 last Tuesday but falling to Dallas Baptist 81-77 on Wednesday at the Northside ISD Sports Gym. UMSL squandered a 16-point second-half lead in Tuesday’s game against the Javelinas and were tied at 53 heading into the final two minutes. But Vincent Davis III scored a layup with 1:56 remaining and the Tritons went 6 for 6 from the foul line down the stretch to pull out the victory. Jake Hamilton scored a team-high 14 points, Davis had 10 and eight rebounds, and Makeer Makeer added 12 points off the bench. UMSL won despite committing 19 turnovers because it held Texas A&M–Kingsville to 28.8% shooting. The Tritons had another double-digit lead in the second half of Wednesday’s game against the Patriots after Taye Moore hit a 3-pointer on the UMSL’s first position of the second half to give the team a 44-33 advantage. But the Tritons again couldn’t hold onto the advantage. This time, Dallas Baptist wound up tying it at 56 with 11:50 remaining, took the lead on Drew Calderon’s 3-pointer with 11:24 left and never trailed the rest of the way. Coach Bob Sundvold‘s team did tie it on two occasions in the last five minutes, but Xavion Brown had a layup and a dunk on back-to-back possessions to put Dallas Baptist in the lead for good with less than 40 seconds remaining. Hamilton finished with a game-high 22 points, and Moore added 14, but they were the only two UMSL players in double figures. The Patriots shot 54.9% from the field, including 60% in the second half as they rallied to win. The Tritons (8-5, 2-2 GLVC) will open the 2026 calendar year with home games against Quincy on Jan. 2 and Upper Iowa on Jan. 4.

Women’s Basketball
UMSL rallied from as many as eight points down in the second half and pulled out a 59-57 win over Central Missouri last Monday at the Mark Twain Athletic Center. The Tritons squandered a 30-25 halftime advantage and were down 46-38 as the clock ticked up two minutes remaining in the third quarter, but they closed the period on a 7-0 run and maintained the momentum in the fourth. Jayden Kuper‘s 3-pointer started the late third-quarter charge, and she also hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:37 left in the fourth as UMSL grabbed a 55-54 lead. Mara Rieder added a layup that put the Tritons in front 57-54, and Coach Katie Vaughn‘s team never trailed again. Kuper and Rieder each finished with 20 points, and Kuper added seven rebounds and three assists while Reider contributed four blocked shots. UMSL won despite shooting 37.5% from the field. The Tritons (8-2, 4-0 GLVC) will open the 2026 calendar year at home against Quincy on Jan. 2 and take on Upper Iowa at home on Jan. 4.