Oct. 10, 2009

By Dana Ingraham
www.SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The men's swimming and diving team improved to 2-0 Saturday afternoon, defeating Miami of Ohio 152-91 at Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium.

SIU took 10 first-place finishes in 13 events. The Salukis got off to a hot start, winning the first five events of the day beginning with the 400 yard medley relay. The A team of Tim Silkaitis, Jameson Kuper, Justin Wolfe, and Tony Bousquet (3:28.66) finished just ahead of the B team of Kyle Riekena, Chris Gaffney, Cesar Perez and El Badrawi (3:33.28).

Perez won his individual events as well, swimming 1:55.24 in the 200 IM and 1:53.57 in the 200 back adding 18 points to SIU's total.

Bousquet took first in the 50 free (22.01) and third in the 100 free with a time of 49.08.

Matt Kruse also came away with two wins in the 200 free (1:43.80) and the 500 free (4:44.07). Kruse, along with Matt Parsons, Wolfe, and Silkaitis, finished first in the 400 freestyle relay in the meet's final race with a time of 3:10.02.

The Salukis will look to improve upon their strong start to the season next weekend, when the women travel to Vanderbilt and the men travel to Kentucky Oct. 17.