This past weekend the Saint Louis University men’s and women’s swimming and diving team finished fourth at the Bradley Invitational. The Billikens hung tough in a competition dominated by larger schools.

“We had significantly less swimmers than the other schools,” said head coach Richard Beason. “We did have some good individual performances.”

Jason Difani took first place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 48 seconds flat. Difani also took first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.84 seconds.

“Jason really stood out this weekend,” said Beason.

Luke Muran finished sixth in the 200-yard medley. “Luke Muran had a good 200,” Beason said.

Beason was also impressed with the performance of the men’s 400-yard relay. Difani, Muran, Chris Clement and Jason McArdle make up the 400-yard relay team.

“The guys on the 400 relay put good efforts,” Beason said. “It was one of the highlights.”

The women’s team was also full of highlights. Bernie Gartland turned in solid performances in both her events, finishing fifth in the 200-yard backstroke and 10th in the 200-yard medley.

“Bernie swam well in both her events,” Beason said.

Abbey Robins was strong in the 1650-yard freestyle, finishing third with a time of 18:24.

“She’ll probably break the record, which she holds,” Beason said.

On the diving boards the women’s team looked impressive. Jenny Hurst had great form and did not make a splash as she took home first place with a score of 230.35 in the 3-meter diving competition.

“She’s very close to qualifying for the NCAA’s and has four more events to do it in,” said Beason.

“We’ve dominated Bradley the past few years,” Hurst said. “The diving competition on our team is really tough.”

The rest of the field at the Bradley Invitational was tough. Truman State took home first place with a combined team score of 1588.0.

Eastern Illinois University had a total score of 1101.0, good enough for second. The University of Northern Iowa finished third with 673.5 while SLU took fourth with 472.0.

Bradley wrapped up the field, finishing fifth in their own tournament with 454.5.

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving team has the upcoming weekend off, but will be heading out to face the Bradley Braves and then the Valparaiso Crusaders the following weekend.

“Valpo will be tough, they’re a bit stronger than we are, ” said Beason.