The Billiken swimming and diving teams are heading to the Atlantic 10 tournament this coming weekend at Flickinger Acquatics Center in Buffalo, N.Y.
SLU is coming off a great performance, with the men picking up two convincing victories over Eastern Illinois 158-57 and Evansville 151-69. The women defeated Eastern Illinois 169-49 but came up short against Evansville 110-113.
This season, the Billiken freshmen have held their own. Zack Billingsley is ranked second in the A-10 in the 50 Free and third in the 100 Free, Stephen Hansen is sixth in the 100 Breast and ninth in the 200 Breast, and Patrick May is second in the 100 Free and seventh in the 50 Free.
For the women, Jaylnn Gieseke is sixth in the 100 Fly and seventh in the 200 Fly. The Billikens will lean on these young swimmers entering the Atlantic 10 tournament.
Senior Taylor Streid has dominated recently, including winning all five events in which she swam during the Washington Invitational on Jan 13.
Sophomore Lizzie Osterman looks to succeed in the tournament after setting the school record in the 200-meter Freestyle.
The Billiken swimmers are ranked in various A-10 top 10 lists. This season, 12 swimmers have been ranked in the top 10 of at least one event.
Billingsley (50 Free, 100 Free), May (100 Free), Brian Brasser (100 Breast), Billy Hrabovsky (one-meter diving) and Courtnee Lagestee (one-meter diving) all were ranked in the top three in their events.
The Billikens have only earned two Atlantic 10 accolades, both coming from freshmen: Patrick May, who earned Rookie of the Week Dec. 15 and Melanie Battaglia, who took those honors for the week of Oct. 10.
Patrick earned the accolade for his record-setting performance at the Missouri Tiger Invitational, whereas May led the Billikens to a fifth-place finish, which is nothing to look down upon, considering their NCAA power-house competitors, Missouri and Boise State, and D-II champion Drury.
May performed heroics in the relay, helping the 200-yard Freestyle Relay, 200-yard Freestyle and the 200-yard Medley. That day, the relay teams set new school records for Saint Louis.
Battaglia earned her award for her efforts in the win over Arkansas-Little Rock and William Jewell at home in the Simon Recreation Center. Melanie won the 100 Breaststroke and assisted in a 200 Medley Relay.
The heavy favorites coming into the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship are Joey Sborbon and Chris Inglis, both out of the University of Massachusetts.
Sborbon is the current A-10 leader in both 200- and 500-yard Freestyle, and Chris Inglis is the current A-10 leader in 1,000-yard Freestyle and the 1,650-yard Freestyle.
The University of Massachusetts’ men’s swim and dive team are on the quest to capture their sixth-consecutive Atlantic 10 Conference title after beating St. Bonaventure last year. On the women’s side, the Richmond Spiders are looking to defend last year’s title.
The tournament begins Wednesday, Feb. 22 and will conclude with the final races on Saturday, Feb 25.
