North STL News

The University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) men's and women's swimming teams began their 2025-26 season with a dual meet against Saint Louis University (SLU) at the Simon Rec Center in St. Louis on Thursday evening. The UMSL men were defeated by the Billikens with a score of 155-58, while the women lost 154-64.

Justice Beard was a standout for the Triton women, securing victories in both the 1,000 and 200 freestyle races. She completed the 1,000 free in 10:30.28, with teammate Libby Smith finishing second at 10:58.15. Beard also won the 200 free with a time of 1:54.43, finishing nearly four seconds ahead of SLU's Meghan Eng.

Beard anchored the Tritons' 200 free relay team alongside Audrey Lantz, Madison Bottorff, and Romina Itzkovich; they finished with a time of 1:38.91.

Romina Itzkovich took second place in both the 200 individual medley (2:08.40) and the 100 fly (1:00.18). Audrey Lantz was runner-up in the 100 free at 55.73 seconds, while Kayla Rompala placed fourth at 56.92 seconds. E. Lantz secured second place in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.98 seconds, and Smith finished third in the 500 free at 5:22.19.

On the men's side, Mikael Larsson led UMSL by winning the 1,000 free in a time of 9:59.33 and placing second in the 500 free at 4:44.56.

Kaleb Suitor and Lathan Parks finished first and second respectively in the men's 100 fly; Suitor clocked in at 51.09 seconds followed by Parks at 51.79 seconds. Mattia Nardi claimed second place in the men's 200 individual medley with a time of 1:56.57.

The UMSL men's team also had strong relay performances as their quartet—Gabriel Wells, Nardi, Suitor, and Parks—finished second in the men's 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:33.88; Parks teamed up with Gentry Comstock, Wells, and Joan Cortadellas Llubera to take second place in the men's 200-yard freestyle relay at a time of 1:25.73.

UMSL will return to competition on Saturday, October 25th when it hosts William Jewell for its home opener at UMSL Swimming Pool.