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Eighteen top-10 finishes weren't enough to carry the SIU men's swimming and diving team to its first Sun Belt Conference championship.

The Salukis fell short of their championship aspirations, finishing fourth in the Sun Belt Conference Championships held in Nashville, Tenn., during the weekend.

Missouri State duplicated the success of its women's team, scoring 688 points en route to the Sun Belt Conference title. The Bears women's swimming and diving team won the Missouri Valley Conference championship Feb. 16. Denver, Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic and Evansville placed second, third, fifth and sixth respectively.

Coach Rick Walker said Missouri State and Denver's early success put them in a situation to battle for conference supremacy, shocking the defending champion Western Kentucky.

"I think (Western Kentucky) walked in there thinking it was theirs and I think they were stunned they were that far out," Walker said. "Denver and Missouri State got themselves in a nice little battle. They got up early and did better than what they were projected to do."

Even though Denver finished second, it didn't go home empty handed. The Pioneers swept the awards ceremony, winning men's swimming and diving coach of the year, along with most outstanding swimmer and diver awards.

SIU was able to find some success in the water, despite not posting any first-place finishes in the conference championships. The Salukis finished second in four events, including the 400-yard and 800 freestyle relays.

Senior Antonio Santoro's second-place finish in the 500 freestyle was the best individual performance by a Saluki during the first day of competition. Santoro also posted a third place finish Friday in the 200 freestyle. Junior Dennis Hedo finished second with a time of 1:37.94.

Hedo, Santoro, Anthony Bousquet and Gareth McGee teamed up to pick up a second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:00.69.

Now that the season is over, Walker can begin to look forward to next year. He said he would sorely miss the outgoing seniors, but there were positives to come from that.

"You can sit there and say 'Hey, look who we're losing,' or 'Hey, here's an opportunity.' And we'll look at this from an opportunity standpoint."

Luis C. Medina can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 238 or lcm1986@siu.edu.

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