The Missouri State women’s swimming and diving team has been named as the favorite to repeat as Missouri Valley Conference champions in a pre-championship poll of the conference’s head coaches, the league announced Tuesday, Feb. 16.
The Bears (35 points) are the favorites – behind top votes from five of the six schools – by a slim four-point margin over Southern Illinois, who received 31 points and second place in the poll. Illinois State (22 points) edged out Northern Iowa (20 points) for the third place spot. Little Rock (11 points) and Evansville (7 points) round out the rankings.
Missouri State won its eighth straight conference crown – and 12th title overall – by 95 points over Southern Illinois last February to pull within two of SIU’s MVC-best 14 conference championships. The Bears’ active conference championship streak is tied for the second longest in Division I women’s swimming and diving with Virginia.
MSU boasts swimmers who hold top-three times on the MVC best list in 18 different events this season. Fifteen total Bears have top-10 times in the MVC heading into the conference championship.
The 2016 MVC Championship begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, at SIU’s Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium. Live streams of finals events for the four-day meet are available on the MVC Championship Central page, with a link also on the swimming and diving schedule page on MissouriStateBears.com.
Swimming news courtesy of Missouri State Swimming & Diving.