Missouri State Set For MVC Championships In Iowa

Selected as the favorite to capture the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, the Missouri State women’s swimming and diving team travels to the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium in Iowa City, Iowa, to compete against six other Valley schools for the conference championship crown on Feb. 15-18.

The conference championship takes place over the course of four days, beginning Wednesday, Feb. 15 with two final events. Thursday and Friday (Feb. 16-17), preliminary races are slated for 11 a.m. while the finals will begin at approximately 6 p.m. The final day of the championship begins with preliminaries at 10 a.m.Saturday morning and the finals taking place at 4 p.m.

Hosted by UNI, live streaming will be available during the finals each day of the championship, with coverage starting at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and 4:00 pm on Saturday.

Heading into the meet, Missouri State seeks its 13th conference title after falling to conference foe SIU at last season’s championship. The Salukis edged out Missouri State by half a point (799.5-799) to halt Bears’ attempt at achieving their ninth consecutive conference title.

* The 1650 Freestyle is a “time final” event. The fastest heat will be contested during the Saturdayevening Finals session. The remaining heats will be conducted at the end of the Saturday morning prelims session. The heats will run from fastest to slowest

Last Season’s MVC Championship

The Bears finished day one with a third-place total of 68 points, capturing second-place finishes in both the 200-yard medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay. The following day, Missouri State jumped into second place after Dora Kiss (500 free), Rebecca Amparano (200 IM) earned first-place finishes in their respective events.

On the third day of competition, the Bears picked up three individual titles and a victory in the 400 medley relay to advance into first place. Amparano, Emma Wall and Ibby Simcox each earned championship crowns while Sydney Zupan, Luaren Pavel, Kiss and Loretta Stelnicki dominated the 400 medley relay.

In a dramatic turn of events, SIU came back to beat the Bears by .50 points on the final day of competition, the closest margin of victory in Missouri Valley Conference Swimming and Diving Championship history. Nine Bears were honored as first-team selections while eight received all-conference honorable mention accolades.

MVC Top Times

Currently, Missouri State holds the top spot in eight different events, while boasting 19 top-three times this season. Seventeen Bears hold top-10 times in the MVC heading into the conference championship.

Sarah Allegri

100 back, 3^rd, 55.13 | 200 back, 1^st, 1:57.92

Haley Allen

100 back, 10^th, 57.44 | 100 fly, 5^th, 56.10 | 200 fly, 7^th, 2:05.69

Sara Bacher

100 fly, 2^nd, 55.19 | 200 fly, 2^nd, 2:01.72 | 400 IM, 3^rd, 4:22.20

Anna Bump

50 free, 4^th, 53.52 | 100 breast, 4^th, 1:03.43

Brooke Dreiling

1000 free, 3^rd, 10:22.19 | 1650 free, 10^th, 17:38.47

Hope Ernhart

50 free, 5^th, 23.53 | 100 free, 5^th, 51.31

Hanna Flanagan

100 fly, 10^th, 56.92 | 200 fly, 6^th, 2:05.43

Briana Horozewski

200 breast, 6^th, 2:19.30 | 200 IM, 6^th, 2:05.30 | 400 IM, 6^th, 4:27.06

Quincy Howell

200 back, 10^th, 2:04.53

Vikte Labanauskaite

500 free, 4^th, 4:54.64 | 100 breast, 8^th, 1:04.37 | 200 breast, 3^rd, 2:16.75 | 400 IM, 5, 4:25.58

Brianna McCullough

1000 free, 5^th, 10:27.11 | 1650 free, 7^th, 17:31.38

Lauren Pavel

100 breast, 1^st, 1:01.50 | 200 breast, 1^st, 2:13.78 | 200 IM, 1^st, 2:02.37 | 400 IM, 4:28.40

Josie Pearson

100 fly, 4^th, 56.03 | 200 fly, 1^st, 2:01.62 | 200 IM, 3^rd, 2:03.21 | 400 IM, 4:19.64

Loretta Stelnicki

50 free, 3^rd, 23.46 | 100 free, 3^rd, 51.00 | 100 back, 7^th, 56.39

Emma Wall

200 fly, 8^th, 2:06.28

Sarah Wehrmeister

200 IM, 8^th, 2:05.76

Sydney Zupan

100 free, 8^th, 51.67 | 200 free, 3^rd, 1:51.06 | 100 back, 1^st, 54.95 | 200 back, 2^nd, 1:57.23 | 100 fly, 1^st, 54.77

NCAA Top Times

On the national level, senior Lauren Pavel is the lone Bear to boast a top-100 time. Sitting at No. 64 in the 100 breast, Pavel topped her personal record at the House of Champions invitational on Nov. 19, 2016 after swimming a time of 1:01.50 in the event. Her time bumped her to number two on the Missouri State all-time top-five list. Pavel holds another top-100 time in the 200 breast, this time ranking 47^th with a time of 2:13.78, placing her third on the Bears’ all-time top times list.

Final Details

Hosted by UNI, action at the 2017 MVC Championship begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15 at the University of Iowa Recreation/Wellness Center Natatorium in Iowa City, Iowa. Live streaming will be available during the finals each day of the championship, with coverage starting at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Fridayand 4:00 pm on Saturday. For more information on the Missouri State swimming and diving team, visit www.missouristatebears.com or Twitter (@MoStateSwim).

News courtesy of Missouri State Athletics.