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Lauren Hervey of Columbia, MO has announced her decision to continue her academic and athletic career at Illinois State University beginning in the fall of 2021. She is in her final year at Father Tolton Catholic High School and she swims club for the Columbia Swim Club.
I fell in love with the coaching staff, the girls on the team, and the school. I have been swimming for the past 10 years and love distance. I am beyond excited to further my love for swim in college. Go Redbirds!
In February, Hervey competed at the 2020 Missouri High School Girls State Class 1 Championships. The Father Tolton Catholic junior swam the 200 and 500 free and she was a member of her team’s 400 free relay. In prelims, she touched third in the 200 free and first in the 500 free, earning a spot in the A-final. She took 0.76 seconds off of her 200 free time in finals to go a time of 1:53.77. She was able to out-swim Makenzie Kurre of Savannah High School to earn the silver medal.
She took home an additional medal in the 500 free. She had gone a personal best time in prelims (5:02.61), which earned her the top seed going into finals. She went 0.11 seconds slower during her evening swim and was out-touched by her sister, Lindsey Hervey. The two sisters dominated the race, with Lauren touching 9.3 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher. Her prelims time was a 2019 Futures qualifying time.
Finally, Hervey led off Father Tolton Catholic’s 400 free relay, powering to the wall in an unofficial best time of 53.87. Jaclyn Sexauer, Summer Ryan, and Lindsey Harvey swam the remaining legs of the relay for an 18th place finish.
In March of 2019, Hervey swam at the Speedo Champions Series in Columbia. She competed in the 200, 500, 1000, and 1650 free, the 200 fly, and the 400 IM. She swam personal best times in every event except the 500 free. She finished 4th in the 1650 and 9th in the 1000 free, and she made it back to finals in each of her other races.
Top SCY Times:
- 200 free – 1:53.73
- 500 free – 5:02.61
- 1000 free – 10:26.71
- 1650 free – 17:17.30
Hervey will join the Redbirds in the fall of 2021, where she will be a top distance recruit for the women’s team. Her top 1000 free time would have made her the team’s fastest competitor by 6.41 seconds during the 2019-2020 season. Similarly, her 1650 would have been 8.34 seconds faster than top distance swimmer Morgan Rosser‘s time. Rosser will graduate in the spring of 2021.
She would have scored points for Illinois State at the 2020 Missouri Valley Conference Championships, with her top times placing her 9th in the 1650 and in the B-final of the 500 free.
Illinois State University had a strong recruiting year, picking up verbals from Eva Reyes, Emma Feltzer, Karinda Meeuwsen, Mia Snow, Sydney Hoff, and distance swimmers Ella Glaspie and Lauren Wisdom for its class of 2025.
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Can’t wait to see her on the Olympic swim team!!! Congratulations on a great record, Lauren!!!