Katie Taylor And Alexis Skiniotes Earn MVC Weekly Awards

Press Release Courtesy of The Missouri Valley Conference: MVC Swimming and Diving Notebook – Nov. 1

Swimmer of the Week: Katie Taylor, Freshman, UNI

At Nebraska, Katie Taylor continued to dominate in the pool. Taylor took first place in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:02.54. Taylor took second in the 400 IM and 100 backstroke individually. Taylor swam a 56.86 in the 100 backstroke and a 4:31.52 in the 400 IM. Taylor would team up with Crystal Florman, Autumn Roepsch and Aftin Phyfe for a second place finish in the 200 freestyle relay, timing in at 1:36.97. Taylor and Florman would team up with Moriah Ross and Molly Lembezeder to take third place in the 400 medley relay, 3:51.31. At Nebraska-Omaha, Taylor kept her pace from the night before, grabbing first place finishes in the 200 freestyle, 200 IM and 200 backstroke. Taylor swam a 1:55.67 in the 200 freestyle, 2:09.22 in the 200 IM and swam a 2:04.48 in the 200 backstroke. Taylor led the Panthers in a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 backstroke. Rinaldi grabbed second place, timing in at 2:10.80 and Aftin Phyfe grabbed third with a time of 2:11.31. Taylor would team up with Veronica Herrmann, Moriah Ross and Molly Lembezeder would bring home the first race in the 200 medley relay, timing in at 1:47.56.

Diver of the Week: Alexis Skiniotes, Missouri State, Senior

Senior Alexis Skiniotes had a stellar weekend, setting a new personal record and picking up her first two victories of the season in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving to assist the Bears in their efforts against crosstown rival, Drury. Skiniotes started off the evening dominating the 1-meter with a season-high score of 237.45, marking her first win of the 2016-17 season. The New Lennox, Ill., native’s score was an outstanding 40.05 points higher than the second-place finisher. Following her golden performance in the 1-meter, Skiniotes went on to grab first in the 3-meter as well, topping the second-place finisher by 6.9 points. The senior tallied 265.80 points in the 3-meter which shattered her previous personal record of 242.47 points set back in 2014 against Drury.

Weekend Recap:

OMAHA, Nebraska--The University of Northern Iowa women’s swimming and diving team swam to a 169-131 victory over the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. The Panther team of Katie Taylor, Veronica Herrmann, Moriah Rossand Molly Lembezederwould bring home the first race in the 200 medley relay, timing in at one minute, forty-seven seconds and fifty-six hundredths of a second.  Lembezeder would have another relay first place finish in the 400 freestyle relay, teaming up with Crystal Florman, Autumn Roepsch, and Rachel Siebenaller, nabbing a time of 3:33.32. Individually, Lembezeder would grab the first place finish in the 100 freestyle, timing in at 52.61. Teammate Crystal Florman nabbed second place with a time of 53.04. Florman and Lembezeder would trade places in the 50 freestyle. Florman edged out Lembezeder for first, timing in at 24.25. Lembezeder timed in at 24.46. Madison Rinaldi grabbed a first place finish in the 100 backstroke, with a time of 1:00.53. Freshman Kylie Engstrom timed in at 18:05.90 to win the 1650 freestyle race. Ross would nab two first place finishes in individual races. Ross grabbed first place in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, timing in at 1:06.90 and 2:25.16, respectively. Ross would grab a third place finish in the 200 IM to finish the day, timing in at 2:14.41. Taylor kept her pace, grabbing first place finishes in the 200 freestyle, 200 IM and 200 backstroke. Taylor swam a 1:55.67 in the 200 freestyle, 2:09.22 in the 200 IM and swam a 2:04.48 in the 200 backstroke. Taylor led the Panthers in a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 backstroke. Rinaldi grabbed second place, timing in at 2:10.80 and Aftin Phyfe grabbed third with a time of 2:11.31. Florman would grab second place in the 100 butterfly, timing in at 59.08. Kelsey Ostrowski followed in third place at 1:00.78.
Siebenaller grabbed third place in the 200 freestyle, swimming to a finish of 1:57.55. Herrmann grabbed second place in the 200 breaststroke, timing in at 2:25.88. Herrmann would swim a 1:08.09 in the 100 breaststroke, good for third place. Stephanie Jackson rounded out the Panther competition today, grabbing a second and third place finish. Jackson swam a 2:13.07 in the 200 butterfly, good for second place and took third in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5.20.58. Junior Hannah Brummel took home third place in the 1-meter diving, with a dive score of 210.45. Brummel would take fifth in the 3-meter diving, scoring 206.10. Sophomore Alyssa Deuso took fourth in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives, scoring 203.20 and 206.25, respectively. Emma Billerbeck grabbed fifth place in the 1-meter diving, with a dive score of 191.55 and sixth in the 3-meter diving, with a dive score of 191.75.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – After a slow start, the Missouri State swimming and diving team made out with several top finishes in the women’s loss to Drury at Hammons Student Center Saturday evening. The women’s squad was unable to conjure a first-place finish during the meet, but tallied six second-place finishes and one relay victory. The women’s 400-yard medley relay opened up the ‘Dual in the Pool’ grabbing second with a time of 3:53.92. Sydney Zupan, Loretta Stelnicki, Vikte Labanauskaite and Briana Horozewski were the top contenders for the women, bringing in several second and third-place finishes. Following the slow start, Zupan grabbed second in the 200yd free (1:53.81) to get things going for the women. Stelnicki, who had two runner-up outings, took second in the 50yd free (22.77) and 100yd free (52.48). In another top performance for the Bears, Horozewski set a new personal record in the 200yd breast thanks to her 2:24.59 performance that earned her third. Labanauskaite showed strong outings in both the 1000yd free (10:39.80) and 200yd breast (2:22.88) while Haley Allen was the top finisher for the Bears in the 200yd fly in her 2:07.13 outing. Despite a slow start to the evening, the team rose to the occasion in the final event, the 400 free relay, when the Missouri State women’s A relay team out-touched Drury by nearly two whole seconds to claim first in the event.

TERRE HAUTE, IN. –The Illinois State swimming team had its first dual meet of the season Friday at Indiana State, topping the Sycamores, 176.5-85.5. Maia Cain finished first in the 100- (57.54) and 200-yard butterfly (2:05.75). Yvette Kruk came in first in the 500- (5:13.17) and 1000-yard freestyle (10:46.75). Rachel Rootearned the best time in the 100-yard backstroke (57.35) and tied with Mary Katherine Tillotson for the top time in the 100-yard freestyle (54.33). Karley Licking won the 200-yard backstroke (2:04.06). The team of Root, Everest, Rachel Holm and Tillotson had the top time in the 200-medley relay. Jillena Everest, Casey Balson, Cain and Brittany Felice made up the winning 200-yard freestyle relay team. Kristin Verkler clocked in the top time in the 200-yard freestyle (1:55.57), while Sarah Thomas finished first in the 50-yard freestyle (24.84). Janise Everest touched the wall first in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.26).

Terre Haute, Ind.—The Indiana State swimming and diving team made history tonight by hosting their first home meet at the Vigo County Aquatic Center. The Sycamores welcomed Missouri Valley Conference opponent to the pool for a dual meet at 7:00 p.m. Indiana State continues to improve every single week and tonight was no different. There were numerous high placing finishes for the Sycamores including two first place finishes from Blanca Saez-Illobre in the 200 yard breaststroke and 200 yard IM. The first relay was the 200 yard medley and the team made up of Kendall Hansen, Blanca Saez-Illobre, Jacquie Price, and Alex Malmborg finished in second with a stellar time of 1:48.90. Other notable performances of the night came from Elisabeth Peskin who placed third in the 1000 yard free, Jacquie Price who came in second in the 200 yard free, Courtney Skelley finished second in the 200 yard fly, Alex Malmborg recording second place in the 50 yard free, Kendall Hansen placing second in the 200 yard back, and Cierra Campbell placing second in the 500 yard free.

Schedule for October – November