ST. LOUIS – Missouri State has been named as the pre-championship favorite for the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference Swimming & Diving Championships, held February 18-21 in Carbondale, Ill., hosted by Southern Illinois University.
The Bears (35 points) are the favorites by a slim four point margin over Illinois State, who received 31 points and second place in the poll. Southern Illinois, with 25 points, would closely follow as Evansville (16 points), Northern Iowa (14 points), and UALR (6 points) round out the rankings.
1. Missouri State – 35 pts.
2. Illinois State – 31 pts.
3. Southern Illinois – 25 pts.
4. Evansville – 16 pts.
5. UNI – 14 pts.
6. UALR – 6 pts.
Missouri State has swimmers in the top-three times on this seasons MVC Best List in 13 different events, not including relays.
Host Southern Illinois holds 6 top-three times on the MVC Best List, which includes top times in multiple events.
The MVC Championship will feature some tremendous talent, and the best in the conference will be competing.
Diver Sherry Zhang holds the best diving scores in The Valley for the one-meter dive with a score of 375.07 and the three-meter dive with a score of 440.15, trailed closely by Illinois State’s Wenting Zhang.
Senior Marissa Yontz of Illinois State holds the top conference times in the 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle, and holds the third best time in the 200 Freestyle. Yontz holds the school records in these three events at Illinois State.
The Valley’s best will be on display in Carbondale this week as the six schools go head to head in this year’s MVC Swimming and Diving Championship.
Swim News courtesy: Missouri Valley Conference