Leading every single day of the four-day meet, the Missouri State women’s swimming and diving team clinched its 14th Missouri Valley Conference Swimming and Diving Championship, Saturday at the University of Iowa Recreation/Wellness Center Natatorium.
The Bears claimed nine individual events and captured the league crown with 799 points while Southern Illinois finished second in the conference with a total of 672.5 points. Northern Iowa finished third with 487.5 points, followed by Indiana State (447), Illinois State (370.5), Little Rock (363.5), Evansville (225) and Valparaiso (110).
“What a night,” Collins exclaimed. “This was a total team championship. We had great performances across the board from everyone. This is a special group that has earned this title.”
Completing the sweep of her individual events, freshman Libby Howell put on another incredible performance and crushed the competition for a gold-medal finish in the 1650 free.
“Libby was outstanding this weekend,” Collins praised. “To come in as a freshman and dominate her individual events while managing the emotion of a championship meet, was as very fun to watch.
Howell, who set the school record in the event earlier this season, took down defending champion, Bryn Handley once again with a remarkable time of 16:35.84. Newcomer Leticia Rodrigues was the other distance freestyle to finish in the top eight and touched the wall seventh with a time of 17:10.82.
“This meet has gone so great and I’m beyond proud that I get to be a part of such a great team,” Howell said. “They have pushed me and supported me through everything. Everyone helped with this title and I’m so happy I get to be a part of it.”
Three Bears posted 200 back A-Final times in the morning’s prelims session. Sydney Zupan, Sarah Allegri and Lily van Billon claimed three of the top-eight spots, while newcomer Madison Brown earned a B-Final spot. Entering the finals session as the No. 2 seed, Zupan rose to the occasion and ground out a record-setting, first-place finish.
“Watching Sydney win the 200 back tonight was extremely emotional for me, as well as all of her teammates and coaches,” Collins admitted. “We have all seen her daily commitment to this program for the last four years. I consider myself very lucky to be her coach.”
Her time of 1:55.00 will go down as the fastest in MSU and MVC history. Also scoring big points for the Bears, Allegri finished sixth overall and van Billon claimed eighth.
In their first appearance this morning, Anna Miller and Loretta Stelnicki qualified for the 100 free A-Final and freshman Taylor Beadle finished 14th overall for a B-Final spot. After Beadle finished sixth overall in the night’s second heat, Miller and Stelnicki took their mark for the championship heat. Posting the only time under 50 seconds, Miller stunned the competition once again and clinched gold with a NCAA B-standard time of 49.91 seconds.
“I am so incredibly proud of how our team came together to win the meet,” said Miller. “The team atmosphere is something that I have never experienced before and will never forget. Everyone on the team played a part in this championship and I couldn’t be happier to be a Bear.”
With her time, she moved up to second all-time in the MSU record books and is one of two Bears to finish under 50 seconds. Stelnicki rounded out the Bears efforts in the 100 free with a fifth-place finish in 50.98 seconds.
Like the night before, sophomore Vikte Labanauskaite was the lone Bear to represent MSU in the 200 breast final. She placed fifth overall in the prelims session while fellow sophomore Monica Blake took 11th overall. Blake returned for the evening session and finished seventh overall in heat number two and Labanauskaite touched the wall fifth (2:17.91) in the championship final.
The Bears took first and second in the preliminary round of the 200 fly. Emma Wall led the pack with a time of 2:00.69 and junior Josie Pearson followed close behind in second. Haley Allen was the other Bear to qualify for the A-Final, while seniors Hanna Flanagan and Lauren Williams recorded times that placed them in the B-Finals. Defending her title from one year ago, Wall paced the pack and clinched a MVC gold medal with a first-place time of 1:59.80 in the championship final. Pearson took home the bronze medal in 2:01.58 and Allen rounded out the field in eighth. Flanagan and Williams went on to place 11th and 17th, respectively.
“Swimming with this team has been an incredible journey,” Wall explained. “Tonight’s win for the team and personal win was a great end to four fantastic years of swimming at Missouri State. Outstanding coaches and a dedicated, hard-working group of women helped make our successes tonight happen.”
MSU’s divers made their mark, bringing in two top-eight finishes. After pacing the Bears all season, freshman Ashley Yarborough earned a bronze medal for her 278.88-point performance on the 3-meter board. Rounding out the Bears’ action on the board, Dayana Popa finished seventh overall with 211.10 points.
“What a great finish for my young group of diver,” diving coach James Huelskamp beamed. “Each diver scored points today and Ashley winning the freshman diver of the year was a real highlight. I told the divers that “It’s not how we start, but how we finish.””
Competing the sweep of all five relays, Howell, Miller, Stelnicki and Zupan set a school and MVC record in the 400 free with a quick time of 3:21.09. Keeping the momentum alive through all four days, it was the first time that the Bears won all five relays at the conference meet since the 2011 season.
Specialty Awards
For her efforts, Howell was named the MVC Freshman Swimmer of the Year after sweeping all her individual events and upsetting defending MVC champions numerous times. Another freshman who made a big impact was Ashley Yarbrough, who was named the MVC Freshman Diver of the Year.
Six Bears – Allen, Brooke Dreiling, Brianna McCullough, Rodrigues, van Biljon and Popa – earned MVC Honorable Mention nods while Howell, Pearson, Miller, Zupan, Wall, Labanauskaite, Allegri, Stelnicki, Wall and Yarbrough earned First-Team honors.
Earning the highest honor of the night, Zupan garnered both the Elite 17 and Missouri Valley Conference Swimmer of the Year award. Zupan finished the meet with three individual titles and was a member of four conference-champion relays. The MSU captain set numerous records at this season’s championship and leaves as one of the most decorated swimmers for the Bears.
Senior Salute
“I feel so lucky to have been a part of such a memorable weekend for the Bears,” Zupan said. “I’m especially proud of the heart and leadership that the other seniors Hanna, Lauren and Emma showed tonight. It’s been an immense honor to be able to represent this program.”
With the close of the 2017-18 swimming and diving season, MSU bids farewell to five fantastic seniors – Hanna Flanagan, Emma Metz, Sydney Zupan, Emma Wall and Lauren Williams.
“Words can’t describe what this group has meant to our program,” Collins finished. “They have left a legacy of success in the pool and the classroom that will be hard to match. We will really miss them.”
