Day 1 Results
Day 2 Results
Day 3 Results
DAY 3
The Missouri State women's swimming and diving team wrapped up the 2010 Missouri Valley Conference title in Carbondale, Ill., on Saturday, outscoring runner-up Illinois State by 275.5 points. Jack Steck's Bears finished with 981.5 points while Illinois State (706), SIU (680), Evansville (432) and Northern Iowa (345.5) rounded out the field.
Winning MVC event titles on Saturday were Chelsea Dirks-Ham in the 200 backstroke (2:02.93); Fran Moody in the 200 breaststroke (2:19.53), and the 400-yard freestyle team (3:25.43) of Brianna Willoughby, Dirks-Ham, Amber Green, and Matana Wellman.
Dimi Drakopoulos was second in the 1650 freestyle (16:15.49), while Green was runner-up in the 100 freestyle (50.96), while Breanna Hollar was just short of the 200 butterfly title (2:07.15), and Chelsea Ray was the silver medalist in the three-meter diving event with a total of 259.45 points.
The victory was the third straight MVC championship for the Bears and seventh in the past eight seasons. In addition to the conference crown, Steck was named MVC Coach of the Year and MSU diving coach James Huelskamp was named MVC Diving Coach of the Year. Tweleve Bears earned first-team all-MVC honors and seven earned honorable mention all-MVC.
DAY 2
The women started day two where they left off on day one, maintaining a 179.5 point lead on the competition. The Bears also broke conference records on the second day of competition.
The meet continued with the 200-yard medley relay opening the day two events. Missouri State swam very strongly in the event, touching the wall at 1:44.08, a new conference record. The team of junior Chelsea Dirks-Ham, senior Fran Moody, senior Breanna Hollar and freshman Amber Green finished a full 2.17 seconds ahead of the second-place team.
The next event was the 400-yard individual medley. Though Southern Illinois' Kristen Groome won the event, Missouri State finished two, three and four, scoring a total of 76 points in the event.
Following the IM, Dirks-Ham returned to the pool, winning the 100-yard butterfly. Dirks-Ham already holds the conference record in the event.
In the 200-yard freestyle event, freshman Liz Strother and sophomore Dimi Drakopoulous went 2 and 3, maintaining the team lead.
Dirks-Ham continued her strong day, winning the 100-yard backstroke. Missouri State great Jordan Hawkins holds the conference record in the event, and a Missouri State swimmer has won the event in each of the past six years.
In the first diving event of the conference championship, senior Heather Fulton took home the title in the 1-meter board with her score of 250.25.
The second day ended with a surprise as the Bears lost their first relay event of the meet. In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Missouri State came in at 7:30.93, a scant .51 seconds behind the first place Southern Illinois. The Salukis' time of 7:30.42 is a new conference record.
The third and final day of competition will begin at 11 a.m. on Feb. 13 in Carbondale, Ill. The championship heat will begin at 4 p.m.
DAY 1
The Missouri State women's swimming and diving team began the MVC conference championship in style, winning four of the five events swam today and placing second in the fifth. The Bears sit in first place with 251 points. Host school Southern Illinois sits in second place with 168 points, followed by Illinois State with 159 points, Evansville with 123 points and UNI with 93 points.
The meet began with the 200-yard freestyle relay, an event in which the Bears had the top seed with their season-best time of 1:37.03. That mark was bested by every team in the pool, but Missouri State still finished first, with their time of 1:34.32, a new school record.
In the second race of Day 1, sophomore Dimi Drakopolous turned in a time of 4:55.37 in the 500-yard freestyle, a new school record. However, Southern Illinois freshman Kristen Groome broke the Valley record with her time of 4:44.48. Drakopolous finished second.
After the 500-yard freestyle, the Bears came roaring back with sophomore Brianna Willoughby and senior Fran Moody finishing first and second, respectively, in the 200-yard IM. Willioughby's time was 2:05.58, topping the previous best time by a full two seconds.
In the fastest event of the meet, freshman Amber Green turned in a time of 23.30 in the 50-yard freestyle, the second-fastest time in MSU history. Green was also a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay team that placed first.
To finish day one of swimming, the teams competed in the 400-yard medley relay. Missouri State holds both the championship and pool records in this event with their time of 3:44.93 scored in last year's MVC championship. This season, the Bears again reigned supreme as they came in at 3:48.05, a mere .3 seconds before rival Southern Illinois.
Day two will begin tomorrow, Feb. 11 with the preliminary round at 11 a.m., and the championship round beginning at 6 p.m. Events featured in tomorrow's contest are the 200-yard medley relay, 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, 1-meter diving and the 800-yard freestyle relay.
Team Scores- 1. Missouri State University 981.5
2. Illinois State University 706
3. Southern Illinois University 680
4. University of Evansville 432
5. University of Northern Iowa 345.5
