Oct. 27, 2015

MVC Release | Follow @MoStateSwim

ST. LOUIS - The Missouri State swimming and diving teams swept weekly honors with junior Lauren Pavel being named the Missouri Valley Conference Swimmer of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Swimming against both the Kansas Jayhawks and Denver Pioneers in a double dual from Oct. 23-24, Pavel was involved with two season-best times and placed an individual high third in the 200-yard breaststroke.

She opened the duals by swimming as the second leg of the Bears' top 200 medley relay squad, which placed sixth in a season-best time of 1:49.54. Pavel's 2:21.89 finish in the 200 breast took over the top time in the Missouri Valley Conference and her 1:05.98 finish for a fourth-place showing in the 100 breast also is the top time in the MVC.

Pavel also had solid swims in her remaining two races of the weekend. In her first attempt at the 400 IM of the season, the junior picked up the fourth-fastest time of the MVC by touching in at 4:39.62 for ninth place. She wrapped up her dual efforts by getting 11th in the 200 IM with a time of 2:13.83. Her previous best time this season is the third fastest among MVC swimmers.

Pavel earned her second MVC Swimmer of the Week award of her career, previously receiving the honor on Oct. 14, 2014. The Omaha, Nebraska, native joined fellow Bears swimmer Uvis Kalnins, who was named the Mid-American Conference Men's Swimmer of the Week earlier in the day.

Three other Bears - Josie Pearson, Artur Osvath and Dora Kiss - have been recognized as Swimmer of the Week in their respective conferences through the first four weekends of competition.

Missouri State has almost a month off before competing against opposition. The Bears return to the pool for the Purdue Invitational, which runs from Nov. 20-22 in West Lafayette, Indiana. MSU closes out the 2015 portion of its 2015-16 schedule at the USA Winter National Championships beginning on Dec. 2 in Federal Way, Washington.

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