Feb. 16, 2015
Championship Central | Meet Notes | Follow @MoStateSwim
The Missouri State women's swimming and diving team heads to Carbondale, Ill., as the Bears attempt to capture their eighth-straight Missouri Valley Conference title at the 2015 MVC Championship beginning at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at the Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium.
The conference championship spans over four days on the campus of Southern Illinois University from Wednesday-Saturday, starting with Wednesday's opening finals events beginning at 6 p.m. Action on Thursday and Friday consists of preliminary rounds starting at 11 a.m. and final rounds starting at 6 p.m., while the final day of the championship will begin with preliminary-round races at 10 a.m. and finals at approximately 4 p.m. Saturday.
Live results and video will be provided for the 2015 MVC Championship. Both can be found on the Championship Central page on mvc-sports.com, which is also available on the Missouri State swimming and diving schedule page on MissouriStateBears.com.
Last Season's MVC Championship
The Bears scored a team-total 945.50 points - a 222-point edge over runner-up Southern Illinois - to capture an MVC-record seventh-straight title at the 2014 MVC Championship from Feb. 13-15 at the Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium.
MSU captured its 11th MVC title in the last 12 seasons by earning first place in 11 of the 20 events. Bears senior Renata Sander completed her collegiate career by earning the MVC Swimmer of the Year - for the third-straight time - and head coach Dave Collins was named MVC Swimming Coach of the Year for the second-consecutive season.
Eleven Bears were named to the All-MVC First Team and nine others were tabbed honorable mention.
Top Times in The Valley
The MSU women's swimming and diving team has multiple individuals that have several top-10 times among Missouri Valley Conference swimmers this season, including five that have the top time in an event.
A total of 19 Bears have at least one top-10 time among MVC swimmers this season.
Rebecca Amparano, Megan Holthoff, Dora Kiss, Heather Snyder, Suzanne Van Rensburg and Sydney Zupan all have top-10 times in four events for MSU.
Five of those six Bears have the fastest time in an event heading into the conference championship.
Amparano boasts the top time in the 400 IM (4:27.34) and also a second-fastest time in the 200 fly (2:03.07). Holthoff owns The Valley's top time in the 100 back (23.76), while Zupan does in the 200 back (1:59.29). Kiss set the top time in the MVC this season in the 200 fly (2:00.20) at the Louisville Invitational and also has the second-best time in the 500 free (4:49.13) following her school-record performance at the Invite. Van Rensburg rounds out the five with a top time in the 1000 free (10:12.37), while also garnering the second-best time in the 1650 free (16:51.72) and the third-best in the 400 IM (4:28.95).
The Pre-Championship Favorite
The Missouri State women's swimming & diving team has been chosen to repeat as Missouri Valley Conference champion in a pre-championship poll of the conference's head coaches, the league announced Monday, Feb. 16.
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.
Missouri State won its seventh straight conference crown by 222 points over Illinois State last February to pull within three of the SIU's record 14 overall championships.
MSU boasts swimmers who hold top-three times on the MVC best list in 13 different events this season. Nineteen total Bears have top-10 times heading into the conference championship.
Weekly Honors Update
Missouri State's Lauren Pavel and Dora Kiss make up the Bears contingent of MVC Swimmer of the Week Award winners this season.
Sophomore Lauren Pavel earned one of the Missouri Valley Conference's Swimmer of the Week awards on Oct. 14 following her effort in duals at Evansville and Southern Illinois. The 2013-14 all-MVC swimmer won four individual events over a weekend versus the Purple Aces and the Salukis, including sweeping all three events she competed in for the Bears at Evansville.
Dora Kiss was awarded MVC Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 25 following the Louisville Invitational. On the first day of the Invite, Kiss broke the previous-school record she held in the 500 free in the prelims by two seconds, then placed third and finished faster by one-tenth of a second in the finals with a time of 4:49.13. Her 500 free time is the 99th fastest in Division I swimming heading into the conference championship.
On the second day of action, the Hungary native finished with a personal-best time in the 200 free prelims, then topped it by finishing the finals in 1:50.52 to place a team-high fifth among individuals on the day. She also was part of an 800 free relay team that finished in an MSU season-best 7:36.73. In her final event, Kiss swam the fastest time in The Valley this season in the 200 fly (2:00.20) and placed fourth in the finals.
In the Rankings
The Missouri State women's swimming and diving team is featured on the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Team Rankings in two different time periods.
The CollegeSwimming.com Rankings are produced weekly throughout the season. These rankings are calculated from each team's most recent meet result.
The Bears came in at 19th in the mid-major rankings during the second time period which runs from Oct. 13-Nov. 23, for their performance at the Louisville Invitational. Their 926.15 points for the Invite results placed them just under four points shy of the entire Division I Team Rankings.
MSU also registered in at 35th in the mid-major rankings during the first time period from Sept. 1-Oct. 12 with 632.37 points following its dual at Southern Illinois.
Follow the Bears
Check out all the latest news and information on the Bears swimming and diving team at MissouriStateBears.com and follow @MOStateSwim on Twitter and Instagram for updates throughout the conference championship.
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