MVC Championship Results: Day Two
 
IOWA CITY, IOWA – Missouri State maintained its first-place lead as 15 Bears set new personal records on day two of the Missouri Valley Conference Championships at the University of Iowa Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, Thursday evening.
 
After seven events, Missouri State leads with 296.5 points while Southern Illinois, the 2016 MVC Champion, sits in second place with 235 points. Host UNI finished day two in third place (233), followed by Evansville (153), Illinois State (117.5), Little Rock (108) and Indiana State (68).
 
"I thought we did a really nice job of taking the momentum from the first night's relays," head coach Dave Collins said. "Our goal was to treat the prelims session like the finals and make sure that we did what we needed to do to get in the big-scoring heats. The prelims are about posting good times and the finals are about good racing, and I think we did a really good job of both."
 
Missouri State kicked off day two with a very dominant outing in the prelims, placing multiple swimmers in the top-eight of the session's three events – the 500-yard freestyle, 200 individual medley and 50 free.
 
"We've been very pleased with how the athletes have trained all year," Collins added. "You always hope that if comes together like that at a championship meet, so it just says a lot about how the girls have trained this year and about how consistent they have been throughout the season."
 
In the first event of the morning, three Bears – Vikte Labanauskaite, Brooke Dreiling and Brianna McCullough – all earned top-eight times, putting them in prime position for the finals. In their respective heats, Labanauskaite took first-place while Dreiling and McCullough each set personal records.
 
The Bears, who have been consistently strong in the 200 IM all season, cleaned house by placing five swimmers in the top-eight. Seven Bears set personal records in the 200 IM, including a new school record set by senior Lauren Pavel. Pavel finished the race in 2:01.54, shaving .83 seconds off her personal record.
 
Following suit, five Bears swam career-best times in the 50 free while sending three swimmers into the finals.
 
Missouri State's senior and freshman divers both worked their way into the 1-Meter finals where they both scored big points for the Bears. Senior Alexis Skiniotes led the way for the diving duo, placing fourth on the 1-meter board with a total of 223.55 points while freshman Payton Smith placed sixth with a career-best 207.60 points.
 
"I was really excited the way Alexis, as a senior, stepped up," diving coach James Huelskamp said. "She is finishing her senior season very strong and she handled herself really well on the 1-meter. I'm extremely pleased with Payton, she did a great job as a freshman. The last freshman I had make it to the finals was six years ago, so for her to improve from where she finished in the prelims is great."
 
In the 500 free finals, Labanauskaite led the Bears with a 4:51.45 silver finish that also doubled as a personal best for the freshman. Brooke Dreiling took fifth in the conference with a personal-best time of 4:59.35 and McCullough closed out the A-final with an eighth-place finish.  
 
Missouri State dominated the 200 IM finals as five Bears finished in the top-eight of the Missouri Valley Conference. Pavel once again led the way for MSU, taking the championship crown with a MSU and MVC, record-breaking time of 1:59.89. Her time met the NCAA "B" standards and beat the runner-up by nearly two seconds.
 
"We take a lot of pride in our individual medleys," Collins said. "It has been a cornerstone event for our program in the Missouri Valley. The athletes know that coming into the meet and they want to keep the tradition of success alive, so I am very pleased with our performance in that event."
 
Three swimmers represented Missouri State in the 50 free finals, bringing in very valuable points for the Bears. Sophomore Loretta Stelnicki earned a bronze medal, finishing the race in 23.13 seconds – her second-fastest time of the year. In a fifth-place tie, Hope Ernhart recorded a 23.30 second time that equaled the same as a UNI swimmer. Senior Anna Bump rounded out the top-eight, swimming a time of 23.66 seconds in the event. The Bears closed out the day with the 200 free relay, where Ernhart, Zupan, Bump and Stelnicki swam a MSU record-setting, second-place time of 1:32.27.
 
Final Details
Day three of the MVC Championships continues with a prelims session beginning at 11 a.m. Missouri Valley will compete in the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 3-meter diving and 400 medley relay. The finals session is slated for 6 p.m. and will be live-streamed on YouTube. Live stats, as well as live updates, will be available for tomorrow's action. For more information on the Missouri State women's swimming and diving team, visit www.missouristatebears.com or Twitter (@MoStateSwim).