MVC Championships Day Three Results

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Three new Missouri Valley and Missouri State records extended the Bears' lead from 61.5 points to 108.5 Friday evening, as the Bears sent 10 swimmers and two divers to into the finals at the 2017 MVC Championships.
 
Missouri State has led the conference over three days of competition, racking up 542.5 points after 14 events. The 2016 Champion, Southern Illinois, finished day three in second-place (434), followed by UNI (402), Illinois State (260.5), Evansville (240), Little Rock (187) and Indiana State (123).
 
Kicking off the fourth session, four Bears – Briana Horozewski, CeCe Etter, Sarah Wehrmeister and Brooke Dreiling – set new personal records in the 400 individual medley. After sending five swimmers to the 200 IM, sophomore, Josie Pearson, Horozewski and Bacher all swam their way into the finals to compete for the MVC title.
 
Led by junior Sydney Zupan, three Bears finished in the top ten of the 100 butterfly prelims. Breaking the MVC record in the prelims, Zupan won her heat with a time of 54.85 seconds, earning a second-place seed going into the finals. Emma Wall, the 2016 MVC 100 fly champion, recorded a time of 54.93 seconds to earn a third-place seed to compete for the MVC crown.
 
Sophomore Loretta Stelnicki was the leader for MSU in the 200 freestyle, finishing her prelim in 1:50.35 while freshman Vikte Labanauskaite slid her way into the finals by .03 seconds, recording a career-best time of 1:52.23. The Bears also sent two swimmers to the 100 breaststroke, as Lauren Pavel tied the MSU and MVC record with a time of 1:01.45 that also met "B" standards. Fellow senior Anna Bump earned the five seed going into the finals after placing sixth in her respective heat.
 
Missouri State took the first two spots in the 100 backstroke as freshman Sarah Allegri and Zupan each recorded "B" standards in their heats. Placing first in her heat, Allegri finished .01 seconds shy of the MVC record.
 
Divers Alexis Skiniotes and Payton Smith had a great day on the three-meter board as both divers finished in the top eight to advance to the finals tomorrow afternoon. Skiniotes finished the prelims in third place with 234 points while Smith finished seventh with 194.60 points.
 
Returning for session five, the women's squad set out to carry the momentum from the first two days of competition into the evening's festivities.
 
Earning a silver finish, Josie Pearson led the Bears in the 400 IM finals with a time of 4:19.73. The sophomore finished the race with a time of 4:19.73 while Horozewski recorded a career-best time of 4:21.71 for a third-place finish.  
 
Breaking her own record in the 100 fly, Zupan claimed a second-place finish and set a new MSU record with a time of 54.63 seconds, while Wall finished third after touching the wall in 54.88 seconds. Later in the meet, Loretta Stelnicki recorded her second bronze medal of the weekend after completing the 200 free in 1:50.04 – a career record for the sophomore. Labanauskaite came in fourth, finishing in a career-best time of 1:50.28.
 
The first of three, consecutive MVC and MSU records, Lauren Pavel kicked it in high gear during the 100 breast as she broke her school-tying record with a time of 1:01.33, meeting "B" standards and earning the second gold medal of the weekend in that event.
 
Beginning the race as the two-seed, Zupan led the Missouri State cause in the 100 back with a MVC, gold medal time of 54.17 that set a new conference and school record. Allegri finished .11 seconds behind Zupan for a second-place finish, breaking the conference record as well and earning a second-place seat in the Missouri State record book with her time of 54.28 seconds.
 
Capping off the night's events, Missouri State left it all in the pool as the 400 medley relay squad – made up of Allegri, Pavel, Zupan and Stelenicki – not only bested the MSU season record, but set a new Missouri State and Missouri Valley Conference record with a golden time of 3:39.13. The relay dominated the entire race, beating the second-place UNI Panthers by over six seconds.
 
Final Details
The Bears close out the MVC championship meet tomorrow beginning with prelims at 10 a.m. Saturday's prelim session features the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and 1650 free. Later at 4 p.m., the Bears will kick off the finals with a continuation of the 1650 free followed by the rest of Saturday's scheduled events. The three-meter diving will take place after the conclusion of the 200 fly and the conference meet will close with the 400 free relay. Live stats and updates will be available during both sessions and live video will be available during the tomorrow's finals session.