Results
 
IOWA CITY, IOWA – The Missouri State swimming and diving team garnered five top-five finishes among several big-time programs in the first day of the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational Thursday night.
 
Newcomer Pawl Krawczyk was the lone winner amongst the Bears, taking the 500 Free with a time of 4:21.66. He touched the wall nearly two seconds ahead of the runner-up from Iowa. Fellow teammates Antonio Thomas and Minki Kang claimed fourth (4:23.99) and 15^th (4:30.23), respectively.
 
"For Pawel to win the 500 free as a freshman against some strong competition gave us a taste of what he is capable of doing later this season," said Collins.
 
On the women's side, Liberty Howell grabbed a fifth-place spot in the 500 free, clocking in at 4:49.68.
 
Artur Osvath and Josie Pearson showed impressive efforts in the 200 IM, with Osvath clinching third at 1:46.81. Pearson posted her best time of the season thus far, finishing sixth at 2:02.13.
 
"Artur and Josie gave us some nice A final swims in the IM," said Collins. "They have both been training well and will continue to lead the IM group tomorrow."
 
The final individual top-five finish of the evening came from captain Loretta Stelnicki, who placed third in the 50 free at 23.13. Milliseconds separated a majority of the field, with Bears' Anna Miller coming in 12^th at 23.46.
 
Missouri State's Lucas Paloschi, Samuel Senn, Blair Bish, and Jake Schultz started finals competition on a positive note with a fourth-place finish in the 200 Free Relay at 1:19.85.
 
On the women's side, two groups locked up sixth place in the 200 free and 400 medley relays, respectively. Miller, Brianna McCullough, Allee Armitage, and Stelnicki each swam a leg in the 200 free at 1:33.70, while Sarah Allegri, Kaylee Larson, Miller, and Stelnicki took part in the 400 medley relay (3:46.54).
 
"We did some things really well today," said head coach Dave Collins. "Hopefully we can build on that momentum and perform well tomorrow."
 
The Bears will continue competing in the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational tomorrow, with preliminaries starting at 10 a.m. Finals will begin at 6 p.m.