SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Paced by a solid all-around performance that included 16 individual victories, the Missouri State swimming and diving team swept its dual meet with Drury Saturday afternoon at Hammons Student Center. The MSU women bested the Panthers by a 131.5-111.5 margin, while the men's team edged Drury by a 122-119 tally.

"This meet is a big deal because it's a great opportunity to showcase swimming in Springfield," Missouri State head coach Dave Collins reflected. "We are so fortunate to have two really good college programs in this city and it's awesome that we get to race against them twice a year. It really brings out the best in both teams.  We can't duplicate that feeling of a rivalry meet anywhere else, so I think it really prepares us for the championship portion of our season."

MSU Women 131.5, Drury 111.5
Junior Libby Howell claimed three titles for the Bears, besting the fields in the 1000, 500 and 200 freestyle events to lead the way. Howell (10:17.44) posted a win in the 1000 free, narrowly edging DU's Erica Dahlgren (10:18.42), then captured the 200 free with a time of 1:53.70, finishing 1-2 with fellow Bear Alex Thorson (1:54.59) to set the tone for the afternoon.

Anna Miller continued the early run with the first of her two wins, capturing the 50 free with a 23.72 finish. The Bears junior All-MVC performer also scored a victory in the 100 free (51.67), before the duo of Sarah Allegri and Madison Brown registered the top two finishes in the 200 backstroke. Howell then won her third final of the day with a time of 5:03.99 in the 500 free.

"It's all about the training right now and staying in shape," Howell stated. "It's a crucial time right now for us to prepare for the conference meet, which is always in the back of our minds as one of our primary goals is to win conference. So we are always looking to do what we can to prepare for it."

The Bears dominated the diving competition as well, finishing 1-2-3 in both the 1- and 3-meter dives. Adriana Avila (246.75) claimed the top total in the 1-meter competition, with Ashley Yarbrough (244.27) and Dayana Popa (237.67) placing second and third, respectively. Yarbrough (278.85) was victorious in the 3-meter dive, while Popa and Avila rounded out the top three finishers.

MSU Men 122, Drury 119
Similar to the performances of Howell and Miller, senior Antonio Thomas paced the MSU men with a pair of individual wins, claiming the 1000 and 500 freestyle events.

"As we reach the midseason point, I feel like we are in a good mindset and headspace," Thomas said. "We were eager to get back in the pool and race after some really hard training and completing finals this week. Being back at our home pool is key and to win in front of a home crowd is always special."

Freshman Jonathan Hill (1:42.72) picked up the win in the 200 free, while Sam Senn and James Vaughn earned titles in the 50 free and 200 butterfly, respectively. Arthur Cury (46.56) nipped Senn (46.65) in a tight finish in the 100 free, before Conner Funke recorded the win in the 200 breaststroke.

Junior Michael Claunch wrapped up the 1-meter dive title, totaling 327.15 to give the Bears three of the combined four diving titles on the afternoon. John David Spence finished second in the 3-meter dive, with Claunch right on his heels in third place.

"This is a great way for us to finish off the fall semester," Collins added. "Our athletes were coming off a stressful couple of weeks, academically, and we've continued to ask them to train at a high level. But today showcased the hard work they've been putting in, and it definitely paid off."

The Bears return to the pool January 11 against Evansville at Hammons. Live results will be available on Meet Mobile. For all the latest information on the Missouri State swimming and diving team, visit missouristatebears.com or follow @MoStateSwim on Twitter.