Championship Central | Day 1 Results | Day 1 Team Scores
 
COLUMBIA – A tenth-of-a-second separation in the 800 freestyle relay earned the Missouri State women's swimming and diving team the first-place spot at the end of day one at the Missouri Valley Conference championships Wednesday evening.
 
Missouri State claimed victory in a back-and-forth battle in the 800 freestyle relay, with Alex Thorson, Brianna McCullough, Loretta Stelnicki, and Libby Howell pulling away late to earn the Bears first relay win of the night by one-tenth of a second. The Bears narrowly beat Indiana St., clocking in at 7:23.78.
 
"Howell is one of the anchors of our team and that is why we had her at the end of the relay," said head coach Dave Collins on the wild finish. "It's incredible what she is able to do as a member of that relay team."
 
At the end of day one, Missouri State leads by a two-point margin with 74 points. UNI follows closely behind with 72, and Indiana St. rounds out the top three with 64 points.
 
Illinois St. (62) follows the trio, followed by a tie between Southern Illinois and Little Rock (54). Rounding out the list is Evansville (48) and Valparaiso (44).  
 
In the opening event, Sarah Allegri, Josie Pearson, Anna Miller, and Loretta Stelnicki nabbed a second-place finish for the Bears in the 200 medley relay, clocking in at 1:41.50.
 
"I thought this night went really well for us," said Collins. "Great team performance on the medley relay and come-from-behind finish in the 800 to come away with the lead."
 
Thursday will begin with prelims at 11 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. The events for tomorrow are the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 1-meter dive (1-8), and 200 freestyle relay at the Mizzou Aquatic Center in Columbia, Mo.