Women’s Swimming Hosts Little Rock Saturday

Saturday, February 13

Springfield, Mo.

10:00 A.M.

Missouri State University

Little Rock

Women’s Swimming Hosts Little Rock Saturday

February 11, 2021 | Swimming and Diving

Flip Card Watch (Sat.)

By: Athletics Communications

SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State women's swimming and diving team is set to host Little Rock this Saturday for an MVC dual at 10 a.m. in Hammons Student Center. The meet is the Bears only home event this season.

Meet Details

The meet kicks off at 10 a.m. in Springfield, Mo.
Live results can be found on the Meet Mobile app which is downloadable through the app store.
A live broadcast of the event will also be available on ESPN 3.
No fans will be allowed to attend due to Covid-19 protocols

Attendance

Fans will not be allowed to attend the meet due to Covid-19 protocols.

Scoring

Relays: 11-4-2
Individual: 9-4-3-2-1

Competition Lanes

MSU = 5-8
Little Rock = 1-4

Order of Swimming Events

200 Medley Relay
- 5 Minute Break -
1000 Free
200 Free
100 Backstroke
- 5 Minute Break -
100 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
50 Free
-15 Min Break-
100 Free
200 Backstroke
200 Breaststroke
500 Free
100 Fly
1-Meter Diving
200 IM
400 IM
400 Free Relay
3-Meter Diving

Bear Bites

After claiming the 2020 Missouri Valley Conference championship title in February, the MSU women's swimming and diving team was unanimously selected as MVC favorites in the preseason poll, collecting all eight first-place votes.
The women looked impressive in their lone meet of the 2020-2021 season with a decisive 174-124 victory over the Drury.
Libby Howell and Anna Miller highlighted the Drury meet as both set pool records during the event. Howell set her pool record in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:47.20. The mark was also a new school record and personal best for Howell. Miller swam a 49.81 in the 100-yard freestyle to set her pool record mark.
In addition to winning the 200-free Howell won the 500-free while narrowly missing out on first in the 200-butterfly as she was defeated by three-one hundredths of a second. Miller also won the 50-yard freestyle and recorded a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly.
The Bears were dominant in the diving events at Drury as they swept both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards.
Ashley Yarbrough won both the women's one-meter and three-meter dives. The Ballwin, Mo., product also had qualifying marks on both boards.
Following Yarbrough in the women's one-meter dive was Dayana Popa in second and Adrianna Avila in third. In the women's three-meter dive, Avila recorded a second-place finish while Popa finished in third.
Yuliya Zubina won the 100-yard breaststroke at Drury with a time of 1:03.26.
The Missouri State women have won 16 of the last 18 MVC conference championships and are currently on a streak of four straight conference crowns.
MSU swept the first installment of the MVC weekly awards (Feb. 3) as Libby Howell was named swimmer of the week and Ashley Yarbrough was named diver of the week.

Three-time All-MVC honoree Libby Howell highlights the returners after winning three individual events at last year's championship. Howell also played a part in capturing a duo of relay titles.
Three-time All-MVC honoree Anna Miller, garnered wins in three individual events and two relays at last year's conference championship.
The Bears return another individual title winner in Alessia Puleo, who won the MVC 200-yard Breaststroke in 2020.
Howell holds school records in the 200 free, 1000 free and 1650 free.
All MVC returnees include Grace Beahan, Madison Brown, Kellie Fischer, Sam Hietpas, Howell, Miller, Dayana Popa, Puelo, Sydney Radloff, Alex Thorson and Ashley Yarbrough.

Top Bears

Despite only having one meet so far this season, the Bears have combined for 26 Top-three marks among all MVC athletes in swimming and diving events. Among the 26 marks, 12 are currently conference bests. Anna Miller, Libby Howell and Ashley Yarbrough all hold conference-best marks in multiple events.

50 Freestyle

Anna Miller (1st): 22.96

100 Freestyle

Anna Miller (1st): 49.81

200 Freestyle

Libby Howell (1st): 1:47.20
Anna Lucas (3rd): 1:54.08

500 Freestyle

Libby Howell (1st): 4:56.47
Grace Beahan (2nd): 1:54.08

1000 Freestyle

Sam Hietpass (1st): 10:10.72
Grace Beahan (2nd): 10:15.87

50 Backstroke

Kelly Sego (1st): 27.03
Kellie Fischer (2nd): 27.14
Madison Brown (3rd): 27.17

100 Backstroke

Kellie Fischer (1st): 56.08
Sami Roemer (3rd): 57.49

200 Backstroke

Kellie Fischer (2nd): 2:02.53

100 Breaststroke

Yuliya Zubina (1st): 1:03.26

100 Breaststroke

Yuliya Zubina (1st): 2:20.28

50 Butterfly

Sami Roemer (2nd): 26.45
Kellie Fischer (2nd): 26.81

100 Butterfly

Anna Miller (2nd): 56.58
Sami Roemer (2nd): 56.91

200 Butterfly

Libby Howell (2nd): 2:03.68

200 IM

Sami Roemer (1st): 2:05.99

1-Meter Diving

Ashley Yarbrough (1st): 265.28
Dayana Popa (2nd): 263.10

3-Meter Diving

Ashley Yarbrough (1st): 295.50
Adriana Avila (3rd): 273.25

Coach Dave Collins

"With this being our only home meet of the season, we are really getting prepared," head swimming and diving coach Dave Collins said. "The ladies have not raced in about a month, so this comes at a good time in our training cycle and I know they are very excited.

"Little Rock is a much-improved team from last year and they have been performing very well," Collins acknowledged. "The competition will be good and we are looking forward to some good swims."

Dave Collins (Drury, 2005) is in his 10th season as Missouri State head coach.
Collins garnered Missouri Valley Conference and MAC Coach of the Year honors in 2019-20.
Under Collins watch, the Bears have won eight MVC conference titles and three MAC championships.
Last year, Collins engineered an unforgettable campaign, sweeping the MVC and MAC Championships. Earning their fourth-straight Valley title and 16th overall, the MSU women ran away with the crown after winning seven individual and three relay events to finish with 826.50 points.
As head coach, Collins and the Bears' staff have produced 36 All-MVC first team selections. Collins has also coached five conference swimmers of the year, a list that includes Dora Kiss (2016, 12), Lauren Pavel (2015, 17) and Renata Sander (2011-14). Academically, with team GPAs of 3.0 or higher, both Bear squads have annually earned CSCAA Scholar All-America team honors.
Since his arrival at Missouri State, the Bears have broken every women's school record in the non-freestyle events.
Before becoming head coach, Collins served as an assistant for four seasons at Missouri State under MSU Hall of Famer Jack Steck.

Take a Look Ahead

After the conclusion of the meet against Little Rock, the Swim Bears will be back in action Feb. 27-28, as they travel to Columbia, Mo., to take on Missouri. Start time for the event has yet to be announced.

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