CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Missouri State women's swimming team sits in first after two individual wins and two relays wins on day one of the Missouri Valley Conference Championships in Carbondale, Ill. 
  
Missouri State, currently, is atop the leaderboard with 306 points after day one. The Bears' performances have propelled them to a substantial lead as they are 129 points ahead of second-place Southern Illinois.  
  
Missouri State had another strong showing in the preliminary round Wednesday morning as the Bears clinched 11 A finals spots. In the 500 freestyle prelims, Libby Howell continued her dominance at the MVC Championships as she won the event in 4:49.32. Grace Beahan (4:56.00) and Vera Margula (4:57.67) followed Howell in second and third to give the Bears the sweep. Rounding out MSU in the event was Sam Hietpas in sixth (5:00.12) and Cabrini Johnson in 23rd (5:08.60). 
  
The Bears recorded another sweep in the 200 IM prelims as Kelly Sego won the event (2:03.11), Sydney Radloff followed in second (2:03.59) and Sami Roemer finished third (2:03.90). 
  
Anna Miller made quite the splash in her first preliminary as the St. Louis, Mo., product won the 50 freestyle with a school, pool and MVC record time of 22.39, breaking her previous record of 22.51. Yuliya Zubina (23.32, 3rd), Ulyana Zubina (23.58, 6th) and Jordan Wenner (23.81, 8th) also earned a spot in the finals. Rounding out the Bears' efforts were Anna Lucas in 14th (24.14) and Hannah Amelung in 20th (24.26). 
  
In 1-Meter Diving prelims, Dayana Popa paced the Bears as she finished second with a 249.65 mark. Ashley Yarbrough also qualified, finishing third with a score of 248.10. Adriana Avila (204.00) and Hailey Rissinger (199.25) finished the prelims in 11th and 12th, respectively. 
  
In the 1-meter diving finals, Yarbrough took second with a score of 254.90, while Popa grabbed the bronze with a 233.75 mark. 
 
"Mo state had a strong first day of both diving and swimming at conference," Yarbrough said. "It was encouraging to have such a strong finish on 1-meter, especially with Dayana Popa and I placing second and third. It feels great to be contributing those points to the team. We have been preparing for this meet confidently and I can't wait to see how everyone performs over the next two days."
 
The Bears got off to a blazing start in the swimming finals as Yuliya Zubina, Ulyana Zubina, Wenner and Miller combined to swim a pool-record time of 132.02 to win the 200 freestyle relay. 
  
MSU turned in an incredible performance in the 500 freestyle finals as the Bears finished 1-4. Howell won the event with a time of 4:44.47 to give her the rare distinction of winning the same event four times at the MVC Championships. Rounding out the 2-4 positions for MSU were Margula (4:51.21), Beahan (4:55.08) and Sam Hietpas (4:57.37). 
 
"I am so proud to get the opportunity to represent my team and after a challenging year," Howell stated. "I am extremely happy with my 500. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the meet brings for me and my teammates." 
  
Howell's time was just six-hundredths of a second off the MVC record which was set by MSU great Dora Kiss in 2015. With the win, Howell collected her 12th individual win of the season. 
  
Sami Roemer highlighted the Missouri State effort in the 200 IM finals by clocking a 2:02.43 to finish in second place. Roemer was just seven-hundredths of a second behind SIU's Miroslava Zaborska, who won the event. Sydney Radloff followed Roemer in third to grab the bronze (2:02.74), while Kelly Sego finished in fourth (2:04.15). 
  
In the 50 freestyle finals, Miller continued her success as she won the event in 22.29 to break her short-lived record of 22.39 that she set in the morning preliminary heats. Yuliya Zubina swam a 23.33 to finish fourth, while Wenner and Ulyana Zubina tied for sixth as both finished in 23.79. Rounding out the top-10 was Anna Lucas with a time of 23.86. 
 
"I was really happy with my swims tonight, especially my 50 freestyle," Miller reflected. "To be able to break the conference record and do it with four of my teammates swimming in the heat with me was something I will never forget. After a year like this, it is really rewarding to see myself and my teammates put up some really incredible times. I am looking forward to the rest of the meet." 
  
The Bears closed out their day in the 400-medley relay where they crushed the field, with a time of 3:38.89. Howell, Yuliya Zubina, Roemer and Miller formed the gold medal-winning squad. 
  
With the wins, Howell and Miller's career MVC gold medal count now stand at 19 and 16, respectively.  
  
The Bears will continue the MVC Championship tomorrow with preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m. while finals are set for 5:30 p.m. 
 
Standings 

1. Missouri State – 306 
2. Southern Illinois – 177 
3. Illinois State – 139 
4. Northern Iowa – 122  
5. Indiana State – 116  
6. Little Rock – 95  
7. Evansville – 93  
8. Valparaiso – 44