IOWA CITY, Iowa – Missouri State women's swimming and diving secured its seventh-consecutive Missouri Valley Conference Championship here Saturday night after racking up 1326 total points over the four-day meet. 

"I am so proud of this group of women," head coach Dave Collins said. "They were committed all year and fully bought in to all aspects of our program. They made being on the pool deck fun all season long. This was a total team effort from motivated student-athletes and a great support staff." 

The championship was Collins' 11^th as head coach of the MoState women, and it marked the program's 19^th in the past 21 years.  

The first-place Bears were one of two squads to eclipse the 1000-point mark, with second-place Indiana State earning a respectable total of 1200.5. Illinois State (997) rounded out the top three, followed by UNI (881), SIU (854), Marshall (791), UIC (718.5), Evansville (390), Little Rock (351) and Valparaiso (187).

On Saturday, Missouri State wrapped-up a complete sweep of all five relay events after the team of Samantha Roemer, Ulyana Zubina, Anna Lucas and Jordan Wenner combined for a time of 3:20.66 to win the 400-yard freestyle relay. This time shattered the previous season-best time of 3:22.28 the Bears had in this event. 

In the lone individual gold-medal performance of the day for MSU, Jordan Wenner ended up a winner in the 100-yard freestyle finals after clocking a personal-best time of 50.03. Samantha Roemer (50.52) and Anna Lucas (50.71) were close behind at fourth and seventh, respectively.  

MSU earned a pair of silver medals thanks to the swimming of Vera Margula and Payton Smith. Smith captured second in the 200-yard butterfly finals with a time of 2:02.08, and Vera Margula finished a runner-up in the 1650-yard freestyle finals with a mark of 16:55.13, placing one ahead of teammate Sophia Coleta, who brought home the bronze medal with a time of 16:56.11. 

Additionally, Lily DeSpain recorded a sixth-place finish in the 200 butterfly finals (2:03.07), while Ainsley Jenkins (17:06.39), Lauren Chaney (17:12.75), Grace Beahan (17:13.19) and Samantha Hietpas (17:14.58) locked up fifth, eight, ninth and 11^th in the 1650 freestyle. 

Elsewhere, Alessia Puleo grabbed fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke finals (2:14.90), while Kelly Sego snagged fourth in the 200-yard backstroke finals (1:59.22). 

Sego's overall performance in the MVC Championships landed her the Elite 17 Award, and Collins was named Valley Swimming Coach of the Year.

The Bears landed First-Team All-MVC honors in 14 out of 20 events as well as three honorable mentions.
 

"I'm happy the seniors get to go out as champions," Collins said. "They have done so much for Missouri State in and out of the pool. I appreciate their four-year commitment to high performance." 

Barring an NCAA qualifier, the MVC Championships concludes the season for the MSU women. The men's team looks ahead to the Mid-American Championships March 1-4 in Oxford, Ohio. 
 

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