EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Missouri State senior Lily DeSpain destroyed the Missouri Valley Conference record in the 400 IM by over a second on Friday to secure her third gold medal in as many days and second in record-breaking fashion. 

The defending MVC champion in the event set the new bar with a 4:14.92 time, beating the next-best finisher, Illinois State's Alexandria Cotter, by nearly four seconds (4:18.52).

"I was really excited for the 400 IM," DeSpain said. "I think the 100 fly set us up really well and we just blasted through the rest of the meet. The meet is not over. The job is not finished. But we're coming back tomorrow and we're coming back strong."

While DeSpain won her 400 IM title in a blowout, the Bears showed they can win in just about any way possible. Senior Cabrini Johnson was second-fastest in the 100-yard breaststroke prelims (1:00.98) Friday morning but needed to find an edge against Illinois State's Madyson Morse, the defending MVC champion, who just broke her own Valley record in that same prelim heat (1:00.29). Johnson did just that.

Trailing by over half a second at the midway point, Johnson found an extra gear and closed in on Morse on the final stretch. Reaching for the wall, Johnson took the win and her first career individual gold medal by one-hundredth of a second.

"That momentum taking me to my 200 breast tomorrow is really good on my confidence building," Johnson said. "I'm excited to see what the rest of the Bears can pull out."

Missouri State continued to rack in medals to bring itself one step closer to an eighth straight conference championship. Defending 100-yard butterfly MVC champion Samantha Roemer improved her prelim time of 54.34 in this year's final with a 54.02 running, only falling behind Southern Illinois's Celia Puildo who set a new MVC 100 fly record of 52.75.

Sophomore Lana Janson, fresh off a silver in the 200 IM on Thursday, also finished runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle with a new team season-best time of 1:47.74. Janson was less than half a second off of Southern Illinois's Susana Hernandez Barradas (1:47.42) for the title.

A trio of Bears had impressive showings in the 100-yard backstroke A Final. Two freshmen, Caitlyn Friebe (55.38) and Hadleigh Henslee (56.15), notched together fourth and eighth-place finishes respectively. Senior Kelly Sego paced the young Bears with a bronze medal finish (55.32).

Missouri State put the cherry on top of a stellar night by setting a new conference record in the 400-yard medley relay of 3:37.10. Sego, Johnson, Roemer and Jordan Wenner combined to snap the previous record also held by the Bears (3:38.80). Sego, Roemer and Wenner were a part of that original record-breaking effort in 2022.

"That was a great night," Sego said. "I am so proud to be a Bear and to have my last race with these amazing women."

The Bears once again grew their lead as the MVC Championships are set to conclude tomorrow with prelims starting at 10:30 a.m., followed by finals heats starting at 6:00 p.m.

Standings After Day 3

1.    Missouri State - 964.5
2.    Indiana State - 829.5
3.    Southern Illinois - 718.5
4.    Illinois State - 588.5
5.    Northern Iowa - 572
6.    Little Rock - 523
7.    UIC - 456
8.    Evansville - 218
9.    Valparaiso - 164

Tomorrow's Schedule

Saturday, Feb. 24
Prelims: 10:30 a.m. CT (Watch)
- 200-yard Backstroke
- 100-yard Freestyle
- 200-yard Breaststroke
- 200-yard Butterfly
- 1,650-yard Freestyle

Finals: 6:00 p.m. CT (Watch)
- 1,650-yard Freestyle
- 200-yard Backstroke
- 100-yard Freestyle
- 200-yard Breaststroke
- 200-yard Butterfly
- 3-meter Diving Finals (1-8)
- 400-yard Freestyle Relay