EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Missouri State women's swimming & diving team won its eighth consecutive Missouri Valley Conference Championship Saturday at Deaconess Aquatic Center on Saturday, bringing in a record total of 1,463.5 points across the four-day meet.

The win marks Missouri State's 20th MVC Championship in the last 22 years and matches the team's record streak of titles from 2008 to 2015. The Bears defeated runner-up Indiana State (1,294.5 points), the pre-championship favorite, by 169 points. Southern Illinois was the one other team to crack 1,000 points, earning 1,126.5 for third place.

"What a week," head coach Dave Collins said. "I'm so proud of these ladies and all that they accomplished."

Collins earned his 12th career MVC women's title, the most by a head coach in conference history. He was also named MVC Swimming Coach of the Year for the eighth time in his career, including the last five seasons in a row.

Senior Lily DeSpain once again led the way for the Bears, putting a pin on one of the most dominant MVC Championship runs ever seen. The Arkansas native closed the door for Missouri State in the 200-yard butterfly where she led the entire way with a conference season-best time of 1:58.89). She was the only swimmer to swim the event in under two minutes, doing so in both the final and prelim rounds. 

DeSpain won at least one gold medal on each day of this year's championships, taking first in the 800-yard freestyle relay, 500-yard freestyle and 400-yard IM before today. All her gold medals were won with either an all-time MVC record or an MVC season-best time. She became the first Bears to win the event at the MVC Championships since Missouri State won seven in a row from 2013 to 2019. 

The Bears held a majority stake in the 200 fly podium. Junior Payton Smith finished third in the event, netting a medal in the 200 fly for the second consecutive season.

Missouri State started the finals portion of Day 4 by also taking most of the podium spots in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Sophomore Sophia Coleta earned her first career conference medal with a remarkable second-place swim that lasted 16:52.16. 

Astoundingly, freshman Bear Lindsey Hervey finished within a quarter of a second behind Coleta in the longest event in the meet (16:52.40). Senior Ainsley Jenkins finished fifth in the event (16:59.01) and junior Lauren Chaney finished in 11th (17:09.19).

Fifth-year Jordan Wenner snagged one more silver medal before the end of her Missouri State career, finishing second in the 100-yard freestyle (49.41) to follow up her gold in the event last year. She finished just .08 seconds behind Illinois State's Emma Feltzer. After four seasons as a Bear, Wenner's medal count amounts to 10 golds, two silvers and three bronzes.

Senior Cabrini Johnson, who won the 100-yard breaststroke over defending champion Madyson Morse by .01 seconds on Friday, took home second place in the 200 breast (2:12.92) ahead of third-place Morse (2:15.34) and behind champion Olivia Herron of Southern Illinois (2:12.17).

"This year's senior class was on a mission to continue our winning tradition," Collins said. "From day one they have been committed to team success and leaving a legacy. At the end, I thanked them for giving everything they had to this team. The greatest compliment a coach can get is the full trust of his athletes. I love these girls and I will continue to support everything they do long after tonight. I am so proud of each of them."

The storybook season came to an end with as good of an ending for the Bears imaginable. Sophomore Lana Janson, Wenner, senior Anna Lucas and DeSpain came from behind in the early goings of the final event, the 400-yard free relay, to claim yet another conference record (3:18.87) previously set by the Bears at the 2022 championships. Lucas and Wenner were part of that former record-breaking run two years ago. Missouri State has won the event in each of the last seven seasons, almost parallel with its eight consecutive MVC titles.

The Missouri State men's swimming & diving team will look to replicate the success of the women's team at the Mid-American Conference Men's Championships starting on Wednesday, March 6 and going through Saturday, March 9 in Carbondale, Illinois.

Final Standings

1.    Missouri State - 1,463.5
2.    Indiana State - 1,294.5
3.    Southern Illinois - 1,126.5
4.    Illinois State - 897.5
5.    Northern Iowa - 835
6.    Little Rock - 772
7.    UIC - 753
8.    Evansville - 312
9.    Valparaiso - 206