Evansville will host the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference Swimming and Diving Championship at the Deaconess Aquatic Center in Evansville, Indiana. This is Evansville's first time hosting the MVC Swimming and Diving Championship adding to their MVC championship hosting resume after hosting various other MVC Championships including Volleyball, Cross Country, Soccer, Baseball, and Tennis. The competition will begin Wednesday, February 21st, and will last through Saturday, February 24th.
Pre-Championship Poll
Indiana State came in first during the Pre-Championship poll with 4 votes for first. Missouri state followed closely behind them also having 4 first places votes. Following in third place was SIU with 1 first place vote.
ABOUT THE TEAMS
Indiana State
Indiana State continues to put together an impressive season featuring a wealth of depth including 16 athletes recording 43 spots among the Missouri Valley’s top-10 times across all events. Highlighting the Sycamore roster includes the conference leader in both the 500, 1000, and 1650 Freestyle (Claire Parsons), as well as returning All-Conference divers Zoe Smith and Bailey Betzer. The Sycamores have already set seven school records on the year with Chloe Farro, Kaleigh Kelley, and Erin Cummins all posting new individual marks on the year.
Missouri State
Missouri State women's swimming & diving looks to bring home its eighth straight MVC Championship and 20th over 22 seasons. Head coach Dave Collins looks to earn his 12th career title at the helm assisted by former Missouri State swimmer and MVC champion Chelsa Dirks-Ham. The Bears boast top swimmers such as senior Lily DeSpain. The two-time MVC Swimmer of the Week this season holds the top conference times in the 200 free (1:48.25) and the top two times in the 400 IM with the top time being 4:19.13. Senior Samantha Roemer also holds the top times in the 50 fly (24.88) and the 100 IM (57.04). The Bears hold the top MVC times in the 400 free relay (3:21.73), 800 free relay (7:23.99) and 200 medley relay (1:40.69). Missouri State was picked to win the MVC in the preseason poll released last October.
SIU
Southern Illinois heads into the championship going undefeated against Missouri-Valley opponents this season. The Salukis have been led by junior Celia Pulido, First-Team All MVC 2023, 2x MVC Swimmer of the Week and Olivia Herron, Freshman Swimmer of the Year 2023, First Team All-MVC 2023 and 1x Swimmer of the Week this season. On the diving side Farida Moussa has been key to the Salukis with eight first place finishes in diving across the season.
Illinois State
Illinois State is led by reigning MVC Swimmer of the Year Madyson Morse and MVC Diver of the Year Eva Reyes. Morse leads the MVC this season in the 50y (28.74) and 100y (1:00.80) Breast and ranks second in the 200y Breast (2:14.10). Meanwhile on the boards Reyes is atop the MVC in 1M (281.78) and 3M (301.50). Illinois State finished its dual campaign with a 4-2 mark this year, which included wins over Valley foes UIC and UNI.
UNI
UNI swim and dive turned in an overal 10-3 season for the 2023-24 school year, with many notable wins, records, and experiences. There were many changes to the top-ten all UNI record books, including Amber Finke, who broke both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke records at the West Virginia invitational in November. Finke swam an impressive 53.73 in the 100-yard, and a 1:56.25 in the 200-yard to hold both records for the Panthers, and holding the second fastest time in both for the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). Reigning MVC 50-yard freestyle champion Faith Larsen continued her success in the event, and currently holds the fastest for all MVC this season (22.54). Overall, the Panthers had some major wins, including a 10 dual sweep in South Dakota at the Coyote Extravaganza in October. At the West Virginia Invitational, the UNI Panthers were able to take home 7th out of 16 east coast teams, at their first appearance in West Virginia. Back in November, Cali Prochaska competed in the Parapan American Games for team USA, where she picked up 2 gold medals, in addition to a silver, and a bronze medal. In December, Olivia Chambers swam at the U.S. Paralympic National Championships, where she broke a para world record in the S13 1,500-meter freestyle with a 17:53.84, a record that had been held since 2014. On the springboards, there were many successful meets for the Panthers, including freshman Trista Thompson qualifying for NCAA Zone Diving, after a 267.80 in the one-meter dive. The Panthers ended the season with 7 champions at the Coyote Invite, and a first place sweep for Erica Peters at the Omaha Diving invite, just before MVC championships.
UIC
The UIC women’s swimming and diving team collected multiple team wins throughout the Fall against teams like Butler (169-86), Evansville (182-98, 156-64) and Davenport (199-97). On the diving board, sophomore Kerry-Leigh Morrison collected two consecutive Missouri Valley Conference Diver of the Week honors and continues to remain a consistent top-three placer in each event. Between the lanes, senior Taira Juronis continues to thrive in the breaststroke while sophomore Madison Helmick and freshman Molly Kroeger remain two of the Flames most dominant long distant swimmers.
Little Rock
Little Rock wrapped up their regular season with their first winning dual record in seven years. Gillian Boggs highlights the team, breaking her own school record in the 200 IM not once but twice this year. It was not the only school record broken this year, however. The Trojans set three new relay records in November: the 200 freestyle relay, the 200 medley relay, and the 400 medley relay.
Aside from Boggs and the relay swimmers, several other Trojans have been key to the Little Rock roster this season. Jaelle Carlson continues to lead the Trojans in top conference rankings, holding the 5th-fastest time in the 50 free, 10th-fastest time in the 100 free, and 12th-fastest time in the 100 fly. Freshman Olivia Elgin has had a breakout year for Little Rock, collecting three Freshman of the Week awards, the most weekly conference awards ever collected by a Trojan in a single season. She holds the 7th-fastest time in the 200 free in the conference. Finally, Kyra Apodaca secured the program's first Diver of the Week award since 2017, highlighting the team's refocus on diving in recent years.
Evansville
Senior diver Madison Rollett will lead a young, but talented UE squad into the Valley Championships. Rollett has had a career year as a senior, posting an NCAA Zone Qualifying mark this year, and having posted one of the top five scores in the league this year, and she should challenge for a spot on the podium at the MVC Championships. Swimming-wise, UE is young, but talented, as over half of the Evansville roster will be competing in its first MVC Championship this year. Freshman sprint freestyler Rebecca Lago has been coming on strong in the month of January, while fellow rookies Evelyn Chin and Luana Carrotta have been swimming as well as all season entering the championships.
Valpo
A youthful Valpo squad has already made an impact on the program's record book this season, as the Beacons have had 13 individual and four relay times crack the program top-10 charts. Of the 18 individual events, underclassmen boast Valpo's top time this season in 16 of them, including 13 events where freshmen lead the way. Freshman Avery Ball leads the Beacons in a team-high five individual events and broke the program record in the 100 IM in November at the A3 Performance Invitational, while freshman Sophie Schoch and sophomore Emma Schmidt have paced Valpo in three events apiece. Freshman Kailyn Benoit - the MVC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 1 - has already cracked the program's all-time top-5 at all three butterfly distances, highlighted by ranking third in program history in the 200 fly.