CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Illinois State swimming and diving team set three school records Friday night at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship at Southern Illinois' Dr. Edward Shea Natatorium.
Rachel Holm set a record in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.20), finishing in second place.
"This was a fabulous performance for Rachel at her first MVC Championship meet," head coach Steve Paska said. "I enjoyed watching her race against a talented field of breaststrokers."
The 400-yard medley relay team comprised of Rachel Root, Holm, Alexis Nash and Marissa Yontz clocked a record-breaking time of 3:45.59 finishing in second place.
"What a terrific day for these young ladies to conclude the third day of the championship," Paska said. "I believe this record will provide a huge momentum-builder for us as we head into the prelim session tomorrow morning."
Senior diver Wenting Zhang set a new school record in the 3-meter diving preliminaries with a score of 374.56.
In the 100-yard butterfly finals, Nash swam a time of 56.00 seconds, giving her second-place honors and a new season-best time. Yontz also finished in second place in the 200-yard freestyle, in a time of 1:48.42. Another second-place finisher was Cecilia Holmes in the 400-yard IM (4:25.12), as Holmes turned in a new season-best time.
Five Redbirds swam their personal-best times in Friday's finals. In the 400-yard IM, Alyssa Swanson finished in 11th place (4:35.38) and Karley Licking was 12th (4:39.74). Root finished in third place in the 100-yard backstroke, in 56.54 seconds, and in the 400-yard medley relay, her lead-off time in the 100-yard backstroke was a personal best (56.42). Emily Langlotz swam a personal-best time in the 100-yard butterfly (59.30). In the 200-yard freestyle, Katherine Nelson finished in a time of 1:53.89.
In Friday's finals, Valerie Jones swam a season-best time in the 400-yard IM (4:34.59). Also swimming season-best times in the finals were Laura Paskoff in the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.17), Allison Soper in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.06), and Nash in the 100-yard backstroke (57.75).
Four Redbirds also swam season-best times in Friday's prelims. Keely Hunt posted a time of 4:39.23 in the 400-yard IM. In the 100-yard butterfly, Grace Soltys finished in a time of 1:00.44. Both Katelyn Kresal (1:55.44) and Maddie Farrell (1:59.25) swam season-best times in the 200-yard freestyle.
The 2015 MVC Championship concludes Saturday, with the 1650-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 400-yard freestyle relay and 3-meter diving.
Event Breakdown
400-yard IM: Missouri State won the event … Holmes was second … Jones finished in 10th (4:34.59) … Swanson was 11th … Licking was 12th … Hunt was 13th (4:39.90).
100-yard butterfly: Evansville won the event … Nash was second … Kristin Verkler finished in 10th place (57.70) … Katie Breger was 12th (58.01).
200-yard freestyle: Evansville won the event … Yontz was second … Paskoff finished in seventh place (1:52.17) … Yvette Kruk was 11th (1:53.12) … Nelson finished in 14th (1:53.89).
100-yard breaststroke: Missouri State won the event … Holm was second … Courtney Taylor finished in ninth place (1:04.56) … Soper finished in 14th (1:06.06).
100-yard backstroke: Southern Illinois won the event … Root was third … Samantha Schuckles finished in 10th (57.49) … Nash was 11th (57.75).
400-yard medley relay: Missouri State won the event … Illinois State finished in second place.
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