IOWA CITY, Iowa – Junior Madyson Morse and freshman Eva Reyes were crowned MVC champions for the first time in their careers, highlighting day two of the Missouri Valley Conference Swimming & Diving Championships at Iowa Campus Recreation & Wellness Center.
Morse, a first-time MVC Champion and Illinois State's first winner of the weekend, shaved three seconds off her prelims time for a personal-best time of 2:00.92 in the come-from-behind victory in the 200-yard IM. With that time, Morse moved into the MVC record books, swimming the fifth-fastest time in conference history and becoming the second Redbird in three years to take the 200-yard IM crown.
Joining Morse on the 200-yard IM podium was sophomore Olivia Gonder who earned her first All-MVC First Team honor with a third-place finish. She improved her previous personal-best time set in the prelims earlier in the day with a finals time of 2:02.92.
On the boards, Eva Reyes continued her dominating freshman season with her ninth victory of the year, claiming the 1-meter dive crown with a personal-best score of 300.45. Reyes is the second-consecutive Redbird to win the 1-meter title and the first MVC Champion to score 300+ points since the 2015-16 MVC Championships.
Junior diver Kamryn Blake completed a 1-2 finish for the 'Birds on the boards, scoring a career-best 275.20 points to secure second place. With that score, Blake met the NCAA Zones qualifying standard and earned her first All-MVC First Team honor.
"Eva and Kamryn have been steadily improving all year long and they came out with confidence today and put together their best list ever," Diving Coach Tori Lamp Wood shared. "They both hit their goals with Eva breaking 300 and Kamryn qualifying for zones. They both encouraged each other throughout and pushed each other to be better."
Rounding out the All-Valley performances was junior Makenna Licking, who took eighth overall in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:02.78 to notch her first All-MVC Honorable Mention honor.
Day two ended in similar fashion to day one with the 'Birds swimming matching a relay school record to close out the day. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Madyson Morse, Olivia Gonder, Emma Feltzer and Diana Walker tied the 2014 school record at 1:33.77, taking fifth overall in the event.
Heading into day three, the Redbirds are sitting third in the team standings with 177 points, just four points out of second place.
PERSONAL-BESTS AT THE MVC CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Makenna Licking, 500-yard freestyle, 5:00.08
- Diana Walker, 500-yard freestyle, 4:59.65
- Ella Glaspie, 500-yard freestyle, 5:03.31
- Madyson Morse, 200-yard IM, 2:00.92
- Olivia Gonder, 200-yard IM, 2:02.92
- Emma Feltzer, 50-yard freestyle, 23.42
- Eva Reyes, 1-meter dive, 300.45
- Kamryn Blake, 1-meter dive, 275.20
SCHOOL RECORDS AT THE MVC CHAMPIONSHIPS
- 800-yard freestyle (Gonder, Feltzer, Licking, Walker) – 7:25.12
- 200-yard freestyle (Morse, Gonder, Feltzer, Walker) – 1:33.77 (ties 2014 record)
UP NEXT
Day three of the four-day event will kick off tomorrow, Friday, February 17 with the 100-yard butterfly prelims at 11 a.m. at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center on the campus of the University of Iowa. A full schedule of events can be found at the MVC's Meet Central here. Live results will be available via Meet Mobile or fans can stream the meet here.
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