IOWA CITY, Iowa - Two school records were shattered in a stellar opening night for Illinois State Swim and Dive at the 2023 Valley Championships in Iowa City Wednesday. The 'Birds swam to silver medals in the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay, setting the tone for the next three days of the meet.
Illinois State's four-year-old 200-yard Medley Relay record came down to open the meet. Chloe Tyler, Madyson Morse, Giulia Basco and Emma Feltzer secured a 200 Medley silver medal for Redbirds with a mark of 1:40.17. It's Illinois State's first silver in the 200-yard Medley relay since 2014, when Sammy Schuckles, Courtney Taylor, Lexi Nash and Erica Halley also teamed up to set a school record of 1:42.50. Wednesday's time crushed the previous school record of 1:41.65, set by 2019 bronze medalists Kierston Farley-Sepe, Jensen Keck, Morgan Clark and Jessica Nichols.
The round out the night, Illinois State rewrote a 2022 school record in the 800-yard Freestyle relay. The foursome of Olivia Gonder, Giulia Basco, Mia Snow and Emma Feltzer swam to another silver medal with a time of 7:22.58. The finish bested Illinois State's time of 7:25.12 from the 2022 Valley Championships, a silver-medal relay squad that also included Gonder and Feltzer as well as Diana Walker and Makenna Licking.
Missouri State sits atop the team scores with 128 points while Illinois State (112) and UNI (104) round out the top three. Action resumes tomorrow morning with 500-yard Freestyle prelims at 10:30 a.m. CT.
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