The 2007 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Swimming & Diving Championship is underway in Carbondale, Ill., at the Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium. Action begins each day at 10 a.m. and continues throughout the day.
Final Team Standings:
Southern Illinois - 894
Missouri State - 807.5
Illinois State - 740.5
Northern Iowa - 382
Evansville - 314
Swimmer of the Year:
Julie Ju, Southern Illinois
Diver of the Year:
Cristina Curteneanu, Southern Illinois
Diving Coach of the Year:
Joy Zhaou, Southern Illinois
Swimming Coach of the Year:
Stacy Simmer, Northern Iowa
Thursday's Results
After one day of competition, Southern Illinois, the prechampionship favorite, leads in points with 224. Not far behind is Missouri State (195.5) while Illinois State (176.5), Northern Iowa (123) and Evansville (74) round out the team standings.
Missouri State finished first in the 400-Yard Medley Relay while Southern Illinois was first in the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay. In individual competition, Matana Wellman, a freshman from Missouri State, placed first in the 500-yard freestyle. She swam a time of 5;04.73 for the win. She was followed by Jamie Haseman of Illinois State in second (5:07.98) and Lisa Jaquez of Southern Illinois (5:09.21).
In the 200 Yard IM, Andi Rojas took first-place honors with a 2:05.73 finish. The Missouri State Bear was followed in the performance by teammate Kyla Meuer (2:06.19) while Abby Blank of Southern Illinois was third (2;08.77).
In the final individual event of the evening, the 50-yard freestyle, Jordan Hawkins of Missouri State was the all-conference, first-place finisher. She swam a time of 23.42 in the event, while Southern Illinois' Therese Mattsson (23.84) and Julie Jue (23.93) came in second and third.
Action continues on Friday from Carbondale as prelims get underway at 10 a.m. followed by the finals that evening at 6 p.m.
Friday's Finals
After the second day of competition at the Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium, Southern Illinois retained the top spot with a total of 572 points. Missouri State is second (515.50) while Illinois State (469.50), Northern Iowa (253) and Evansville (238) finish out the team standings. Notably, four MVC meet records fell on Friday evening in the 200 Medley Relay, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke and 1-Meter Diving.
Missouri State claimed the first event of the evening session, the 200 Medley Relay, in a meet record time of 1:45.05. The team of Allison Zeller, Frannie Moody, Andi Rojas-Jimenz and Jordan Hawkins broke the MVC mark set by the Bears (1:45.34) last year. Southern Illinois was second (1:45.75) and Illinois placed third (1:49.03).
Southern Illinois’ Nora Bunford claimed the second event of the session, the 400 Individual Medley, with a standard of 4:34.30. Becky Layman of Illinois State was second with a time of 4:34.58 and MSU’s Jessica Bennett closed third in 4:35.71.
Gabriela Flores, seeded fifth heading into the final of the 100 Butterfly, garnered the event title with a time of 57.13. The SIU senior edged Rojas-Jimenz (57.18) for the crown. Moody earned third-place points for the Bears with a time of 57.98.
SIU claimed the top-two spots in the 200 Freestyle as Therese Mattsson and Isabel Madeira grabbed 37 points for the Salukis. Mattsson’s winning time of 1:51.61 eclipsed the meet record of 1:51.81 set last year by Madeira. Madeira’s runner-up standard was 1:53.02 and Illinois State’s Kyle Pullman was third in 1:54.91.
Julie Ju of Southern Illinois set a meet record in the 100 Breaststroke (1:03.67) on her way to the event title. She bested the past performance of 1:04.35 by Elzette Jordan set in 1999. Ju was .12 away from setting a new pool record. Missouri State’s Kyla Meuer was second (1:04.58) and Moody was third (1:05.59).
Zeller and Hawkins placed first and second for Missouri State in the finals of the 100 Backstroke. Zeller finished in 57.38 and Hawkins closed the event with a 57.40. Kelly Dvorak of SIU was third in a time of 57.88.
Southern Illinois’ Cristina Curtuneanu took home the 1-Meter title with a six-dive total of 270.78. The sum bested Curtuneanu’s meet record of 268.40 from 2006. Katelyn Prorok of Illinois State took second (258.48) and SIU’s Emily Gable was third (247.53).
Southern Illinois won the final event of the evening, the 800 Freestyle Relay, in a time of 7:34.09. The team of Madeira, Mattson, Ju and Danielle Quarry grabbed the 40 points for the Salukis. Missouri State was second (7:37.71) and Illinois State was third (7:49.30).
The final day of the championship with begin Saturday at 10 a.m. with the preliminaries of the 200 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle, 200 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly and 3-Meter Diving. The finals of those five events, along with the 1,650 Freestyle and 400 Freestyle Relay finals will begin Saturday evening at 5 p.m.
Saturday's Results
The Southern Illinois women's swimming and diving team had another successful day on the final day of the 2007 State Farm Missouri Valley Championships. The Salukis won five of the six finals events during the evening session, giving them a final score of 894 and the conference title.
Missouri State came in second with a final score of 807.5. Illinois State finished third with 740.5. Northern Iowa placed fourth with a score of 382 and Evansville finished fifth with 314.
The Salukis collected three awards following the meet, Swimmer of the Year (Julie Ju), Diver of the Year (Cristina Curtuneanu) and Diving coach of the Year (Chunhua Zhao).
Missouri State's Allison Zeller won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:03.35. SIU's Kelly Dvorak (2:04.68), Danielle Quarry (2:07.89) and Samantha Dvorak (2:08.59) finished third, fourth and fifth in the A final, respectively.
The Salukis swept the top three spots in the 100-yard freestyle A final. Julie Ju (51.18) finished first, Isabel Madeira (51.39) followed in second and Therese Mattsson (51.40) took third. Tovah Gasparovich finished in eighth-place with a time of 53.84.
Nora Bunford gave the Salukis another first-place finish with her 2:22.48, 200-yard breaststroke finish. Keli Kramer placed fifth in the event with a time of 2:27.63.
SIU collected another first-place finish when Rachel Winius won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:04.72. Also competing in the A finals were Abby Blank (2:09.12), Lisa Jaquez (2:09.87) and Kasey Fernandez (2:10.35).
Christina Curtuneanu not only finished in first place in 3-meter diving, she broke an MVC Championship record with a score of 311.65. The previous record of 283.65 was set by Stacey Arkovich of Missouri State in 2006.
The Salukis capped off an impressive performance, winning the final event of the evening, the 400-yard freestyle relay. The SIU team made up of Isabel Madeira, Tovah Gasparovich, Therese Mattsson and Julie Ju finished with a time of 3:27.48.