Women's Swimming and Diving

Missouri State Picked to take 2022 Swimming & Diving Championship Title

ST. LOUIS – With the start of the 2022 Swimming & Diving Championship less than a week away, Missouri State has been selected to take home the title in a vote by the league’s head coaches. The Bears received 63 points in the voting, and captured seven of the eight first-place votes.

Missouri State won a fifth-straight title at the 2021 championship, and the program’s 17th since the 2002-03 season. The team is under the leadership of 11th-year head coach Dave Collins. The Bears are the only NCAA Division I women’s swimming and diving program to win 17 of their last 19 conference championships. 

The Bears will have 11 first-team and four honorable mention All-MVC honorees at the championship meet. Anna Miller and Libby Howell are among the top performers this season for MSU. Howell is the only swimmer in MVC history to go 12-for-12 in individual events throughout her career, while Miller enters as the reigning Swimmer of the Year.

Southern Illinois entered the poll in second with 56 points, including the remaining first-place vote. The Salukis went 7-2 up against individual teams and won the 2021 A3 Performance Championship in November. Returning for the 2022 meet are three All-MVC First Team honorees, as well as six honorable mention honorees.

Indiana State followed in third with 48 points. The Sycamores bring back a lot of talent from the 2021 Championship, including all nine honorable mention finishers as well as Marni Gray, a First Team All-MVC swimmer. The team enters the championship meet winning three of its last four dual meets.

Illinois State comes in at fourth with 40 points. The Redbirds have seven All-MVC competitors returning from last year, including three First Team honorees – Emily Keebler, Madyson Morse and Lauren Naeger. The squad also features a three-time Diver of the Week during the 2021-22 season, Eva Reyes.

Championship host UNI follows in fifth-place with 33 points. The Panthers bring back a pair of First Team honorees from last season, Amber Finke and Lily Ernst, as well as honorable mention diver Taylor Hogan. UNI has had a strong season in 2021-22, posting an 11-4 dual meet record.

Little Rock finished sixth with 21 points. The Trojans broke three school relay records this year behind a lot of youth, with nearly two-thirds of the team being underclassmen. Seven Trojans have times within the top 16 going into conference, with Annya Grom & Jaelle Carlson each holding three. Grom is also a First-Team All-MVC honoree, earning a pair of top-three finishes in 2021.

Evansville is seventh in the voting with 18 points. The Aces bring back all six honorable mention competitors from the 2021 Championship, including Maya Cunningham, Maggie Franz, Sarah Jahns, Sage Moore, Jessie Steele and Iryna Tsesiul.

Valparaiso rounds out the poll with 10 points.  The program has a lot of youth, with freshmen holding the top time in 10 of the team’s 18 events. Four freshmen have already combined to earn eight spots on our all-time top-10 charts. 

The 2022 Swimming and Diving Championship takes place February 16-19, 2022 at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, hosted by UNI.