This week’s State Farm MVC Swimmer and Diver of the Week are Missouri State’s Chelsea Dirks-Ham and Evansville’ Sadie Wells, respectively. 

In Missouri State's first home dual against Drury University on Oct. 31, junior Chelsea Dirks-Ham paced the Bears with her strong performances in both her individual events and the relays.  On the individual side, Dirks-Ham led the Bears in the 200 yard freestyle with her time of 1:54.28 and the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:05.77.  Both of those times are Valley bests for 2009-10.  Dirks-Ham also swam the butterfly leg of the 400-yard medley relay, which took first.  Her time in the 100-yard butterfly split of the relay was 57.90, which is also a Valley best for the season.

Freshman Sadie Wells continues to make huge strides for the Aces throughout her first season. At the IUPUI Invite on Sunday, Wells helped the Aces to wins over Butler (119-19), IUPUI (114-24) and Xavier (89-49). In the 3-meter board, Wells placed first while qualifying for Zone with a score of 280.60. It marks the first time since Ellen Miles in 2003 that a UE diver has qualified. Not only did she hit that mark, but Wells also broke the school record for the 3 meter that was made by Megan Kelly in the 1995-96 season with 255.85. Wells also placed first in the 1-meter dive with a score of 212.50.

Other Notable performers:

Jeanette Nolte, Illinois State

Nolte was the leadoff leg on Illinois State's 800-yard freestyle relay team that broke the Horton Pool record with a time of 7:50.76 during Saturday afternoon's 199-91 dual-meet victory over Western Illinois. The previous pool record (7:51.46) was set by Southern Illinois in 1986.

Nolte started the meet out strong, as she was the breaststroke leg on the winning 200-yard medley relay team with a split of 30.50 and followed with a win and season-best time of 58.78 in the 100-yard butterfly. Nolte went on to swim a personal-best 1:57.63 in the record setting 800-free relay.

Christina Schmidgall, Evansville
Schmidgall had a stellar meet at the IUPUI Invite on Sunday, as she helped the Aces sweep Butler (119-19), IUPUI (114-24) and Xavier (89-49). Schmidgall recorded first in every event she competed in, which included 1650 free (17:48.21), 500 free (5:12.34) and the 800 free relay (7:53.38). In the 1650 free, Schmidgall finished a little over 37 seconds faster than the second-place finisher from Xavier.

Therese Mattsson, SR, Southern Illinois

In SIU's 153-65 win over Washington University (Mo.), Mattsson placed first in the 200 free (1:51.90) and the 100 fly (1:00.81). She was also a member of the first-place 200 medley relay team (1:50.59).

Heather Fulton, Missouri State

Heather Fulton dove against defending NCAA Division II National Champions Drury University on Oct. 31 and lead all divers in scoring in the competition.  Fulton bested the competition on the one-meter board with a score of 235.87 and placed second, behind teammate Chelsea Ray, on the three-meter board with her score of 242.85.  Fulton has competed in seven events this season, and placed first in four of them, including two first-place finishes against the University of Iowa.

Katelyn Prorok, Illinois State

After qualifying for NCAA Zone C Diving Regionals the week prior, Prorok gave another season-best performance of 273.16 points on 3-Meter Saturday in the home dual-meet against Western Illinois. Prorok led the Redbird divers by placing first on both boards.  She continues to lead the Valley on both the 1-Meter and 3-Meter boards.