TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – The 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Swimming & Diving Championship will take place February 14-16 at the Dr. Edward Shea Natataorium on the campus of Southern Illinois University.

Fans can follow the action at the 2013 MVC Swimming & Diving Championship online at Valley-Live.tv, the league's online video streaming platform.

Day 1

The host school took home the first award of the night.  The team of Pamela Benitez, Shailey Brumley, Holly Johnson and Luisa Silveira claimed first-place in the 200 yard freestyle relay in a time of 1.33.18.  Illinois State came in second (1:33.80) with Evansville in third (1:34.02).

The 500 yard freestyle was an exciting event as only .08 seconds separated first and second-place.  Dora Kiss, a freshman from Missouri State, started her career on the right stroke as she took gold after touching in 4:52.20.  Pamela Benitez came in an extremely close second with her 4:52.28 finish.  Michelle Tipton of Evansville came in third (4:52.28).

In an event dominated with underclassmen, the two upperclassmen took control and earned first and second.  Junior Renata Sander (MSU) and senior Jeannette Nolte (ILS) finished in 2:03.18 and 2:03.53, respectively.  Sander's time set a new Championship record.  Hannah Pinion of Southern Illinois came in third (2:03.79).

The freshmen from Missouri State are making a statement tonight as another freshman, Katherine Gately, won her first MVC Championship title in the 50 yard freestyle (23.52).  The Purple Aces' claimed the next two spots in Michea Reinitz (23.58) and Abby Smith (23.61).

In the first diving final of the Championship, Illinois State's Wenting Zhang took top honors with her score of 324.75.  Esther Chen from Southern Illinois came in second with her score of 308.85 while Bethany Hovland of UNI scored 278.85, good for third-place. 

Missouri State took a commanding lead in the final race of the night and never let it go.  The Bears' squad of Anna Ahlin, Renata Sander, Roni Balzam and Andrea Uzcategui finished the 400 yard medley relay in 3:44.30.  Illinois State came in second with their time of 3:48.63 and Evansville claimed third-place (3:49.46).

Scores after Day 1: Missouri State 251, Illinois State 220, Southern Illinois 218, Evansville 162, UNI 97

Day 2

Missouri State started day 2 exactly how they finished, in first-place.  Setting a new championship record, Megan Holthoff, Renata Sander, Roni Balzam and Katherine Gately finished in 1:42.03.  Southern Illinois came in second-place with a time of 1:44.16 and Illinois State took third (1:44.47). 

Dora Kiss (MSU) won her second event of the Championship in the 400 yard IM.  She finished in 4:22.17, over three seconds before the second-place finisher.  Courtney Taylor, ILS (4:25.32) and Hannah Pinion, SIU (4:27.79) took second and third, respectively.

Jeannette Nolte of Illinois State took gold in the 100 yard butterfly touching in 55.06.  Missouri State's Roni Balzam came in second-place with her time of 55.67 and teammate Ibby Simcox claimed third (56.71).

Michelle Tipton won the first event for Evansville in the 200 yard freestyle with her finish in 1:49.21.  Pamela Benitez of SIU took second-place with her 1:49.69 finish and Missouri State's Andrea Uzcategui came in third after touching in 1:49.95. 

Missouri State swept the top-three spots in the 100-yard breaststroke.  Junior Renata Sander earned the gold with her new championship record time of 1:01.99.  Senior Melissa Oishi took silver (1:02.81) with sophomore Alyssa Powers claiming bronze (1:03.84).

In the 100-yard backstroke, Anna Ahlin from Missouri State finished in 55.02, good for first-place.  Morgan Timms, a freshman from Southern Illinois, came in second-place with her time of 56.33 and Missouri State's Megan Holthoff took third-place (56.74).

Day 2 concluded with Illinois State (Danielle Schumacher, Jeanette Nolte, Tori Alland, Cecilia Holmes) breaking the Championship and pool record in the 800 yard freestyle relay with their time of 7:28.04.    Missouri State took second-place finishing in 7:30.80 and Southern Illinois in third (7:32.21)

Scores after Day 2: Missouri State 593, Illinois State 515, Southern Illinois 440, Evansville 318, UNI 185

Day 3

Pamela Benitez of Southern Illinois took home first-place in the 1650 yard freestyle finishing in 16:53.33.  Heather Snyder of Missouri State came in second-place with her time of 17:04.60 and Southern Illinois' Helena Amorium took third (17:08.28).

In the 200 yard backstroke, Anna Ahlin of Missouri State finished in first with her time of 1:59.17.  It was a close race for second and third as Morgan Timms (SIU) and Megan Holthoff (MSU) touched in 2:02.41 and 2:02.43, respectively.

The third event of the night, the 100 yard freestyle, went to Michelle Tipton of Evansville out of lane 2.  Tipton finished in 51.02.  Missouri State's freshman, Katherine Gately, took the silver in 51.20 and Illinois State's Marissa Yontz came in third (51.31).

Missouri State dominated the 200 yard breaststroke.  Teammates Renata Sander and Melissa Oishi tied for first-place, breaking the championship record (2:13.77).  Fellow Bear Alyssa Powers claimed third in 2:17.03.

The last individual race of the Championship, the 200 yard butterfly, Dora Kiss from MSU came in first (1:59.92) with Jeanette Nolte in second (2:00.85) and Rebecca Amparano in third (2:02.66).

Cheri Zhang came in first in 3 meter diving with a new championship and pool record of 351.60 points.  Wenting Zhang of Illinois State came in second with 349.30 points and Esther Chen of Southern Illinois in third (338.35 points).

The championship ended with the 400 yard freestyle relay and Illinois State winning it.  The Birds touched in a time of 3:25.15.  Southern Illinois took second (3:26.60) with Missouri State in third (3:26.69).

Final Scores: Missouri State 897, Illinois State 776, Southern Illinois 721, Evansville 450, UNI 294

Records Broken
200-yard Medley Relay: Megan Holthoff, Renata Sander, Roni Balzam, Katherine Gately, Missouri State (1:42.03, Championship)
100-yard Butterfly: Jeanette Nolte, Illinois State (54.77, Championship)
200-yard IM: Renatta Sander, Missouri State (2:03.18, Championship)
1 Meter Diving: Wenting Zhang, Illinois State (324.75, Championship)
100-yard Breaststroke: Renata Sander, Missouri State (1:01.99, Championship)
200-yard breaststroke: Renata Sander/Melissa Oishi, Missouri State (2:13.77, Championship)
3 Meter Diving: Cheri Zhang, Southern Illinois (351.60, championship/pool)
800-yard Frestyle Relay: Danielle Schumacher, Jeanette Nolte, Tori Alland, Cecilia Holmes, Illinois State (7:28.04, Championship/Pool)

Specialty Awards [Video: Awards Presentations]

1st Team All-Conference | All-Conference Honorable Mention 

Elite 18: Shailey Brumley, SIU

Diver of the Year: Wenting Zhang, Illinois State

Swimmers of the Year: Dora Kiss, MSU/Renata Sander, MSU/Michelle Tipton, UE

Diving coach of the year: Phil Hoffman, ILS

Swimming coaches of the year: Rickey Perkins, UE/Dave Collins, MSU

Thursday, February 14

Swimming Competition

Friday, February 15

Saturday, February 16

* The 1650 Freestyle is a “time final” event. The fastest heat will be contested during the Saturday evening Finals session. The remaining heats will be conducted at the end of the Saturday morning prelims session. The heats will run from fastest to slowest

** All relay events are “time Final”. They will be contested in the finals sessions.