Southern Illinoise University Athletics
MVC Championships: Day Four Preliminaries
02/21/2015 | 12:00:00 | Swimming & Diving
By Elizabeth Robinson
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - On the final day of the MVC Swimming and Diving Championships, the Salukis came away with yet another school record and six swimmers qualifying for the A Final in their respective events tonight.
The morning started off on a high note for the Salukis as sophomore Sarah James came away with another all-time SIU record, this time in the 200-yard Backstroke. James finished the race in 2:00.60 to take second place overall. Kelly Dvorak previously held SIU's 200 Backstroke record at 2:01.69, set in the 2008-09 season. This is the third time in the last four days that James has broken a school record.
Juniors Katy Ovington and Morgan Timms also qualified for the 200-yard Backstroke A Final, coming in at sixth and seventh places, respectively.
In the second race of the day, nine Salukis swam in seven heats of the 100-yard Freestyle. Freshman McKenna Avery finished in fifth place overall with a 51.16 time, only one-hundredth of a second behind fourth-place finisher Molly Lembezeder of Northern Iowa at 51.15.
Senior Holly Johnson added an A Final finish, finishing in seventh place at 51.83.
The final heat of the 200-yard Butterfly ended in a tight finish, as sophomore Lauren Stockton made a big final push to finish fourth overall at 2.06.09, only trailing the third-place finisher by less than two-tenths of a second. Freshman Nicole Fuller and junior Katy Ovington finished in 11th and 16th places, respectively, qualifying for the B Final.
The Salukis finished the 200-yard Breaststroke without any A Final qualifiers, but freshman Liane Tatigian placed ninth overall to be the top seed in the B Final. Sophomore Kristina Ksarjian and freshman Sara Nazari followed in the C Final.
The last finals session of the MVC Swimming and Diving Championships begins this afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Dr. Edward J. Shea Natatorium in the SIU Student Rec Center.
Players Mentioned
