MVC Championships: Day Three Prelims

02/19/2016 | 12:00:00 | Swimming & Diving

Feb. 19, 2016

By Elizabeth Robinson
SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Salukis continued with strong performances on Friday during the preliminary races on Day Three of the MVC Swimming and Diving Championships, with 11 swimmers and two divers qualifying for A Finals.

Heading into the third day of competition, SIU held the lead over Missouri State by only a three-point margin. Competition will continue to be tight in tonight's finals as both SIU and Missouri State have 18 swimmers competing in finals. The Salukis will have 11 in A Finals and seven in B Finals, while the Bears will have 10 swimmers in A Finals and eight in B Finals.

"I think the competition is getting even higher. Game on," head coach Rick Walker said. "Nobody is running away with the competition, so we have to keep working hard to keep making an impact. We've never been this close for this long and had this many swimmers in the top eight."

SIU freshman Oliwia Okaj came away with SIU's first A Final finish of the day, finishing the 400-yard individual medley prelim in 4:28.78 for sixth place overall. Freshman Abby Kresal's 4:35.78 finish put her in 13th overall, qualifying her for tonight's B Final.

The next two races resulted in seven Salukis earning A Final times, in the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard freestyle. Freshman Emma Brazeau entered the MVC Championships ranked fifth in the Valley in the 100-yard butterfly, but was able to pull out a first place finish, coming in at 56.41. Chandler Ott finished fourth at 56.99, and Kristina Ksarjian finished at 57.34 for seventh place to make her second straight appearance in the 100 butterfly A Final.

"That's what you have to do if and when you're going to win a championship. Those kinds of swims have to happen," Walker said.

After winning the 800-yard freestyle relay on Wednesday night, Kelsie Walker, Lauren Stockton, Helena Amorim and Bryn Handley will once again compete in the A Finals, this time going up against each other in the 200-yard freestyle. Walker, ranked first in the conference coming into the championships, finished as the No. 1 seed, coming in at 1:50.44. Stockton, Amorim and Handley took fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Jordan Ries will swim in the B Final, with her best time of the season at 1:53.28.

The Salukis added three more swimmers to Friday's A Finals with Liane Tatigian returning to the 100-yard breaststroke A Final and Sarah James and Katy Ovington competing in the 100-yard backstroke. Jess Peck and Riley Schroedter will swim in the 100-yard breaststroke with McKenna Avery and Morgan Timms in the 100-yard backstroke. All four finished the day with season-best times.

Friday's prelims concluded with the three-meter dives, where SIU's Kaixuan 'Sherry' Zhang and Rachel Williams took first and second place, respectively. Zhang finished with 397.60 points, her best score this season, while Williams finished with 255. The top-eight finishers from today's diving prelims will compete in the A Final on Saturday, while the consolation finals will take place Friday night.

Going into Friday's finals, the Salukis maintain the same game plan: worry about what they can control.

"I think you make changes when things aren't working, but when things are working like they are, we don't need to meddle," Walker said. "It's working, so we need to be smart enough and confident enough to step back and let it go the way it is."

Finals from each of today's prelim races will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday night in Shea Natatorium, along with the 400-yard medley relay final and the 3-meter dive B Final. Event results will be posted on SIU's Championship Central page in real-time, along with photo galleries and complete results at the conclusion of the day. Follow along with @SIU_SwimDive on Twitter for updates throughout the weekend.