Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's swimming and diving wins MVC Championship title
02/20/2016 | 12:00:00 | Swimming & Diving
Complete MVC Championship Results 
By Elizabeth Robinson
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - For the first time in nine years the Saluki women's swimming and diving team won the Missouri Valley Conference Championship title in the most tightly contested championship meet in conference history. The Salukis finished with 799.50 points, just half a point above Missouri State at 799.
The Salukis last won the conference championship in 2007, with Missouri State earning the title every year since. The battle for first flipped between the two teams three times in the final night of competition alone, with never more than 37.5 points separating the two on Saturday.
"We were trying to win against the team that has won year after year and had become very good at doing it and accustomed to winning," SIU head coach Rick Walker said. "They know how to win, but tonight, for all the times we came up short or couldn't find a way to do it, tonight we figured out how to win too."
SIU trailed by only 1.5 points heading into the final event of the night, the 400-yard freestyle, as the defending champions in that particular event. A faster finish than Missouri State, regardless of the final placement, would guarantee a win for the Salukis.
Freshman Oliwia Okaj led for SIU, swimming a 51.31 100-yard freestyle to put SIU ahead of the Bears to start. McKenna Avery, Kelsie Walker and Bryn Handley followed, with Handley's 50.53 anchor leg putting the Salukis at 3:23.70 for the fastest 400 freestyle relay finish in program history. SIU's time put the Salukis in second place behind Northern Iowa and ahead of Missouri State, guaranteeing SIU the conference title. Northern Iowa came in at 3:23.56 for a Shea Natatorium record, while Missouri State trailed SIU by less than a second at 3:24.35.
SIU's final relay team consisted of three sophomores and one freshman, promising an exciting future for the Salukis moving forward.
"I've said it to the group and reminded them tonight, if you have the imagination to dream, then have the courage to make them come true, and tonight they pulled it together and figured that out collectively together," Walker said.
The Salukis had strong performances throughout the night that propelled them to their ultimate championship title. In Saturday's first finals event, sophomore Bryn Handley earned the MVC title in the 1,650-yard freestyle, finishing the race in 16:37.50. SIU ended that race with the top four finishers - Bryn Handley, Kelsie Walker, Helena Amorim and Lauren Stockton - as well as Nicole Fuller in sixth, earning the Salukis 81 points to start the night.
The momentum continued into the next event as junior Sarah James earned yet another MVC title for the Salukis, swimming the 200-yard backstroke in 1:59.92. Following her record-breaking swim in the prelims, James now holds the top three fastest 200-yard backstroke times in program history.
Heading into the third event of the night, SIU trailed by half a point, but three strong finishes in the 100-yard freestyle put them back up by 28.5. McKenna Avery finished as SIU's fastest swimmer in the 100 freestyle, coming in at 51.18 for third place, followed by Oliwia Okaj in sixth at 51.71 and Chandler Ott in seventh at 52.10. Northern Iowa's Molly Lembezeder and Crystal Florman took the top two spots, earning the fifth of UNI's seven event titles.
SIU maintained the lead through the 200-yard breaststroke with fifth and seventh place finishes by Emma Brazeau and Liane Tatigian, respectively. It was the 200-yard butterfly, however, that gave Missouri State an edge. Followed by an MVC record-breaking performance by Missouri State's Dora Kiss for first place, the Bears took the top five spots in the race, adding 82 points to their total. SIU's Audrey Snyder and Nicole Fuller finished in seventh and eighth place, respectively.
"We had a game plan that we stuck to no matter what, and tonight was no different," Walker said. "We came into tonight knowing it was going to be a barn burner, but said this session is no different than the first, and at the end of the day we're either going to be champions or we're not, but I guarantee that if we don't follow our game plan we're not going to be champions."
Senior Kaixuan 'Sherry' Zhang entered the night looking to defend her title in the three-meter dives after winning at the MVC Championships for three straight years. Zhang and SIU sophomore Rachel Williams came into Saturday's finals as the top two seeds in the three-meter competition.
After a strong first dive, Zhang failed a dive, resulting in no score, temporarily putting her behind. The reigning champion was able to rally back, however, scoring two tens and ultimately finishing on top with 359.70 points. Williams finished in second after an impressive night of diving with a score of 273.90, her best score this season.
"Sherry is the kind of great diver where it took her just two rounds to get back in the lead, and Rachel was doing such an outstanding job," Walker said. "It takes a lot to get your head back into things, and the diving event was just the next step closer to getting us where we needed to be."
The MVC Championships concluded with the 400-yard freestyle relay, which determined the 2016 conference champion, resulting in SIU's favor. In total, the Salukis finished the weekend with five MVC titles along with four school records.
For the third time in her career, Kaixuan 'Sherry' Zhang was named MVC Diver of the Year after winning four straight three-meter dive MVC titles and three straight one-meter dive titles.
Sophomore Bryn Handley was also recognized by the Valley with the MVC Elite 18 Award, which honors the highest achievement in academics and athletics by a student-athlete in the MVC. The award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing at the finals site at each of the MVC's 18 team championships. Handley currently holds a 4.0 cumulative GPA in behavior analysis and therapy.
With the MVC Championship title to cap off the season, SIU's women's swimming and diving team finished the 2015-16 season undefeated against MVC opponents. This year's MVC Championship title marks the 14th in program history for the Salukis, and the second women's MVC title under head coach Rick Walker. Walker now has nine conference championship titles in his 29 seasons at SIU.
Players Mentioned
