Southern stays in second after day two at the MVC Championships

Thursday, February 16

Iowa City, Iowa

TBA

Southern Illinois University

Women's MVC Championships

Southern stays in second after day two at the MVC Championships

02/16/2017 | 9:38:00 | Swimming & Diving

By: By Drew Hoffman, SIUSalukis.com

DAY 2 RESULTS

CEDAR FALLS, IOWA – The Southern Illinois University women's swimming and diving team sits in second place at the Missouri Valley Conference championships after two days. SIU trails only Missouri State University by 61 points.

Day two of the championships started off with SIU winning its second MVC title in as many days. The Dawgs sent four swimmers to the 'A' final in the 500-yard freestyle, all four recorded prelim times under five minutes. Bryn Handley, Nicole Fuller, Lauren Stockton, and Jordan Ries suited up for the six o'clock finals and all four finished inside the top six. Handley grabbed the top time in the final, followed by Fuller and Stockton who finished third and fourth, and Ries who finished in sixth. This was the second consecutive year the Salukis have had four or more compete in the 500-yard freestyle 'A' final. Handley's first place win was the first second MVC title the junior has collected at the championships.

"Bryn continues to be a steadfast force to be reckoned with in any freestyle event," SIU head coach Rick Walker said. "We are definitely feeling the loss of a few key athletes this week, but 'you dance with who brought you' and these girls are dancing up a storm."

The second event was the 200-yard individual medley. After prelims, SIU was sending four to the 'B' final and one to the 'C' final. Emma Brazeau and Samantha Parsons finished ninth and tenth overall, winning first and second in their final. Both Salukis recorded final times better than the seventh and eighth place finishers. Coming in right behind them were Chandler Ott and Payton Parman, who finished 12th and 16th. The last Saluki to make the finals was Abby Kresal, who finished 18^th overall and second in the 'C' final.

The next event on the docket was the 50-yard freestyle. SIU sent three swimmers to the finals, the very same trio that went to the finals the year before. McKenna Avery, Kristina Ksarjian, and Riley Schroedter each competed in different finals and all three finished fifth or better. Avery grabbed the best finish of any Saluki, finishing in fourth place overall with a time of 23.59 seconds. Her time was only .16 seconds behind the third place finisher.

One-meter diving was the next event on the schedule. Rachel Williams and Lani Cieszynski represented SIU in the 'A' finals, both recording a score in the prelims inside the top six. In the finals, Williams posted a score of 261.95, which was good enough for second place overall. Her finish was six spots better than the year before. Cieszynski finished in eighth place overall with a score of 179.05, and was the youngest competitor in the 'A' final.

In the last event of the day SIU sent four to compete in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Avery, Ksarjian, Chandler Ott, and Handley came in fourth place, less than two seconds behind the first place finishing team from Northern Iowa. SIU's time of 1:33.29 was only one tenth away from breaking the school record.

"We are in second place and easily could be in third, but for every one that falters two others step up," Walker said. "That's a team character that is rare to find. The girls definitely carry their spirit with enthusiasm and their dreams in each swim. If you're a fan of sports, you wouldn't have it any other way. As their coach, I sure wouldn't."

Day three of the championships starts back up tomorrow, with prelims beginning at 11 a.m. For a full look at the schedule click here.