Southern Illinois University
MVC Championships (WOMEN)
Salukis climb to second place on day three at MVC’s
02/22/2019 | 8:40:00 | Swimming & Diving
Columbia, Mo. — The Southern Illinois women's swimming and diving team climbed to second place at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships. Through three days of competition at the Mizzou Aquatic Center, SIU trails the host of the championship meet, Missouri State, by 107.5 points for first place.
The Salukis displayed consistency throughout the day, as they tallied top-five finishes in all six finals events. Southern also collected 13 top-10 finishes and 19 swimmers advanced to individual finals events.
Senior swimmer Emma Brazeau led the day-three charge with a school-record performance in the 100-yard butterfly. In the preliminary round, she swam a record-time of 54.51 to best former Saluki Lori Rea's mark of 54.56 set during the 1984-85 season. Brazeau went on to place third in the finals with a mark of 55.06.
The Saluki trio of Rita Naude, Audrey Snyder and Abigail Young also qualified for the 100-fly finals. Naude swam to a seventh-place finish (55.61), while Snyder and Young placed 12th and 14th overall with season-best times of 56.91 and 57.15.
In the 400-IM, five Southern swimmers placed in the top-12.
Junior swimmer Laura Carver led the pack by taking third. Her time of 4:20.61 was a personal best and the second fastest in Saluki history. The mark surpassed Hannah Pinion's mark of 4:21.41 set during the 2011-12 season.
Payton Parman and Samantha Parsons went six-seven (4:28.79 & 4:28.83) to finish close behind Carver in the top heat. In the B final, Abby Kresal and Deven Speed raced to third and fourth-place finishes with season-best times of 4:30.74 and 4:33.49. The two marks were 11th and 12th overall.
A pair of swimmers achieved top-10 and season-best marks to pace the Salukis in the 200-yard freestyle. Jordan Ries took fifth with a time of 1:51.92 and Maggie Burke took 10th with a time of 1:54.21. Newcomer Eden Girloanta and Jaqueline Rose also reached the finals and placed 14th and 17th overall (1:54.77 & 1:54.12).
The Salukis added another three top-10 performances in the 100-yard breaststroke. Parsons dropped a season-best time of 1:04.03 to take fourth. Behind her in the A final was Kresal, who earned a podium spot by placing seventh with a time of 1:04.55. Jess Peck swam a mark of 1:04.57 to win the B final and place ninth overall.
Naude and Speed turned in top-10 marks to add on key points for SIU in the 100-yard backstroke. The duo finished in fifth and seventh with times of 56.36 and 56.63. Juliana Carvalho was just shy of a top-10 finish, as she swam to a personal-best time of 56.99 to finished 11th.
In the final event of the night, the Saluki quartet of Naude, Parsons, Brazeau and Ries took fifth in the 400-yard medley relay with a season-best time of 3:47.34.
SIU is back in action tomorrow for the final day at the MVC Championships, which will feature seven finals events. Prelims are set to commence at 11 a.m. and finals will start at 6 p.m.
Along with following the MVC Championship Central page, follow @SIU_SwimDive on twitter, @SIUSwimandDive on Instagram and Saluki Swimming and Diving on Facebook for the latest updates on the Salukis.
Day Three Standings
1. Missouri State - 500
2. Southern Illinois 393.5
3. Northern Iowa - 341.5
4. Indiana State - 316.5
5. Illinois State - 311
6. Little Rock - 182.5
7. Evansville - 179
8. Valparaiso - 93
Players Mentioned
