Iowa City, Iowa—The Sycamores swimming and diving team finished up their first Missouri Valley Conference Championship meet tonight after four strong days of competition.

"As we finish the Missouri Valley Conference Championships I take a step back and look at the season as a whole. I look at the foundation we've laid and I couldn't be more excited for our future," said head coach Matt Leach.

Indiana State faced off with the rest of the Valley in multiple events for the final day with numerous members of the Sycamore squad taking the pool.

For the preliminaries the student-athletes competed in the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, and 1650 freestyle. The evening finals included these same events with the addition of the 400 freestyle relay.

Kendall Hansen, Allie Engstrom, Tessa Muzzy, and Katherine Minatra were first off the blocks for ISU in the 200 backstroke. Engstrom and Minatra swam strong races both qualifying for finals. Hansen also qualified and set a new school record with a time of 2:04.46.

Following this event was the 100 freestyle which proved to be a tight race in all heats. Emily Boomershine and Courtney Skelley swam strong, but could not reach the wall quick enough for a spot in the evening. Alex Malmborg came out hot and was able to bust the previous school record she held by almost two seconds and secure herself qualification for finals.

The 200 breaststroke proved to be another challenge for the all freshmen squad as Taylor Christie, Emily Ratliff and Blanca Saez-Illobre dove in. While Christie and Ratliff each dropped time, only Saez-Illobre came up with a quick enough to qualify along with adding two new school records. Saez-Illobre had a 100 breaststroke split of 1:07.06 and her overall time of 2:19.90.  

Skelley, Jacquie Price, and Mykenzie Kostka followed in the 200 butterfly. Despite having already swam an event earlier, Skelley busted out a 2:08.40 securing her a spot in the evening finals with Kostka also making the cut.

To end the morning preliminaries Cierra Campbell, Elisabeth Peskin, and Minatra all competed in the 1650 freestyle. This was only the second time this season that Indiana State has competed in this swim, and all three athletes came out strong. Campbell had an especially good swim setting a new school record with a 17:54.19.

Indiana State used the short break in the afternoon to rest up and prepare for the last day of finals. As the finals began the Sycamores stood by and watched as swimmers competed in the final heat of the 1650 freestyle, then it was time for the qualifiers to take the pool for their events.

First up was the 200 backstroke which featured Engstrom, Minatra and Hansen. All three Sycamores swam a strong race, but most notably was Engstrom's performance as she dropped two seconds off of her morning preliminary time, giving herself a new in season best with a 2:06.56.

Malmborg followed for Indiana State in the 100 freestyle. The race was tight from the beginning, but Malmborg kept composure and swam hard for the full length posting a 52.07. Saez-Illobre was the lone Sycamore competing in the 200 breaststroke where she finished with a time of 2:21.93.

The final individual event for the MVC Championships was the 200 butterfly. With two members of the all freshmen squad competing each finishing strong for ISU. Skelley finished with a 2:09.78 with Kostka adding a 2:12.18.

Malmborg, Price, Campbell, and Skelley finished off conference for the Sycamores competing in the 400 freestyle relay.

"There's going to be a lot more hard work, not only for our student-athletes, but for our staff as well. The championship results might not show a lot of the hard work that our student-athletes put in to build a culture, to build upon what we had before which was nothing, and so looking at the results even though we wanted to reach higher goals, we're excited for our future."

This was Indiana State's first MVC Championships in school history. Multiple members of the squad qualified for finals throughout the week including three A final appearances which resulted in fifth, seventh, and eighth place finishes. ISU finished with a score of 148.

Indiana State had a squad of all freshmen for their inaugural season and improved every week they entered into competition. The Sycamores set new team records at every single meet this season.

Price and Saez-Illobre also earned MVC Honorable Mention for their impressive performances throughout the championships.

"Looking back on the season these student-athletes have grown and become better people, better students, and better swimmers. All in all we're looking forward to getting back to do some work and setting ourselves up for a better year next year," said Leach.