COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Indiana State Swimming & Diving programs sits in third place after the relay teams moved up the record book on day one of the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on Wednesday.
 
The Sycamores sit in third with 64 points after day one, trailing only Missouri State (74) and Northern Iowa (72). Behind ISU is Illinois State (62), Southern Illinois (54), Little-Rock (54), Evansville (48) and Valparaiso (44).
 
Surging Sycamores
Leading the way for the Trees on Wednesday was the 800-yard freestyle relay team of Martina Marks, Marlene Pavlu Lewin, Cierra Campbell and Kendall Hansen. The women earned All-MVC Honorable Mention honors after placing second in the event with the second-fastest time in school history of 7:23.88.
 
Also in the 800-yard freestyle relay, the team composed of Madison Brand, Elisabeth Peskin, Caitie Mansker and Emily Webb swam to a ninth place finish in the event with the third-best time in ISU history of 7:42.32.
 
In the first event of the day, Hansen, Anna Maria Nasiou, Megan Schade and Alex Malborg took fourth in the 200-yard medley relay, clocking the second overall time in Indiana State history of 1:42.74. The second relay team in the event of Brand, Kerry Tepe, Joelle Borchers and Hena Hassan recorded the fourth-best time in school history of 1:45.37 en route to an 11th place finish.
 
Individually, Katherine Minatra swam her way to the fourth overall time in school history in the 100-yard backstroke after earning a time of 58.18 in the time trial.
 
Coach Christensen's Corner
"Tonight was a really solid start," Head Coach Josh Christensen said. "Out of the 21 swims we had, 16 were lifetime bests. It was also a lot of fun to truly get up and compete for a relay win. We came up just a hair short on the 800 free relay tonight, but that's part of becoming a championship caliber team. We just need to keep learning and growing, and I'm excited about the opportunities we have tomorrow."
 
MVC Day One Scores:
1. Missouri State - 74
2. Northern Iowa - 72
3. Indiana State - 64
4. Illinois State - 62
5. Southern Illinois - 54
5. Little-Rock - 54
7. Evansville - 48
8. Valparaiso - 44
 
Up Next
The blue and white will stay at the Mizzou Aquatic Center for the remainder of the MVC Championships, with events beginning on Thursday at noon ET.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Swimming and Diving team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.