OXFORD, Ohio – Claire Parsons set the 500-yard Freestyle record in Thursday morning's preliminaries, and then followed up by setting the standard again in the evening finals to highlight Indiana State's opening day at the 2023 Miami Invitational.
 
Indiana State sits third overall in the team standings through the opening day with a score of 217.5. The Sycamores trail host Miami (318) and Dartmouth (232.5) through the first events of the weekend.
 
Parsons set a new mark of 4:51.86 on Thursday night's finals in the 500-yard Freestyle event to shatter the previous mark set by ISU alum Andrea Putrimas (4:54.48) set last year at the Kansas Classic. Her time is also the best in the MVC to date this season.
 
Kaleigh Kelley also set a new ISU record in the 100-yard IM with a time of 57.36 breaking the mark set by Kaimi Matsumoto (57.93) at the 2022 CSCAA National Invitational Championships.
 
Zoe Smith posted Indiana State's first win of the weekend as the junior led the field in the 3M Diving event with a score of 285.20.
 
Thursday Night Finals
Indiana State started off the evening's finals with the top team finishing fourth overall in the field in the 200-yard Freestyle Relay. The quartet of Chloe Farro, Kaleigh Kelley, Kaimi Matsumoto, and Alexa Szadorski posted a time of 1:32.99 to lead ISU in the event, while the team of Erin Cummins, Raine Boles, Allie Barasch, and Peyton Heagy finished 10th in 1:35.05. Jordan Gruce, Ash Saple, Ali Pearson, and Kalli Agapios finished 12th in 1:36.07, while Claire Parsons, Becca Shaffer, Raz Harel, and Kate Reeves rounded out the groupings in the field with a time of 1:38.61 to place 17th.
 
Claire Parsons made history again for the Sycamores as the freshman set a new ISU mark in the 500-yard Freestyle to place third overall in the event finals. Parsons touched the wall in 4:51.86 to break her own mark set earlier in the day (4:52.69). Haley Halsall (4:59.18, 6th) and Erin Cummins (4:59.92, 7th) both added top-eight finishes for ISU, while Rose Parsons (5:05.42) and Trista Bullock (5:07.74) also scored in the event. Kamila Nowak finished 24th in the field in 5:07.97.
 
Dorotea Bukvic (2:02.93, 3rd) and Alexandria Cotter (2:03.46, 4th) paced the Sycamores in the 200-yard IM on Thursday night with a pair of top-five finishes. Ali Pearson (2:06.86, 14th) was also in the top-15, while Alexa Szadorski placed 19th in 2:07.10.
 
Farro was just off ISU record-setting pace in the 50-yard Freestyle as the junior sprinter finished third overall in the event finals with a time of 23.17. Kelley added a top-eight finish in 23.75, while Kaimi Matsumoto (23.91, 13th) and Peyton Heagy (23.97, 15th) were also in the top-15. Allie Barasch (24.08), Erin Cummins (24.21), and Raine Boles (24.30) were also in the top 24 event finals.
 
Zoe Smith continued to rack up the wins in the 3M Diving event as the senior topped the final in the event finals. Smith's score of 285.20 put her ahead of Miami's Sydney Rice (282.80) to continue an impressive start to the season for the Raleigh, N.C. native.
 
The Sycamores capped the first day with a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard Medley Relay. The team of Olivia DiRuzza, Ali Pearson, Kaleigh Kelley, and Chloe Farro finished in 3:45.60 to take nearly six seconds off their previous season-best. Alexandria Cotter, Kaimi Matsumoto, Raine Boles, and Alexa Szadorski placed 13th in 3:49.09, while Kate Reeves, Dorotea Bukvic, Raz Harel, and Peyton Heagy placed 14th in 3:49.60. The final pairing in the field of Kalli Agapios, Kamila Nowak, Allie Barasch, and Jordan Gruce placed 19th in 3:56.42.
 
Top ISU Performers in Each Event
200-yard Freestyle Relay: Chloe Farro, Kaleigh Kelley, Kaimi Matsumoto, Alexa Szadorski (1:32.99, 4th)
500-yard Freestyle: Claire Parsons (4:51.86, 3rd – New School Record, Top Time in the Valley this season)
200-yard IM: Dorotea Bukvic (2:02.93, 3rd)
50-yard Freestyle: Chloe Farro (23.17, 3rd)
3M Diving: Zoe Smith (285.20, 1st)
400-yard Medley Relay: Olivia DiRuzza, Ali Pearson, Kaleigh Kelley, Chloe Farro (3:45.60, 4th)
 
Thursday Morning Preliminaries
Claire Parsons set a new Indiana State school record and established a new Valley-best time in the opening 500-yard Freestyle event on Thursday morning. The Sycamore freshman touched the wall in 4:52.69 to finish third in the preliminary event, shattering ISU's previous mark of 4:54.48 set by Andrea Putrimas last season at the Kansas Classic. Her time also surpassed the previous best time in the conference set by Missouri State's Lily Despain (4:53.42) at the Purdue Invitational.
 
Additional Sycamores set new marks and established themselves on ISU's Performance List in the event with Erin Cummins (4:56.33, 5th) and Haley Halsall (4:56.47, 6th) both finishing in the top-eight in the field. Esther Rydbeck Norden (4:59.58) finished 10th overall, while Rose Parsons (5:01.28, 13th) and Trista Bullock (5:02.90, 14th) were both in the top-15. Kamila Nowak rounded out the Sycamores in the field finishing 21st overall in 5:06.15.
 
Alexandria Cotter (2:03.70, 4th) and Dorotea Bukvic (2:04.89, 5th) both finished in the top-eight in the field in the 200-yard IM preliminaries on Thursday morning. Ali Pearson (2:07.17) finished 15th overall in the field, while Alexa Szadorski (2:07.49) added a top-20 finish. Olivia DiRuzza (2:08.31), Raz Harel (2:09.68), Becca Shaffer (2:11.10), and Makayla Sura (2:13.77) also took on the field in the morning preliminary event.
 
Chloe Farro set a new personal-best in the 50-yard Freestyle, while Kaleigh Kelley made her debut on the Performance List following the morning's preliminary event. Farro finished fourth overall in the field with a time of 23.39, while Kelley was fifth to touch the wall in 23.55. Kaimi Matsumoto (23.80), Peyton Heagy (23.90), Raine Boles (24.02), and Erin Cummins (24.05) all posted top-20 results on the day, while Allie Barasch (24.14) and Ash Saple (24.24) were inside the top-25. Additional athletes in the field included Kalli Agapios (24.47), Jordan Gruce (24.71), Claire Parsons (24.77), and Kate Reeves (25.46).
 
Kelley set a new ISU mark in the 100-yard IM in a time trial on Thursday morning. The freshman touched the wall in 57.36 to surpass the previous Sycamore mark of 57.93 set by Kaimi Matsumoto at the 2022 CSCAA National Invitational Championship. Her time is also the best in the Valley this season by a full second ahead of Little Rock's Olivia Elgin (59.36).
 
Top ISU Performers in Each Event
500-yard Freestyle: Claire Parsons (4:52.58, 3rd – School Record, Top time in the Valley)
200-yard IM: Alexandria Cotter (2:03.70, 4th)
50-yard Freestyle: Chloe Farro (23.39, 4th – New Personal-Best)
 
Up Next
Indiana State continues the weekend on Friday for day two of the Miami Invitational. The schedule for the day is as follows:
 
Friday, December 1 Schedule (Preliminaries/Finals)

• 100-yard Fly (9 a.m., 5 p.m.)
• 400-yard IM (9 a.m., 5 p.m.)
• 200-yard Freestyle (9 a.m., 5 p.m.)
• 100-yard Breast (9 a.m., 5 p.m.)
• 100-yard Back (9 a.m., 5 p.m.)
• 200-yard Medley Relay (5 p.m.)
• 800-yard Freestyle Relay (5 p.m.)
• 1-Meter Springboard Diving 

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