EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Indiana State finished second in the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference Swimming & Diving Championships as the Sycamores closed out the final day of the conference meet held at the Deaconess Aquatic Center.
The Sycamores finished with 1294.5 points in posting their second consecutive runner-up finish in the conference's premier meet. Missouri State (1463.5) took home the team title, while Southern Illinois (1126.5) placed third overall.
Claire Parsons was named the Missouri Valley's Freshman Swimmer of the Year highlighting a meet that saw the Terre Haute native shatter the Indiana State mark in the 1650-yard Freestyle event.
Alexa Szadorski added a new school record in the 100-yard Freestyle event to also highlight the evening's event finals, and the Sycamore 400 Freestyle Relay team of
Chloe Farro,
Kaleigh Kelley,
Kaimi Matsumoto, and Szadorski set a new school mark in the final event of the Championships to cap the weekend.
Saturday Evening Recap
Claire Parsons took the individual title in the 1650-yard Freestyle and Parsons (1650 Free),
Alexa Szadorski (100 Free), and the 400-yard Freestyle Relay team set school records on Saturday night as Indiana State closed out the final day of the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference Swimming & Diving Championships.
Olivia DiRuzza paced the Sycamores with a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard Backstroke A-Final to open the night as the junior touched the wall in 2:01.30.
Kate Reeves and
Kalli Agapios both took on the field in the B-Final of the event finishing 11th and 16th respectively, while
Trista Bullock and
Ella Moustgaard finished 19th and 22nd in the event.
Szadorski set the new Indiana State school record in the 100-yard Freestyle as the junior became the first Sycamore in program history to go sub-50 seconds in placing fourth in 49.73.
Chloe Farro finished 10th overall in 50.30.
Kaimi Matsumoto,
Kaleigh Kelley, and
Dorotea Bukvic finished fourth, fifth, and sixth in the A-Finals of the 200-yard Breaststroke to highlight ISU's efforts in the event. Ali Pearson added a top-10 finish in 2:17.53 to highlight the B-Final.
Haley Halsall was ISU's representative in the A-Final as the sophomore finished fourth in the field in 2:03.05.
Raz Harel (2:05.53) and
Alexandria Cotter (2:06.26) finished 10th and 12th respectively in the event.
Claire Parsons shattered the school record in the 1650-yard Freestyle as the freshman outpaced the field in finishing in 16:40.94.
Haley Halsall also competed in the evening event finishing in 17:01.24 to place sixth in the field, while
Erin Cummins' 16:53.05 in the afternoon session placed her fourth overall.
Zoe Smith took on the field in the 3M Springboard Diving A-Finals on Saturday night. The senior placed seventh in the field with a six-dive score of 249.05.
The Sycamores rounded out the group with the A-Group placing fifth overall in the 400-yard Freestyle Relay with
Chloe Farro,
Kaleigh Kelley,
Kaimi Matsumoto, and
Alexa Szadorski finishing in 3:20.94 to set a new school mark in the event.
Saturday Evening Finals
- 200-yard Backstroke: A-Final – Olivia DiRuzza (2:03.06, 8th); B-Final – Kate Reeves (2:02.91, 11th), Kalli Agapios (2:05.55, 16th); C-Final – Trista Bullock (2:04.22, 19th), Ella Moustgaard (2:05.58, 22nd)
- 100-yard Freestyle: A-Final – Alexa Szadorski (49.73, 4th); B-Final – Chloe Farro (50.30, 10th)
- 200-yard Breaststroke: A-Final – Kaimi Matsumoto (2:15.61, 4th), Kaleigh Kelley (2:15.96, 5th), Dorotea Bukvic (2:16.79, 6th); B-Final – Ali Pearson (2:17.53, 10th)
- 200-yard Butterfly: A-Final – Haley Halsall (2:03.05, 4th); B-Final: Raz Harel (2:05.53, 10th), Alexandria Cotter (2:06.26, 12th)
- 1650-yard Freestyle Morning: Claire Parsons (16:40.94, 1st), Erin Cummins (16:53.05, 4th), Haley Halsall (17:01.24, 6th), Esther Rydbeck Norden (17:07.04, 9th), Rose Parsons (17:23.31, 16th), Kamila Nowak (18:01.44)
- 3M Diving: A-Finals – Zoe Smith (249.05, 7th)
- 400-yard Freestyle Relay: Chloe Farro, Kaleigh Kelley, Kaimi Matsumoto, Alexa Szadorski (3:20.94, 5th)
Saturday Morning Preliminary Recap
Fourteen Sycamores advanced to Saturday evening's event finals as the Sycamores opened the final day of the 2024 MVC Swimming & Diving Championships. ISU put six athletes in the A-Finals of the events, including three in the 200-yard Breaststroke top-eight to highlight the morning sessions.
Olivia DiRuzza posted the top time for ISU in the 200-yard Backstroke to advance to the A-Finals in the field in 2:01.30.
Kalli Agapios (2:03.09) and
Kate Reeves (2:04.08) both moved to the B-Finals, while
Trista Bullock (2:05.74) and
Ella Moustgaard (2:06.79) advanced to the C-Finals to put five Sycamores in the scoring ranks in the event.
Alexa Szadorski was back in the A-Finals for the second time over the week as the junior posted a 50.05 in the 100-yard Freestyle to finish in the top eight.
Chloe Farro moved onto the B-Finals in 50.77 to put two Sycamores in the scoring ranks.
Peyton Heagy (52.21),
Jordan Gruce (52.56), Ash Saple (53.12), and Allie Barasch (53.20) also competed in the morning's preliminaries.
Kaleigh Kelley (2:15.49),
Dorotea Bukvic (2:17.55), and
Kaimi Matsumoto (2:18.74) all advanced to the A-Finals of the 200-yard Breaststroke event to put three Sycamores in the top eight in the field. Ali Pearson advanced to the B-Finals after touching the wall in 2:19.18.
Haley Halsall posted the second-fastest time of the morning in the 200-yard Fly to move on to the A-Finals in the event after going 2:01.14.
Alexandria Cotter (2:05.43) and
Raz Harel (2:05.76) both moved onto the B-Finals. Becca Shaffer (2:10.24) also battled the field in the morning's prelims.
Saturday Morning Qualifiers
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