TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State swimming and diving heads to the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Championships this week as the Sycamores make the trip to Waukee, Iowa, and the Waukee Schools Natatorium, over February 26 – March 1.
 
The Sycamores were voted second overall in the Conference's Pre-Championships Poll as voted on by the league's head coaches with Indiana State receiving 72 total points and three first-place votes to finish behind Southern Illinois (75 points, four first-place). Missouri State (69 points, two first-place) rounded out the top three with the final first-place votes.
 
Live results will be available on MeetMobile. The meet will also be streamed live via YouTube with links available at the Meet Championship Central Page.
 
Indiana State is one of nine MVC teams vying for the conference championships and the Sycamores are looking to take the next step in their program development after last year's second-place result in Iowa City.
 
"We've had an excellent season of training and competition that has prepared us well for what will be a very competitive MVC Championship Meet," head coach Josh Christensen said. "We're excited to dive and race for each other, and represent what our program is all about."
 
The Sycamores are rounding into form heading into the conference championships as Indiana State is coming off wins over Butler and Ball State in their final tune-up meet in early February. Sophomore Claire Parsons shattered the Missouri Valley record in the 1000-yard Freestyle headlining seven Indiana State school program records set in the meet in wins over both the Bulldogs and Cardinals.
 
Parsons went 4:52.65 over the first 500 yards and closed out the race in 4:53.71 over the final 500 yards on her way to winning the event by 21 full seconds after touching the wall in 9:46.34. The Terre Haute, Ind. native's mark broke her previous career-best (9:57.49) by over 11 seconds and shattered the Missouri Valley record by over four seconds to break a mark that had been standing since 2010. The previous mark of 9:50.55 was set by SIU's Kirsten Groome.
 
Overall, Indiana State set seven new program records in the meet including the 200-yard Medley Relay, 1000-yard Freestyle, 100-yard Breast, 200-yard Fly, 3M Diving, and 1M Diving marks. The Sycamores won 14 of the 16 events in the meet.
 
Fifteen Sycamore records have already gone down this season with Kaleigh Kelley (50 Free, 100 IM), Erin Cummins (200 Free, 500 Free), Claire Parsons (1000 Free, 1650 Free), Sahara Visscher (100 Back), Ali Pearson (100 Breast), Haley Halsall (200 Fly), Alexandria Cotter (200 IM), and Jecza Lopez (1M Dive, 3M Dive) all surpassing the previous times and marks set in their events. Three of Indiana State's five relay teams have also set new marks this season on the year.
The Sycamores' success in the pool has translated to Indiana State winning a bevy of Missouri Valley weekly awards this season. Indiana State enters the MVC Championships with 13 MVC Swimmer, Freshman, or Diver of the Week honors in 2025. Chloe Farro (twice), Kelley, and Claire Parsons (twice) have all claimed Swimmer of the Week honors, while Maria Saldana Riebeling, Sahara Visscher (twice), and Gemma Dilks (twice) have won Freshman of the Week. Daniela Orta Castaneda and Lopez (twice) added Indiana State's Diver of the Week nods to round out the deep roster the Sycamores bring to the field.
 
Indiana State boasts a number of athletes that sit among the conference Top 10 leaders in multiple events through their first two meets of the regular season including conference leaders Erin Cummins (500 Free), Claire Parsons (1000 & 1650 Free) and Gemma Dilks (200 Fly). The Sycamores also boast the fastest time in the 800-yard Freestyle Relay.
 

• 50-yard Free: Kaleigh Kelley (22.82, 3rd), Chloe Farro (23.10, 7th), Raine Boles (23.14, 9th)
• 100-yard Free: Chloe Farro (50.00, 4th)
• 200-yard Free: Erin Cummins (1:47.98, 3rd), Claire Parsons (1:48.32, 4th)
• 500-yard Free: Erin Cummins (4:47.51, 1st), Claire Parsons (4:47.59, 2nd), Maria Saldana Riebeling (4:52.09, 4th)
• 1000-yard Free: Claire Parsons (9:46.34, 1st), Maria Saldana Riebeling (10:07.60, 2nd), Erin Cummins (10:08.71, 3rd), Haley Halsall (10:18.73, 10th)
• 1650-yard Free: Claire Parsons (16:31.28, 1st), Haley Halsall (16:55.96, 3rd), Erin Cummins (16:56.25, 4th), Maria Saldana Riebeling (16:57.98, 7th)
• 100-yard Back: Sahara Visscher (54.65, 4th)
• 200-yard Back: Claire Parsons (2:01.64, 8th), Kalli Agapios (2:01.65, 9th)
• 100-yard Breast: Ali Pearson (1:01.91, 4th), Alexa Szadorski (1:03.18, 10th), Kaleigh Kelley (1:03.18, 10th)
• 200-yard Breast: Dorotea Bukvic (2:14.53, 3rd), Ali Pearson (2:15.41, 4th), Kaleigh Kelley (2:17.23, 10th)
• 100-yard Fly: Raine Boles (54.64, 5th), Kaleigh Kelley (54.81, 7th)
• 200-yard Fly: Haley Halsall (2:00.20, 1st), Gemma Dilks (2:00.21, 2nd), Sophia Diaz (2:02.02, 5th), Raine Boles (2:02.97, 9th)
• 100-yard IM: Kaleigh Kelley (55.86, 1st), Alexandria Cotter (56.83, 4th)
• 200-yard IM: Alexandria Cotter (2:01.40, 3rd), Gemma Dilks (2:02.60, 8th), Dorotea Bukvic (2:03.04, 9th)
• 400-yard IM: Alexandria Cotter (4:19.49, 3rd), Gemma Dilks (4:20.01, 4th), Maria Saldana Riebeling (4:26.16, 8th), Dorotea Bukvic (4:26.56, 9th)
• 800-yard Freestyle Relay: 7:20.22, 1st
• 1M Diving: Jecza Lopez (293.93, 2nd)
• 3M Diving: Jecza Lopez (315.37, 1st)

Missouri Valley Conference Championships Schedule
Wednesday, February 26 Event Schedule
Evening Finals: 200-yard Medley Relay, Team Diving Event, 800-yard Freestyle Relay
 
Thursday, February 27 Event Schedule
Morning Prelims: 500-yard Freestyle, 200-yard IM, 50-yard Freestyle, 1M Diving Prelims, 1M Diving (9-16)
Evening Finals: 500-yard Freestyle, 200-yard IM, 50-yard Freestyle, 1M Diving, 400-yard Medley Relay
 
Friday, February 28 Event Schedule
Morning Prelims: 100-yard Fly, 400-yard IM, 200-yard Freestyle, 100-yard Breaststroke, 100-yard Backstroke, 3M Diving
Evening Finals: 100-yard Fly, 400-yard IM, 200-yard Freestyle, 100-yard Breaststroke, 100-yard Backstroke, 3M Diving (9-16), 200-yard Freestyle Relay
 
Saturday, March 1 Event Schedule
Morning Prelims: 200-yard Backstroke, 100-yard Freestyle, 200-yard Breaststroke, 200-yard Fly, 1650-yard Freestyle
Evening Finals: 200-yard Backstroke, 100-yard Freestyle, 200-yard Breaststroke, 200-yard Fly, 1650-yard Freestyle, 3M Diving (1-8), 400-yard Freestyle Relay
 
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on Sycamore Swimming and Diving, visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the App Store and the Google Play Store.