IOWA CITY, IOWA – Two school records and many personal best times went by the wayside this evening as the women's swimming and diving squad continued the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Championship with the first set of individual events.

"It was a good night tonight; some great swims across the board," said head coach Rickey Perkins. "A lot of people moved up and scored points. The main thing is that we're still having a lot of fun. We're swimming outside of our minds and that's so important. Sometimes you get caught up in the scores, but it's about the season, and everything these girls have done, the people on this team and the sacrifices that they make for athletics and academics. They give up social lives to be here, and I'm super proud of them for it. Tomorrow's going to be another great day. We'll have some great swims; I'm excited about tomorrow."

First on the evening's schedule was the 400 IM. Freshmen Shaina Weisberg and Ashton Adams both returned for the final session. Weisberg touched first in the C-Final for 17^th place at a 4:37.97, over a three-second drop from her preliminary mark. Adams took 22^nd with a 4:47.21

Last year in the 100 butterfly, Kristen Myers took sixth place as a freshman. This year, the sophomore moved up a spot to take fifth place and the school record with a final time of 55.47. Junior Danielle Freeman competed in the consolation final, earning tenth place with a time of 56.68. In the preliminaries, junior Kasey Rein clocked in a lifetime best of 58.89.

The 200 freestyle held much individual success for the Aces. Sophomore Madi Jones took 16^th in the consolation final, earning points for the Aces in the event for the first time since 2015. Freshman Aine Scholand clocked in a 1:55.37 for 21^st place, followed by junior Jessi Hildebrand in 22^nd at 1:56.21. Hildebrand's preliminary time of 1:56.06 was a lifetime best.

Points were scored for Evansville in the 100 breaststroke this evening, also for the first time since 2015. Junior Kayla Aitken clocked in a personal best time of 1:05.02 for 14^th place, while freshman Alaina Sylvester followed at a 1:05.82 for 15^th. In the preliminary session, sophomore Sylvia McFadden took a lifetime best with a 1:07.98.

Returning MVC champion Michaela Kent took to the water tonight in the 100 backstroke final, this time joined by sophomore Sam Gowdy. Kent snagged fifth place with a time of 55.68, however her time of 55.49 in the preliminary round broke her own school record set last year by .04 seconds.

"It was just really fun to get in there and know that the team was there cheering me and Sam on, dancing on the pool deck," said the senior. "Everyone's been swimming really well. It's really bittersweet, but I couldn't be more proud of my team."

Gowdy touched in shortly after at 56.28 for sixth place. Senior Taylor Davidson took points for the team touching in second in the consolation final for 10^th place in a lifetime best time by nearly a second at 57.20.

The Aces finished the night with a sixth place finish in the 400 Medley Relay. Kent, Aitken, Myers, and Freeman teamed up to clock in at 3:48.75. Sophomore Kaylee Gubricky participated in the Evansville C-Relay and split a personal best 100 freestyle time of 54.19.

Freshman Alyssa Vonder Haar competed in the 3-Meter consolation final this evening. She scored 182.70 points to take 4^th place. 1-Meter champion Courtney Coverdale will take to the boards tomorrow night, seeded second after the morning's preliminaries.

After tonight, the Aces are in fifth place with 240 points, ahead of Arkansas Little Rock with 187, and Indiana State with 123, and just behind Illinois State with 260.5. Missouri State leads the pack with 542.5 points.

The Aces return tomorrow with the 200s of the strokes, the 100 freestyle, and the 1000 freestyle. The preliminary round begins at 10 a.m. CST and finals at 4 p.m. CST.
 
 

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