IOWA CITY, IOWA – Women's swimming and diving are headed back to Indiana tonight after an impressive performance in the final night of the 2017 MVC Championship.

The final standings of the meet were: Missouri State—832.5, Southern Illinois—649, Northern Iowa—615, Illinois State—393.5, Evansville—365, Little Rock—303, Indiana State—148.

"I am so happy for all the women on this team. This is a very special group of women," said head coach Rickey Perkins. "They were so much fun to work with each and every day. They came in and did what they needed to do to get better."

Today's finals session began this afternoon with the consolation finals of the 1650 freestyle. Freshman Ashton Adams swam the event in 18:21.98 for a 20^th place finish. Sophomore Megan Schremp achieved a lifetime best time at 18:01.25, touching first in the heat and taking 17^th overall. Freshman Aine Scholand was seeded 11^th when she dove into the pool—she clocked in a 17:12.30. It wasn't until the top 8 seeded swimmers completed the race at the beginning of finals that Scholand took her spot on the podium in 5^th place, her first collegiate top 8 finish. Her final time was also a lifetime best.

Next on the schedule was the 200 backstroke. Senior Taylor Davidson took to the pool in her very last individual event to emerge the winner of the consolation final. Her final time of 2:02.47 was a lifetime best and good for 9^th place. Additionally, it broke her own school record of 2:03.63, set in 2014. Sophomore Sam Gowdy came next for the Aces with a lifetime best of 2:04.47 landing her in 11^th place. Freshman Kristy Kupfer took 16^th with a final time of 2:06.81, however her preliminary time of 2:06.62 was a lifetime best as well.

More Aces saw the podium upon the conclusion of the 100 freestyle. Senior Michaela Kent paced the Aces with a 50.68 and a fifth place finish. She clocked in a lifetime best in her final individual race of her career. Immediately following was junior Danielle Freeman in sixth place at 50.82. Sophomore Madi Jones competed in the C-Final, recording a 52.75. In the morning's preliminary session, sophomore Kaylee Gubricky recorded a 3 second drop for a lifetime best of 54.61.

Junior Kayla Aitken was the sole Evansville representative in tonight's 200 breaststroke final. She scored points for the Aces with a 16^th place finish at a 2:23.63, nearly a two-second drop from her preliminary time and a lifetime best. In this morning's preliminary round, freshman Alaina Sylvester logged a lifetime best as well, with a 2:26.45.

Sophomore Kristen Myers continued her success in the 200 butterfly. After a two second improvement in the preliminary round, she dropped an additional second to clock in a final time of 2:04.47. Her performance smashed a sixteen year old school record of 2:04.55 set by Emily Tomes in 2001. Myers took the podium for the third time this weekend for fourth place.  Junior Kasey Rein dropped a whopping 5 seconds from her preliminary time to clock in a 19^th place earning 2:09.74, yet another lifetime best. Freshman Shaina Weisberg took a lifetime best this morning with a 2:11.66.

1-Meter champion Courtney Coverdale took to the boards tonight in the 3-Meter A-Final. A stellar performance earned her a second place finish with a final score of 272.05.

The Aces closed out the season with a fourth place finish in the 400 Freestyle Relay. Freeman, Jones, Myers, and Kent clocked in at 3:25.96.

Upon the completion of the competition, the Valley presented specialty awards. All-Conference Honorable mention was awarded to Michaela Kent, Kristen Myers, Aine Scholand, and Sam Gowdy. Danielle Freeman and Courtney Coverdale received All-Conference First Team. However, the highlight of the night came when 8-time Diver of the Week Coverdale was named Diver of the Year, and coach Andy Brown was named Diving Coach of the Year.

"I am extremely happy for Courtney and Andy for receiving Diver and Diving Coach of the Year," Perkins said of the duo. "It was an amazing season."

The men will travel to Carbondale, Illinois on March 1 for the Mid-America Conference Championship. Courtney Coverdale will compete 1-Meter in NCAA Zones on March 10 at Indiana University.
 

• INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville swimming and diving, visit the sport page on GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthleticsSWIM. 

 

• DONATE: For information on giving to UE Athletics or its individual athletics programs, visit the DONATE tab on the top of GoPurpleAces.com. 

 

• TICKETS: To purchase tickets for University of Evansville athletics events, log on to GoPurpleAces.com and click on the TICKETS tab on top of the page.