By Nicole Waters/UNI Athletics
WAUKEE, Iowa — Faith Larsen etched her name in UNI history as one of the program’s most decorated sprinter on Thursday night by winning her third straight Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) title in the 50-yard freestyle on day two of the MVC Championships at the Waukee CSD Natatorium.
With her victory, Larsen, who broke her own school record twice in the same day, becomes the first swimmer in program history to win an MVC title in the same event three years in a row.
Northern Iowa also saw two divers compete in the A-Final of the one-meter competition with top-six finishes, with additional team points picked up in B and C-Finals. UNI sits in fourth place in the team standings at the midpoint of the meet, with Indiana State, Southern Illinois, and Missouri State leading the field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The 500-yard freestyle prelims started the day off, which saw Sam Oeltjen clock her first sub-five minute time in 4:59.53, ultimately taking 13th in Thursday’s B-Final. Olivia Chambers also made the B-Final with a career-best time of 4:56.81 and placed 14th, while Hallory Domnick finished 21st overall, swimming a 5:02.77 in the C-Final.
In the 200-yard individual medley, Megan Pallett led the Panthers with a season-best time of 2:06.10 in the preliminary heats, eventually dropping her time down to 2:05.84 for a 15th overall place finish in the B-Final. Ema Lavigne clocked a 2:07.02 for a season-best mark in the C-Fina for 20th place, as did Elyse Brayton in 21st (2:07.30). Nikki Walters placed 22nd for UNI with a time of 2:07.94.
Larsen set a new school record in her morning prelim swim in the 50-yard freestyle, setting herself up for another impressive swim in the finals, dropping 0.04 from her morning performance to win the event in 22.46 seconds. Waren Graeve and Abby Lear both finished in a tie for 14th place in 23.28 seconds, new career-best times for both, while Morgan Meyer took 22nd place (23.57).
On the one-meter boards, Abby Hutchins led Northern Iowa in the B-Final to earn ninth place with a career-best score of 254.30, with Erica Peters placing tenth (251.50) and Hannah Taylor finishing in 19th (202.80). In the A-Final, Trista Thompson posted a fourth place finish with a score of 255.70, while Avery Hogan took home sixth with a 249.55 with a season-best performance.
The 400-yard medley relay team of Brayton, Jenna Breitbach, Hannah Nedder and Larsen rounded out the night with a seventh-place finish in 3:44.88, the ninth-fastest swam relay in team history.
TEAM STANDINGS (Thru Day Two)
1st – Indiana State (492.5)
2nd – Southern Illinois (441)
3rd – Missouri State (379)
4th – UNI (360.5)
5th – UIC (326)
6th – Little Rock (296)
7th – Illinois State (247)
8th – Valparaiso (124)
9th – Evansville (103)
UP NEXT
Day three of the MVC Championships begins on Friday with preliminary heats at 10:30 a.m. CT and finals at 6 p.m. CT. Friday’s events include the 100-yard butterfly, 400-yard individual medley, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, three-meter diving prelims, and consolation finals, and the 200-yard freestyle relay. All action can be watched live on the UNI Athletics YouTube channel, with live results also available on the Meet Mobile app and Dive Meets.