UNI swim & dive: Larsen captures 50-yard freestyle title and record at MVC Championships

IOWA CITY, Iowa --- UNI swimming and diving extended its streak of consecutive seasons with a conference champion to 8 straight years as sophomore Faith Larsen took home gold by shattering the school record in the 50-yard freestyle on day two of the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.

After setting a new career-best in Thursday's preliminary heats to move into second all-time in the event in school history, Larsen raced past Crystal Florman's 2019 program record by 0.18 seconds to grab the Panthers' first win of the meet. Larsen becomes the fourth UNI swimmer to win the 50-yard freestyle in MVC history, following Molly Lembezeder in 2016 and 2017, and Florman in 2019. Larsen's original prelim time of 22.70 also secured an NCAA B-Cut.

"A big part of the 50 is that it's so quick and you need to trust your training when you get up on the blocks and know that 'I can do this'," Larsen said following her win. "I'm so happy to represent UNI, and I'm looking forward to the next two conference 50 free's."

Abby Lear also recorded a breakout performance in the 50-yard freestyle, jumping into UNI's top-five with a 23.57 time in the B-Final.

Hallory Domnick led the Panthers in the day's lead-off event in the 500-yard freestyle recording season bests in her preliminary heat, and again in the B-final with a time of 4:59.92 to finish in 13th place overall. Olivia Chambers improved to seventh all-time in the 500-yard freestyle in program history with a finals time of 5:00.89 to finish in 20th place. Natalia Verastegui clocked a career-best of 5:06.33 in the prelims.

Amber Finke and Sydney Aird both set new career-records in the 200-yard individual medley, with Finke swimming a 2:02.56 in the B-final, posting the second fastest time in school history Aird also improved on her career-best time in the prelims with a time of 2:07.15. Aird now ranks seventh in the 200-yard I.M. in UNI history. Ema Lavigne clocked a 2:04.94 in the C-Final, while Kassidy Lovig, Sydney Hall, Sydney Stemper and Payton Hall all recorded season-best times in the preliminary heats.

UNI closed out the swimming portion of the day with a third place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay, with Finke, Christensen, Lear and Larsen clocking a school record time of 1:32.97.

Panther divers also got their first crack at the boards on Thursday with the one-meter springboard competition. Taylor Hogan and Abby Hutchins led the way for UNI in the consolation finals as Hutchins scored a career-best round of 240.57 to finish in 10th place overall, with Hogan notching a 236.43 to finish in 11th place.

UNI returns to action for day three of the MVC Championships for the University of Iowa's Campus Recreation-Wellness Center at 10:30 a.m. CT tomorrow morning. Fans can follow the action on UNI Athletics' YouTube page via livestream, as well as the Meet Mobile app for swimming results and Dive Meets for diving results.

UNI RESULTS

500-Yard Freestyle

13th - Hallory Domnick (4:59.92)
20th - Olivia Chambers (5:00.89)

200-Yard Individual Medley

10th - Amber Finke (2:02.56)
18th - Ema Lavigne (2:04.94)
23rd - Sydney Aird (2:07.15)

50-Yard Freestyle

1st - Faith Larsen (22.50)
13th - Abby Lear (23.57)
23rd - Clare Christensen (23.89)
24th - Casey Summers (23.98)

One-Meter Diving

10th - Abby Hutchins (240.57)
11th - Taylor Hogan (236.43)

200-Yard Freestyle Relay

3rd - Finke, Christensen, Lear, Larsen [A] (1:32.97)
7th - Meyer, Summers, McCorkle, Nedder [B] (1:34.57)
10th - Short, Verstegui, Heuberger, Lavigne [C] (1:35.82)

TEAM SCORING (Thru Day Two)
1st - Missouri State (500.5)
2nd - Illinois State (383.5)
3rd - Indiana State (382.5)
4th - UIC (326.5)
5th - UNI (312)
6th - Marshall (245)
7th - Southern Illinois (235)
8th - Little Rock (171)
9th - Evansville (170)
10th - Valparaiso (112)

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