University of Northern Iowa Athletics
Panthers repeat as MVC 200-yard free relay champions in record time
2/28/2025 10:52:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving
UNI sees four A-Final performances on third day of MVC Championships.
WAUKEE, Iowa — For the second straight year, UNI won the 200-yard freestyle and set a new Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Championship record, headlining a solid third day of action at the conference meet at the Waukee CSD Natatorium.
In addition to a relay title, Olivia Chambers placed third in the 400-yard individual medley in her first career MVC A-Final while setting a new SM13 Para American record in both the prelim and championship heats. Morgan Meyer finished in sixth for Northern Iowa in the 200-yard freestyle, while Elyse Brayton finished eighth in her first career MVC A-Final in the 100-yard backstroke.
After three days of competition, the Panthers sit in fourth-place in the team standings with 624.5 points, trailing Southern Illinois (913.5), Indiana State (903.5) and Missouri State (689).
HOW IT HAPPENED
The night started off with the 100-yard butterfly finals that saw Faith Larsen place 12th overall with a time of 55.08. Hannah Nedder earned 15th place (56.04), as Natatlie Harris placed 24th overall (56.80) after clocking a career-best 56.65 in the prelims, the ninth-fastest time in UNI history.
Competition continued with the 400-yard individual medley that saw Chambers place third overall (4:20.70) setting a new career-best and SM13 Para American record both in finals and prelims (4:23.02). It was also the second-fastest time in school history. Sam Oeltjen swam a pair of career-best and placed ninth overall (4:25.77) for the third-fastest time in team history. Meghan Pallett finished 14th (4:31.14 in finals) and also clocked a career-best 4:29.90 in prelims, the fourth-best time in school history. Nikki Walters also took 19th place (4:33.92) with Abigail Barkhurst rounding out the Panther field in 23rd with a career-best time of 4:38.29.
Morgan Meyer posted a time of 1:49.72 to finish sixth in the 200-yard freestyle, dropping a quarter of a second from her morning prelim time. Hallory Domnick placed 14th overall in 1:51.23, clocking her second season-best time of the day in the event.
The 100-yard breaststroke saw Ema Lavigne place 14th overall in 1:04.78, while Sydney Aird followed right behind in 15th in 1:05.03. Jenna Breitbach earned 18th place in the event in 1:05.66, as Waren Graeve took 22nd with a career-best time of 1:06.25 with her second-career-best time in the event on the day.
In the 10-yard backstroke, freshman Elyse Brayton secured a spot on the podium by placing eighth with a time of 56.25 in her first MVC A-Final. Abby Lear placed 18th overall in 57.31 with her second career-best in the event today and the tenth-fastest time in school history. Peyton Pasqualicchio placed 23rd in 58.28 seconds, the second season-best swim in the event of the day with Abby Steward following in 24th with a time of 59.94.
Over in the diving well, Erica Peters and Trista Thompson both qualified for the A-final in three-meter diving, with Peters securing second in the preliminary round with a score of 263.00, as Thompson placed seventh with a score of 237.05. Avery Hogan scored 231.30 in the prelims to earn a spot in the B-Final and finished 11th overall with a score of 249.30. Hannah Taylor also made her way to the B-Final with a score of 213.70 in the prelims, and scored a 222.15 to place 16th.
Friday's action wrapped with the 200-yard freestyle relay as the team of Larsen, Lear, Graeve and Meyer set a new MVC Championship meet record for a second straight season with the program's second-fastest time ever in 1:30.74. It is the first time UNI has won consecutive conference titles in the event since 2016 and 2017.
TEAM STANDINGS (Thru Day Three)
- 1st - Southern Illinois (913.5)
- 2nd - Indiana State (903.5)
- 3rd - Missouri State (689)
- 4th - UNI (624.5)
- 5th - UIC (550)
- 6th - Little Rock (533.50)
- 7th - Illinois State (468.50)
- 8th - Evansville (181)
- 9th - Valparaiso (169.5)
*** Scores do not include the B-Final of the three-meter diving competition
UP NEXT
The fourth and final day of the MVC Championships begins on Saturday with preliminary heats at 10:30 a.m. CT and finals at 6 p.m. CT. Saturday's events include the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, 1,650-yard freestyle, three-meter diving finals and 400-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.
UNI swimming and diving action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Swimming and Diving), X (@uniswimdive) and on Instagram (@uniswimdive). Schedules and rosters, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
Players Mentioned
