Thursday Results  -  MVC Championship Central

CARBONDALE, Ill. – After a tough morning in the preliminary round, the Purple Aces women's swimming and diving team rebounded with a terrific evening to pick up some momentum heading into Friday.
 
"I could not be more excited about our performance tonight.  Our effort was spectacular and I cannot say enough about our resiliency," Aces head coach Rickey Perkins said.  "We had a tough morning in the prelims, but our girls never gave up and kept supporting each other."
 
The top performance on the night for the University of Evansville came in the 200 free relay.  Abby Smith, Sam Montgomery, Danielle Freeman and Michelle Tipton edged out Missouri State to earn top honors.  In a hard-fought battle, the Aces finished with a time of 1:33.06 while the Bears checked in at 1:33.39.
 
On her own, Freeman came within 0.20 seconds of victory in the 50 free.  Freeman took second place in the event with her effort of 23.30.  Marissa Yontz of Illinois State was the top finisher at 23:10.
 
Tipton swam a strong race in the A-Final of the 500 free.  Improving by over four seconds in her preliminary time, Tipton finished in fifth place with her 4:54.84.  Mackenzie Powell also brought home a top five finish.  Powell took fifth in the A-Final of the 200 IM.  She finished strong with a 2:07.20
 
In the 1-meter diving event, Courtney Coverdale picked up a fourth place finish.  She was credited with a final score of 289.35.
 
Other strong finishes came in the 200 IM.  Caroline Lee finished second in the B-Final and 10^th overall while Taylor Davidson was victorious in the C-Final as she posted a 2:10.23 to take 17^th overall.
 
Montgomery was the top finisher in the B-Final of the 50 free event.  Her time of 24.08 won the race to put her 9^th overall.
 
As a team, the Aces are in 4^th place with 191 points.  They are just 2.5 points behind Illinois State.  Missouri State leads the championship with 280 points while Southern Illinois is in second at 272.
 
On Friday, the following events will be held: 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 3-meter diving..  Prelims take place at 11 a.m. with the finals going at 6 p.m.  For full coverage, visit the MVC Championship Central page by clicking here.