2022 MISSOURI VALLEY WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, February 16 – Saturday, February 19, 2022
- U of Iowa Aquatic Center – Iowa City, Iowa
- Defending Champion: Missouri State (5x)
- Psych Sheet
- Results on Meet Mobile: “2022 MVC Swimming & Diving Championships”
- Live Video (YouTube)
- Championship Central
Team Scores
- Missouri State – 889.5
- Illinois State – 492.5
- Indiana State – 474
- Southern Illinois – 473.5
- Northern Iowa – 431.5
- Evansville – 328
- Little Rock – 281
- Valparaiso – 68
AWARDS
- Swimmer of the Year: Liberty Howell, MSU
- Freshman Swimmer of the Year: Celia Pulido, SIU
- Swimming Coach of the Year: Dave Collins, MSU
- Diver of the Year: Taylor Hogan, UNI
- Freshman Diver of the Year: Eva Reyes, ILS
- Diving Coach of the Year: Bethany Hovland, UNI
- Elite 17: Amber Finke, UNI
Missouri State has won their 6th consecutive Missouri Valley Conference title, and the 10th MVC title under head coach Dave Collins‘ leadership. The 397-point margin of victory marks the largest in MSU program history, and Collins earned Coach of the Year honors for his team’s efforts.
Behind the Bears, there was a lot of movement on the final day of the meet. Illinois State managed to pull out a 2nd place finish, marking their highest finish since the 2014 MVC Championships. Indiana State ended up in 3rd, while Southern Illinois took 4th, and UNI fell to 5th at the close of the meet.
There was plenty of history made individually on the final day of the meet as well. Missouri State 5th year Liberty Howell has officially closed out her illustrious career with the Bears, winning the 1650 free in her final individual MVC race. Howell swam a 16:39.67, leading a 1-2-3-4-5 charge by MSU. With the win, Howell earned her 15th individual MVC title, making her a perfect 15-for-15 on individual MVC races in her career. In total, Howell won 29 MVC titles, 15 individual and 14 relays. She was awarded Swimmer of the Year for her performance this season.
Another Missouri State 5th year, Anna Miller, won her 3rd event of the meet as well. Miller took the 100 free in 48.45, marking a new MVC record. Not only did she crack the record with the swim, her time of 48.45 appears to give her an excellent chance of earning an invitation to NCAAs next month.
Howell and Miller also swam on Missouri State’s 400 free relay which won in a new MVC record of 3:19.76. Jordan Wenner (50.46), Anna Lucas (50.76), Liberty Howell (49.93), and Anna Miller (48.61) teamed up to get the job done, closing out the meet with a record-breaking victory.
Missouri State’s Alessia Puleo took the 200 breast with a 2:13.89, leading a 1-2 punch by the Bears. Cabrini Johnson took 2nd with a 2:14.96.
Southern Illinois picked up a pair of wins on the day, both of which came at the hands of freshmen. Celia Pulido completed her sweep of the backstroke events, posting a 1:55.28 to win the 200 back. She won Freshman Swimmer of the Year for her racing this week. Jules Atkinson, another freshman, swam a 2:01.70 in the 200 fly, clearing the rest of the field by over a second.
Liberty Howell is one of the best stories of this whole conference meet season. I don’t know her and never heard of her before this week, but that is so cool that she was able to use the extra COVID eligibility to win 15 out of 15 individual D1 conference titles. That record might still be standing 100 years from now, long after Dressel’s, Ledecky’s, and Biedermann’s records have been broken.
She is a tremendous person and an incredible athlete that has battled her fair share of challenges over the last half decade. None of which altered her chase for greatness!
What a great cap on her illustrious career. She definitely had some awesome mentors on the coaching staff, Coach! Congrats on the great season!