Two Records Fall on Day Two of the MVC Championship

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Two more school records fell for Little Rock swimming and diving in the second day of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship as the Trojans moved up to fifth place with 144 points after day two.
 
Senior Tori Fryar finished third in the A-Final of the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:54.33, breaking her previous school record of 4:54.47. Sophomore Rachel Maradyn finished 22nd overall with a time of 5:07.20.
 
"It is awesome to see Tori finish one of her favorite events with a third place and a school record," head coach Amy Burgess said. "She worked so hard for this and is more than deserving of this.
 
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of Imre van Huyssteen, Courtney Goff, Emma Doll and Laura Ruiz Astorga recorded a time of 1:34.32, breaking the record of 1:34.52 that Goff, Doll, and Ruiz Astorga set last year along with former teammate Courtney Coe.
 
Ruiz Astorga fell just short of breaking another record after finishing just .21 seconds behind the 200-yard individual record with a time of 2:06.41 and taking 11th overall. Ginger Bryant and Imre van Huyssteen were right behind her finishing 13th and 14th while Palmer Ristroph finished 17th and Isabelle Finzen finished 22nd.
 
In the one-meter dive, Samantha Gray finished 8th overall with a score of 225.12 and freshman Sierra Thain came in 15th with a score of 200.85.
 
"That was some of the best diving Sam has done," diving coach Mike Bailey said. "As for Sierra, once we get her to 100%, I think we have found a diamond in the rough."
 
With, two of four days done, Little Rock have moved up into fifth place after finishing sixth in day one of competition. Just ahead of the Trojans is Indiana State with 161 points. Missouri State sits atop the leaderboard with 260 points. Right behind them is Southern Illinois with 242.5 points and then Northern Iowa with 203.5 points. Behind Little Rock is Illinois State with 139 points, Evansville with 112 points and Valparaiso with 66 points.
 
"This has been one of our best starts to the conference championship," Burgess said." The team is stepping up in their prelim swims and racing for top finishes at night. Everyone is fighting until the end and we cannot wait to see what the next couple of days will bring."
 
The third day of events on Friday will include the 400-yard IM, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, 400-yard medley relay and the 3-meter diving. Preliminaries begin at 11 a.m., with finals beginning at 6 p.m., live on YouTube.