Receiving all six first place votes, Missouri State has been named the pre-championship favorite for the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Swimming & Diving Championships, held February 13-15 in Carbondale, Ill., hosted by Southern Illinois University.
The Bears (36 points) are the unanimous favorites by a nine point margin over both Illinois State and Southern illinois, who tied for second place in the poll (27 points).
Evansville, with 17 points, Northern Iowa (12 points), and newcomer UALR (seven points) round out the rankings.
Missouri State has swimmers in the top-three times on the MVC Best List in 12 different events, not including relays.
Host Southern Illinois holds 11 top-three times on the MVC Best List, which includes top times in multiple events.
The MVC Championship will feature some tremendous talent, and the best in the conference will be competing.
Diver Sherry Zhang holds the best diving scores in The Valley for the one-meter dive the three-meter dive, trailed closely by defending Diver of the Year, Illinois State’s Wenting Zhang.
Pamela Benitez of Southern Illinois holds the top conference time in the 1000-yard freestyle by over nine seconds and in the 1650-yard freestyle she leads by almost 14 seconds.
The Valley’s best will be on display in Carbondale this weekend as the six schools go head to head in this year’s MVC Swimming and Diving Championship.
MVC Pre-Championship Poll
1. Missouri State, 36 (6)
T2. Illinois State, 27
T2. Southern Illinois, 27
4. Evansville, 17
5. Northern Iowa, 12
6. UALR, 7
