COLUMBIA, Mo. – The McKendree women's swimming and diving team put forth a strong effort in the pool here Wednesday on the first day of the Mizzou Invitational held at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
 
The four-team meet, hosted by the University of Missouri, features three Division schools – Mizzou, Brigham Young and San Jose State and McKendree is the lone Division II competing.
 
On Wednesday's first day of the three-day meet, McKendree had six Top 10 finishes, including freshman Ana Cecilia Carvalho (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Loyola) setting a new school record in the 500 freestyle.
 
Wednesday's opening event was the 200 freestyle relay as McKendree's 'A' Team finished in fifth place with an NCAA provisional time of 1:33.32. The members of the relay team were sophomore Karley Sonnenberg (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North), junior Alexis Kachkin (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South), sophomore Sarah Gormley (Las Cruces, N.M./Las Cruces) and fifth-year senior Abigail Rumpp (Knoxville, Tenn./L&N STEM Academy).
 
In addition to a fifth-place finish, the Bearcats also finished sixth and 10th overall in the event with times of 1:35.37 and 1:37.88. The 'B' Team was sixth as the members of the team were sophomore Aurora Abbruscato (Reggio Emilia, Italy/I.I.S. Blaise Pascal), redshirt freshman McKenzie Fazio (Eagle River, Alaska/Eagle River), freshman Keianna Moss (Nassau, Bahamas/Focus Point Academy) and senior Emily Drabick (Barro, Pa./Florida Southern).
 
The next event was the 500 freestyle as Carvalho was fifth with a school record time of 4:53.82. Carvalho's time bettered Hallie Dixon's old school record of 4:58.48 at the 2019 Great Lakes Valley Championships.
 
Along with Carvalho, three Bearcats placed 10th, 11th and 14th in the 'B' Final of the 500 freestyle as freshman Natalia Kralova (Poprad, Slovakia/Gymnasium Ivana Horvatha) was 10th with a time of 5:02.11, while freshman Jocelyn Zgola (Milwaukee, Wis./Greendale) was 11th with a time of 5:02.23 and freshman Terrah DeLorimiere (Lubbock, Texas/Coronado).
 
Gormley placed 14th in the 'B' Final of the 200 IM with a time of 2:05.55 in the third event final of the night.
 
The Bearcats would then place 11th, 14th and 15th in the 500 freestyle as Rumpp was 11th with a time of 23.47, while Sonnenberg was 14th with a time of 23.72 and Kachkin was 15th with a time 23.74.
 
Wednesday's final event was the 400 medley relay as the Bearcats' top finish in the event was the 'A' Team as they recorded a time of 3:51.32 to finish in 10th with a time of 3:51.32. The members of the relay team were Moss, senior Grace Credit (La Grange Highlands, Ill./Lyons Township), Carvalho and Zgola. The 'B' Team was 11th with a time of 3:53.45 and the 'C' Team was 12th with a time of 3:54.52.
 
The meet continues through Friday.
 
Here are the results from the first day of the Mizzou Invitational
 
200 Freestyle Relay
5. McKendree 'A' – 1:33.32 (Provisional Time) – Sonnenberg, Kachkin, Gormley, Rumpp
6. McKendree 'B' – 1:35.37 – Abbruscato, Fazio, Moss, Drabick
10. McKendree 'C' – 1:37.88 – Olivia Fuller, Credit, Rylee Sitton, Caitlyn Sligh
 
500 Freestyle
'A' Final
5. Carvalho, 4:53.82 (School Record)
'B' Final
10. Kralova, 5:02.11
11. Zgola, 5z:02.23
14. DeLorimiere, 5:16.24
 
200 IM
'B' Final
14. Gormley, 2:05.55
 
50 Freestyle
'B' Final
11. Rumpp, 23.47
14. Sonnenberg, 23.72
15. Kachkin, 23.74
                                                                                                                                                                                
400 Medley Relay
10. McKendree 'A' – 3:51.32 – Moss, Credit, Carvalho, Zgola
11. McKendree 'B' – 3:53.45 – Sligh, Gormley, Abbruscato, Kachkin
12. McKendree 'C' – 3:54.52 – Rumpp, Sitton, Fazio, Sonnenberg