Tiger Men Close Dual Season at Iowa
1/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Swimming & Diving
Jan. 30, 2009
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Tiger men's swimming and diving team will compete in dual action for the final time during the 2008-09 campaign this Saturday when the team travels to Iowa City, Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes. Missouri is looking for their first dual victory since Nov. 4, 2008, when they beat Southern Illinois on the road. The Tigers currently sit at No. 24 in the CSCAA dual rankings with a 2-4 record. The meet is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. CT. Live results will be posted at http://stats.iowaswimming.com/.
Scouting Iowa
Iowa enters this dual possessing a 5-1 dual record, which includes a 3-1 conference record. The Hawkeyes' lone loss came at the hands of Minnesota by a 195-92 final. Iowa's five victories have come against Truman State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Western Illinois and Northwestern.
The Hawkeyes swept the weekly Big Ten awards for this past week. Sophomore Conor Dwyer was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Week, while junior Frank Van Dijkhuizen was named the league's top diver for the week.
Last Time They Met
The Tigers and Hawkeyes faced off last season in Missouri's Senior Day. Missouri came out victorious, beating Iowa by a 183-117 tally, the 10th win of the season for the Tigers. The team won 11 out of 16 events, which included junior diver's Greg DeStephen sweep of both springboards.
The Hawkeyes also competed in this year's Mizzou Invite. The men took second place, coming in at 880.5 points. Missouri finished in first with 921 points.
Last Time Out
Missouri's men last took the pool two weekends ago, when they faced off against two Big Ten powerhouses, Indiana and Ohio State. The No. 7 Hoosiers knocked off Mizzou by a 239-61 final, while the No. 9 Buckeyes were victorious by a score of 246-54. Junior Martin Cernansky broke his own school record in the 200 breast and posted the seventh-best 400 IM time at MU. Senior Gilad Kaufman broke his own 100 fly record. Sophomore Dante Jones, going up against many All-American divers, took third in the 1-meter and second in the 3-meter.
Top 25
The Mizzou men's team moved up one spot in the latest CSCAA top-25 rankings. The Tigers moved up to No. 24 after coming in at No. 25 in the last batch of rankings.
Coming Up Next
Though the Tigers end their dual season this Saturday, the men are far from done with the season. Starting Feb. 13 through Feb. 16, numerous Missouri swimmers will compete in the Missouri Grand Prix. The team will return to action two weeks later with the Big 12 Championships.
