University of Missouri
Iowa
Tigers Beat Hawkeyes for Third-Straight Win
1/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Jan. 31, 2009
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Missouri women's swimming and diving team recorded their third-consecutive dual victory on Saturday as they defeated the Hawkeyes of Iowa in impressive fashion, 188-111. The Tigers won 12 of 16 events on the afternoon as they improved their record to 4-5 on the year.
"This meet had a very old-school feel to it," said Tiger Head Coach Brian Hoffer. "This is one of the oldest pools in the country. There's a lot of history here. They had a big crowd and there was a lot of energy. Overall it was pretty intense."
"We had some people struggle today, but others stepped up big. We did what we had to do to win."
Senior diver Kendra Melnychuk shined for the Tigers, as she once again swept both springboard events. Her performance of 287.85 on the 1-meter secured her the gold, while her 320.70 score on the 3-meter dominated the competition. Tiger freshman Jordan Morcom took the runner-up spot in both events, finishing at 275.25 in the 1-meter and 304.28 in the 3-meter.
Leading the way for Missouri in the pool were sophomores Francie Szostak and Lauren Lavigna, who each recorded two wins on the day. Szostak swam to first in the 200 free with a time of 1:50.96, and later won the 500 free. Her time of 4:57.00 won the event in dominating fashion, beating out the second-place finisher, freshman Stephanie Rovig, by over two-and-a-half seconds.
Lavigna swept both of the meet's backstroke events for her fifth and sixth wins of the season, and her first since the Louisville dual back in November. She won the 100 back in a tight race, touching at 56.44, just .06 ahead of the runner-up. Later, Lavigna completely dominated the 200 back, winning the event by almost four seconds.
"I thought Francie and Lauren were outstanding today," said Hoffer. "Francie raced hard and got good wins in the 200 and 500 free, and Lauren completely dominated the 200 back. The race wasn't even close."
Rovig started the afternoon off right for Missouri, taking first in the day's first individual event, the 1000 free. The freshman, who already has the fourth-fastest Mizzou time ever in the event, won the race in a time of 10:14.67. Senior teammate Jill Granger took second, touching at 10:19.53.
Sophomore Colleen Gordon secured her sixth victory of the season, winning the 100 fly in 56.12. Earlier in the afternoon, Gordon posted a runner-up finish in the 200 free, finishing right behind Szostak with a time of 1:51.55.
In the 50 free, freshman Lisa Nathanson took the gold with a time of 23.83, and then took second in the next event. Nathanson posted a 52.40 time in the 100 free for the runner-up finish.
Sophomore Melissa Jamerson and senior Coralie Baumann gave the Tigers a 1-2 finish in the 200 butterfly. Jamerson won her second 200 fly in as many weeks, touching at 2:05.35. Baumann came in right after her, swimming in 2:06.16.
Mizzou got another 1-2 finish later in the day, this time in the 200 breast. Senior Erin Yeager won for the second time in as many weeks, posting a time of 2:21.12, while freshman Kayla Durnil came in second at 2:22.43.
The Tigers closed out the afternoon with a relay victory, securing gold in the 400 free. Missouri's "A" team of Nathanson, senior Lauren Cox, Gordon and Szostak defeated the next-closest team by over three-and-a-half seconds, finishing at 3:26.24 for the gold.
Missouri will look to get their dual record back to .500 next weekend, as they close out the dual season at Nebraska. The meet is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. CT.
