Oct. 2, 2004
Columbia, MO - The University of Missouri's Swimming & Diving team held its annual Black and Gold Meet at the University Natatorium Friday evening. The meet, being held for the final time at the natatorium, was won by the Gold team, 243.50 to 198.50.
The Gold squad jumped out to an early lead by winning both the men's and women's 200 Medley Relay, before sophomore Kim Gainey (Grapevine, TX/Colleyville Heritage) got the black team on the board with a win in the women's 500 freestyle.
The Gold team, led by first place finishes from freshman Brendon Lee (Olathe, KS/Olathe East) in the men's 500 freestyle and junior Liz Schoborg (Cincinnati, OH/Oak Hills) in the women's 50 freestyle, took three of the next four events. Senior Chris McCrary (St. Peters/Fr. Zumwalt South) sent the Black team into the first diving break with a win in the men's 50 freestyle.
The score at the first diving break was 82.50 to 64.50 in favor of the Gold team.
Freshman Rachel Witt (Northbrook, IL/Glenbrook North) captured the women's 1-meter diving title for the Black team, while the Gold squad's Evan Watters (San Antonio, TX/Douglas McArthur) won the men's 3-meter competition in the first diving session.
The teams opened up the second part of the meet by trading victories in the 200 IM, with wins from sophomore Amy Charley (Afton, VA/ Waynesboro) for the Gold and junior David Darmitzel (Santa Fe, NM/Santa Fe) for the Black. After the Gold team went on a small fun, winning the next two events, the Black team stormed back with a win by senior captain Lindsay Palbykin (Tempe, AZ/Dobson) in the women's 100 free.
The Gold team responded by taking two of the last three events before the second diving break, highlighted by senior Amanda Morford's (Baldwin, KS/Baldwin) win in the women's 100 backstroke. Heading into the second break, the Gold team was leading 182.50 to 153.50.
Watters won the men's 1-meter diving contest with a score of 189.0, while senior Anna Massey (Springfield, IL/Springfield) took the women's 3-meter with a score of 144.50.
The teams split the final four events. Mariona Costa (Barcelona, Spain/Ies del Car) won the women's 100 breaststroke for the Black, while Matt North (St. Charles, IL/St. Charles) won the men's 100 breaststroke for the Gold. Finally, in the last two races, the Black team's women won the 400 Freestyle Relay, while the Gold team's men won the 400 Freestyle Relay. The final score for the evening was 243.50 to 198.50 in favor of the Gold team.
After the meet, Head Coach Brian Hoffer said that "it was good to see the younger guys swim. Dan Buhr, Bennett Clark and David Darmitzel swam good races tonight. I believe that we've improved ourselves since last year." Hoffer also said that Amanda Morford, Rachel Wender and Amy Charley had solid swims and that the women's team is "about where I expected. We're right where we need to be; we're training really hard every day."
The next meet for both the women and the men will be the Big 12 Relays, held in Lawrence, KS on Oct. 15. The next home meet for the women is Oct. 30, when they host Kansas. For the men, they'll compete at the University Natatorium again Nov. 6 when Southern Illinois comes to town.