Nov. 6, 2004
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri men's and women's swimming and diving teams, bolstered by two record-setting performances, defeated the Salukis of Southern Illinois Saturday afternoon at the MU Natatorium.
Junior diver Evan Watters (San Antonio, Texas / Douglas MacArthur) set a new school and natatorium record in the 3-meter dive, with a score of 385.87. The mark was previously held by Jamie Sweeney, who carded a 368.90 during the 2003 season.
The men's 400-yard individual medley relay team, however, was not to be outdone. En route to winning the event by more than four seconds, the team of junior Chris Lukas (Toronto, Canada / Silverthorn C.I.), senior Matt North (St. Charles, Ill. / St. Charles), junior David Darmitzel (Santa Fe, N.M. / Santa Fe) and freshman Bennett Clark (Kirkwood, Mo. / Kirkwood) turned in a pool-record time 3:23.85. The previous record, set in 1998, was 3:24.77.
Sparked by that record performance and wins from Clark in the 50-yard freestyle, senior Chris McCrary (St. Peters, Mo. / University of South Carolina) in the 100-yard freestyle and two individual first-place finishes by North, the men's team led the meet wire to wire to claim their first dual victory in over a year. The Tigers last stood victorious after a dual meet on October 20, 2003, when they defeated Truman State.
Freshman Jeff Wolfert (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley West) placed first in the men's one-meter dive, while Watters collected a record and a win in the three-meter event.
"It feels pretty good to get a win," Missouri head coach Brian Hoffer said. "We had a good strategy and everything worked out as we hoped. With SIU being champions of their conference, this is a big win for us."
The women's team, which also led for the duration of the meet, picked up their second dual win in as many weeks, having defeated arch-rival Kansas last Saturday in Columbia.
Freshman Taye Patterson (Valdes Monts, Qc, Canada / Philemon Wright) took home first-place in the 200-yard freestyle, and seniors Lindsay Palbykin (Tempe, Ariz. / Corona del Sol) and Megan Morford (Baldwin, Kan. / Baldwin) touched in first in the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard individual medley, respectively.
Sophomore Kim Massaro (San Antonio, Texas / Ronald Reagan) took first place in the one-meter dive, and junior Nicole Frazier (St. Peters, Mo. / Francis Howell) turned in her second-straight first-place finish in the three meter event.
"The girls swam solidly today," Hoffer said. "I'm happy they didn't let down after last week's win. We're right in the middle of our training cycle, and everybody did a good job."
Both squads return to action Friday, January 14, when they take on Truman State and South Dakota in Kirkville, Mo.