Feb. 25, 2005
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Missouri men's swimming and diving stands in third after the three days of competition at the 2005 Big 12 Championships, but several Tigers managed to find their way into the school record books.
Senior Matt North took fifth in the 100 breaststroke in a time of 55.66, just .04 off an NCAA qualifying mark. Freshman Brandon Lee also turned in a fifth place finish, with his coming in the 400 IM in a time of 3:59.84, the third fastest in school history.
Several other Tiger men made their way into the school annals on the third night of competition. Senior Chris McCrary finished seventh in the 100 fly in a time of 49.07, the fifth fastest in Mizzou history. Freshman Travis Floyd notched a top-five all-time performance in the 100 backstroke, finishing sixth in a time of 50.23.
Junior Dan Buhr (1:41.64 in the 200 free), sophomore Nate Zabel (56.65 in the 100 breast) and junior Chris Lukas (50.32 in the 100 back) also garnered top-eight finishes for the Tigers.
"The 400 IM was one of our better events and it gave us some encouragement," Missouri head coach Brian Hoffer said. "The 100 fly was phenomenal, and everyone swam got a personal best. Nate Zabel did a great job in the 100 breast, swimming a PR by almost two seconds."
Mizzou did take three of the top five spots on the 3-meter board Thursday night. Junior Evan Watters finished third with a score of 531.25, followed by junior Aaron Wionzek (527.75) and freshman Jeff Wolfert (519.65) in fourth and fifth, respectively.
"We weren't able to win the event, but we showed our great depth," Hoffer said. The young guys handled the pressure very well. I couldn't be more pleased with those guys."
The Tiger women maintained fifth-place status Thursday night on the strength of a few strong finishes.
Senior Mariona Costa became the first Tiger to hit an NCAA qualifying mark this season when she went 1:03.66 in the 100 breast, en route to finishing fifth. Senior Becca Dawson also turned in a 4:25.52 in the 400 IM, the fourth-best all-time.
"Becca got everyone excited," Hoffer said. "It was a great way to start off the meet. Mariona looked great, but her best event is tomorrow. Overall, the women did what they needed to do."
Junior Nicky Frazier was the best finisher for the Tiger divers Thursday night, earning a third-place finish in the 1-meter dive.
"The divers were phenomenal," Hoffer said. "None of them had ever finaled on the 1-meter board. They overachieved and got us some points we weren't expecting."
The Mizzou men have accumulated 511 points thus far in the meet, and the women have tallied 267.