Oct. 14, 2005
COLUMBIA, Mo. - In a preview of things to come when the Missouri swimming and diving program hosts the Big 12 Championships, the entire conference gathered at the Mizzou Aquatics Center on Friday for the annual Big 12 Relays.
The Tiger men made program history with their first-ever second-place finish at the Big 12 Relays, while the women stormed to a third place finish for the second consecutive year.
"This something the guys have talked about for a while now," Mizzou head coach Brian Hoffer said. "Their mindset this year is that they want to break through in the conference. As a program, we want to do things we've never done before, and this is a great start."
The Tiger men got off to a good start with a second-place finish in the 100 medley relay by the team of senior Chris Lukas, junior Nate Zabel, sophomore Alex Zasadny and sophomore Bennett Clark. The men's team also scored a runner-up performance in the 300 fly relay from the quartet of sophomore Lex Howard, freshman Gilad Kaufman and senior David Darmitzel.
The first impact performance by a Tiger squad on the women's side, when freshman Kayla Bowcutt, sophomore Jill Bastien and freshman Erin Yeager took second in the 300 breast relay.
The Tiger men, who battled to maintain second place throughout the first session, got a key performance in the 300 back relay from a relatively young team. Though senior Chris Lukas swam the first leg, the second and third legs were left up to sophomore Travis Floyd and freshman Byron Carlisle, respectively. Nonetheless, that trio placed second in the event to bolster the Tiger effort.
Freshman Jill Granger, who recently set school records in the 500 and 1000 free, showed the Tigers' competitive drive in the 1500 free relay when she made up nearly 25 yards on Texas A&M's Jenni Stratton during the anchor leg before being tapped out and finishing fourth.
The men also rose to the occasion in the 1500 free relay, as the team of sophomore Brandon Lee, sophomore Thomas Baumann and freshman Jake Hoffmann finished comfortably in second place.
The last event before the intermission - the men's 200 medley relay - provided some drama and sent the Tigers into the break with momentum after Clark managed to fend of Texas' Ryan Verlatti by .11 on the anchor leg to take first place.
The diving trio of senior Evan Watters and sophomores David Boyko and Nikolaus Roetemeyer turned in a first-place finish in the 1-meter board to send Mizzou into the intermission in second place on the men's side. The women, spurred by a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay, went into the locker room in third place.
The Tiger women came out of the break fired up, starting the second half with third-place finishes in the 200 free and 400 IM relays.
The men's squad, with momentum on their side after Clark and company's win in the 200 medley relay, also came flying out of the break. Darmitzel led a team that included freshman Bryan Difford, freshman Bobby Sundvold and Clark to a runner-up performance in the 400 IM relay.
The 800 free relay also proved to be a fruitful one for both Tiger squads, particularly the youth of the program. The women put a team of capable freshmen - Lauren Cox, Carly Sullivan, Kirsten David and Caroline Bellis - in the water and came away with a third-place finish. Not to be outdone, four freshman men - Brad Hubbard, Matt Dahlke, Sundvold and Hoffmann - took second on the men's side of the event by nearly seven seconds.
The Mizzou men also picked up a big win in the 200 back relay, with Floyd holding off a late charge from Texas A&M's Ozzie Gardner for the victory.
In the meet's last swimming event, the Mizzou women took third in the 100 free relay, as did the Tiger men. That finish put the women securely in third place, but when the swimming points were tabulated, Mizzou sat in third, just two points behind Texas A&M.
The meet, however, was not over. While swimming was going on, the trio of Watters, Boyko and Roetemeyer were quietly going about the business of winning the men's 3-meter diving competition. Texas A&M ended up taking third in the event, and, on the basis of those crucial diving points, the Tiger men found themselves the proud owners of an historic second-place finish.
"This group of guys wanted, and they went out and got it," Hoffer said. "There are certainly some things we need to work on, but I'm excited for them after today's performance."
Coming off of a huge performance to tie national power Texas in a dual meet the night before, Hoffer says he didn't know quite what to expect from his group of women today.
"I was worried about the women today because last night's meet had so much energy," Hoffer said. "They had a little bit of a rough start in the morning, but they came out hard in the second half today. I'm very pleased with how they pulled together to get the job done."
Both the Tiger men and women will be in the water tomorrow for a Homecoming-day dual with nationally-ranked conference foe Texas A&M. The meet starts at 10 a.m. at the Mizzou Aquatics Center and admission is free. For all the latest on Mizzou swimming and diving, visit www.mutigers.com.
TEAM SCORES
Men
Texas 116
Missouri 86
Texas A&M 82
Women Texas 108
Texas A&M 99
Missouri 61
Kansas 50
Nebraska 43
Iowa State 30