Nov. 19, 2005
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Seven women and four men placed in the top eight of their respective events Saturday evening as the Missouri women entered into a fourth-place tie with Northwestern and the Tiger men clawed their way into the fifth position on day two of the Purdue Invite.
On the men's side, senior Chris Lukas earned the number one seed in the final heat of the 100 back, sophomore Bennett Clark and freshman Brad Hubbard both reached the finals in the 200 free and senior Evan Watters was a finalist on the 1-meter board. The Mizzou women sent freshman Jill Granger to the finals in the 400 IM, as well as senior captain Liz Schoborg in the 100 fly, freshman Kayla Bowcutt and sophomore Jill Bastien in the 100 breast, freshman Lori Halvorson in the 100 back and senior Nicole Frazier and freshman Kendra Melnychuk on the 3-meter board.
Bowcutt's time of 1:04.85 in the 100 breast during prelims was a lifetime best and placed her at No. 5 in the all-time Mizzou annals.
"Both teams made a nice move today," Mizzou head coach Brian Hoffer said. "We had a great morning session, which set the stage for a good day. We're still learning how to swim some events, but we're making good progress."
Just as they did the previous night, the Tiger women set the tone early with a solid showing in the session's opening relay. The squad of junior Shannon Hogan, Bowcutt, Schoborg and sophomore Taye Patterson claimed fourth in the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:45.67. The quartet of Lukas, sophomore Nate Zabel, sophomore Alex Zasadny and Clark would go on to finish fifth in the men's version of the event.
In the first individual event of the evening, Granger stepped in and delivered a time of 4:34.28, good for an eighth-place finish and 11 points for the Tiger women. That performance ran her individual point total to 26 through the meet's first two days.
The men also got a boost in the 400 IM, led by sophomore Justin Sellers. In a consolation heat that saw three Tigers in the scoring chase, Sellers placed second (4:03.65), giving him a 10th-place finish overall. Senior captain David Darmitzel placed 11th overall (4:03.84) and sophomore Brandon Lee chipped in with a 12th-place finish overall (4:03.88). That trio's performance yielded 18 points for the Mizzou men in just one event.
The 100 fly was to follow, and it too was a productive event for the Mizzou men. Sophomore Lex Howard went 50.14 in the consolation heat to bring home 12th place and five points. He was joined in that heat by classmate Zasadny, who turned in a time of 50.54 to earn 14th place and three points, and freshman Gilad Kaufman, who notched a 15th place finish and two points with his time of 51.49.
Schoborg placed seventh in the women's 100 fly with a time of 56.43, and freshman Caroline Bellis finished 13th overall with a time of 58.09.
The 200 free was next on the docket, and it proved to be a pivotal event for both the Tiger men and women. On the women's side, freshmen Lauren Cox (1:52.77) and Kirsten David (1:53.70) finished 11th and 12th, respectively, which combined with Patterson's 16th-place effort (1:58.00) to earn the Tigers 10 points.
Not to be outdone, four men got into scoring column for Mizzou in the 200 free. Clark was the top swimmer of the group, finishing seventh in 1:41.50. Freshman Brad Hubbard tallied an eighth-place finish in a time 1:41.89, senior Dan Buhr placed 14th in 1:42.06 and freshman Matt Dahlke finished 15th in 1:42.15. Overall, the Mizzou men were the recipients of 28 points when the wake settled after the 200 free.
"Our freestylers were phenomenal in the 200 today," Hoffer said. "That's the deepest we've been in that event since I've been here, and probably one of the deepest 200 free lineups in program history. I was really happy with how that group performed today."
Bastien and Bowcutt took the water next as finalists in the women's 100 breast, and turned in sixth and seventh place finishes, respectively. On the men's side, junior Nate Zabel picked up a point for the men with a 16th-place swim in a time of 59.63.
In the 100 back, Halvorson went 57.61 in the finals to finish sixth, while Hogan turned in a time of 58.25 to finish 10th overall. Lukas swam the men's 100 back in a time of 50.32 to finish fourth, and he was joined in the scoring column by sophomore Travis Floyd (10th in 51.27) and senior Garrett McCaffrey (16th in 52.90).
While the swimming events were taking place, three Tiger divers were in action on the other end of the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. Watters tallied a score of 285.25 to place fifth in the men's 1-meter competition, while Melnychuk finished fifth on the women's 3-meter board with a score of 269.25 and Frazier finished eighth with a score of 204.15.
The session ended with the swimming of the men's and women's 800 free relays. The women finished fourth on the strength of a lifetime-best split 1:51.79 from freshman Carly Sullivan, and the men placed sixth with a time of 6:52.84.
"I'm pleased with the way both the men and women swam today," Hoffer said. "Our relays were good on both sides and we had some people step up today. Jill Bastien and Kayla Bowcutt swam lifetime bests in the 100 breast and Shannon Hogan went as fast in the 100 back as she did at the conference championships last year. Chris Lukas had a big performance and our three guys in the 50 fly were great."
Sunday's prelims will begin at 10 a.m. and finals are scheduled for 4 p.m. For all the latest on the Mizzou Tigers' performance at the Purdue Invite, check www.mutigers.com.
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 27
1. Purdue 544
2. University of Tennessee 466
3. University of Florida 459
4. Missouri 322.50
5. Northwestern 322.50
6. Southern Illinois 156
7. Missouri State University 136
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 28
1. University of Florida 603.50
2. Purdue 451
3. Northwestern 423
4. Southern Illinois 346
5. Missouri 244.50
6. Missouri State 241