Jan. 14, 2006
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - It didn't take long for the Missouri men's or women's swimming and diving teams to register their first wins of 2005-06, as both squads defeated Missouri State Saturday afternoon in Springfield, Mo. The Mizzou men (2-0, 1-0 Big 12) stayed unbeaten in dual meets this season with a 156-144 win, while the Tiger women (1-2-1, 0-2-1) cruised to their first dual victory of the campaign by a score of 196.5-98.5.
The Tigers also managed to match their success in the points area with success in terms of fast times, setting seven Missouri State pool records en route to victory. The team of freshman Lori Halvorson, sophomore Jill Bastien, senior Liz Schoborg and junior Shannon Hogan opened the meet by setting a pool standard in the women's 400 medley relay in a time of 3:51.56. Individual pool records were turned in by freshman Jill Granger in the women's 500 free (4:58.65), Schoborg in the women's 100 fly (57.02), junior Amy Charley in the women's 200 IM (2:07.70), Halvorson in the 100 back while leading off the record-setting women's 400 medley relay (58.56) and senior diver Evan Watters in the men's 1-meter dive (321.53). Hogan, freshman Lauren Cox, Schoborg and Halvorson put an exclamation point on the meet with a pool-record 3:28.99 in the women's 400 free relay.
"This was a great team win," Mizzou head coach Brian Hoffer said. "We used our depth well and the divers really gave us a boost. Missouri State swam really well, but we were able to use our depth to our advantage today."
The men's team got a win from sophomore Brandon Lee in the 1000 free (9:43.79), as well as a victory in the 100 back by Lee's classmate Travis Floyd. Sophomore Bennett Clark dominated the sprint free events, winning the 50 and 100 free with times of 20.94 and 45.91, respectively.
Senior Chris Lukas had a big day for the Tigers, highlighted by a win in the 200 back in a time of 1:50.48. He took second in the 100 back with a time 51.92, then came back after a short rest and captured third in the 50 free with a time of 21.77.
Sophomore Thomas Baumann recorded a runner-up finish in the 1000 free with a time of 9:46.86. Second-place finishes were also turned in by freshman Brad Hubbard in the 200 free (1:43.42), sophomore Lex Howard in the 200 fly (1:53.03), Lee in the 500 free (4:43.07), sophomore Alex Zasadny in the 100 fly (51.56) and senior David Darmitzel in the 200 IM (1:54.55).
Watters won both the 1 and 3-meter boards with scores of 321.53 and 300.45, respectively.
"This was a great road win for a young men's team," Hoffer said. "We knew Missouri State would win a lot of events, but our guys battled and found a way to pull out the win. Chris Lukas stepped and did something he's never done before in his career by swimming those two events on such short rest. Thomas Baumann really swam well in the 1000 free and showed that he's really developing as a college swimmer."
Freshman Carly Sullivan set the tone for the women in the meet's first individual swimming event, earning a win in the 1000 free with a time of 10:17.46. Halvorson would follow that with a win in the 200 free (1:52.58), and she would be joined in the win column by Hogan in the 100 back (58.81), Jill Bastien in the 100 breast (1:05.48), Granger in the 200 fly (2:06.68) and Schoborg in the 50 free (24.29). After a diving break, Hogan came up with another win, this time in the 100 free (51.91), and sophomore Sarah Menefee touched in first in the 200 back with a time of 2:05.74. Bastien tallied her second win of the day with a victory in the 200 breast (2:22.89), as did Granger in the 500 free (4:58.65). Schoborg touched in first in the 100 fly (57.02) - the last event that the Tigers counted toward their score - to give Mizzou wins in each individual event that wasn't swum as exhibition.
Freshman Kendra Melnychuk (278.63), junior Kim Massaro (241.13) and senior Nicole Frazier (237.53) took the top three spots, respectively, on the 3-meter board. Frazier recorded a second-place finish on the 1-meter board (229.05) and sophomore Rachel Witt finished third (228.30).
"The women swam well considering all of the training they've been doing lately," Hoffer said. "We mixed up our lineup a little bit today because we wanted to get a look at some people in different events. I was really pleased with how we handled ourselves and how we raced."
The women's win marks the 98th career victory for Hoffer on the women's side. The Mizzou women will be in the water again on Friday, Jan. 20, at Iowa State, and both squads will be in action the following day at Iowa.