Feb. 22, 2006
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Two school relay records and an individual mark fell at the Mizzou Aquatics Center on the first day of the 2006 Big 12 Men's & Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, boosting the Tigers to a second-place standing on the men's side and a third-place status in the women's race.
Freshman Lori Halvorson put her name atop the Mizzou record books twice during the same event. She led off the women's 800 free relay with a split of 1:48.85, besting the former school record in the 200 free by 1.68 seconds (1:50.53 by Molly Vetter in 1999). The freshman quartet of Halvorson, Lauren Cox, Jill Granger and Carly Sullivan would finish fourth in the event with a school-record 7:23.33.
"There were some great individual efforts in that race," Mizzou head coach Brian Hoffer said. "Obviously Lori Halvorson smashing yet another school record would qualify. Carly Sullivan had a great swim, and her split (1:49.99) was her best ever."
On the men's side, the 800 free relay record has been under siege as of late, having now been broken two times in two months after the squad of sophomore Bennett Clark, freshman Brad Hubbard, freshman Gilad Kaufman and senior Dan Buhr went a 6:41.40 to place second. Heading into this season, the record had been in place for 24 years, making it the oldest standard on the Mizzou books.
"Being able to break that record for a second time shows how far we've come as a program," Hoffer said. "Dan Buhr had a great anchor leg for us, and our strong start to the race was key."
The Tigers and the rest of the Big 12 swimming and diving teams will hit the water again tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the Mizzou Aquatics Center.