Feb. 25, 2006
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The exclamation point of an emotional Big 12 Championships for the Missouri men's and women's swimming and diving teams was added Saturday night when two school records were broken in the final two events.
The team of junior Shannon Hogan, senior co-captain Liz Schoborg, freshman Carly Sullivan and freshman Lori Halvorson went first in the 400 free relay and produced a school-record time of 3:23.27 and a second-place finish. On the men's side, sophomore Bennett Clark led off for the runner-up Tiger squad and broke the school record in the 100 free with a time of 44.63 en route to leading the team of senior Chris Lukas, freshman Bryan Difford and senior Garrett McCaffrey to a time of 3:01.75.
The women's effort secured a third-place finish for the Tigers, placing them 14 points ahead of rival Kansas.
"We had a great day, and it was a fitting end to a great season," Mizzou head coach Brian Hoffer said. "Our entire staff did a great job of putting this meet together, and the way it all ended shows that we're moving in a good direction as a program. Finishing ahead of Kansas is always a goal of ours because of the rivalry, so I'm happy for our women that they could make that happen."
Hogan's time on the leadoff leg of that final relay, a split of 50.47, put her in second place in school history in the 100 free and capped off a day in which a multitude of Tiger swimmers earned their way onto the all-time lists. Freshman Jill Granger also secured a second-place all-time standing, earning it the 1650 free with a time of 16:47.82, as did Schoborg when she bettered her second-place all-time mark in the 200 fly to 2:00.84.
The all-time list in the 200 breast looks drastically different after Saturday's finals, as two Mizzou swimmers left their mark. Sophomore Jill Bastien moved from fourth to third all-time with a time of 2:18.93, while freshman Erin Yeager jumped into fifth all-time with a 2:19.40 effort.
"Our women really came through this weekend," Hoffer said. "They got through the first two days and really turned it on at the end of the meet. They fought hard and they got better as the meet went on."
In addition to Clark's fireworks in the 100 free, sophomore Alex Zasadny also put his name in the Mizzou record books with a fifth-place all-time effort of 1:49.59 in the 200 fly.
"I'm really pleased with a young men's team and how they reacted this week," Hoffer said. "They battled the whole time rallied around each other. Our depth helped us out and we got to show what we can do"
The Mizzou women finished the meet in third place with 453 points, while the men achieved the same standing after cranking out 719.50.