Nov. 4, 2007
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri men's swimming and diving team (5-1, 1-0 Big 12) completed their second consecutive Mizzou Dual Challenge sweep on Sunday as they took down Virginia Tech (6-2, 1-1 ACC) by a score of 135-108. The race was a close one throughout, but the Tigers won it as a team.
"We knew this would be our toughest challenge heading into the weekend," said Missouri Head Coach Brian Hoffer. "The Hokies are a tough team and I'm very pleased with the way the men swam. It was a total team effort."
The Tigers wasted no time in getting things started on Sunday, taking the top three spots in the 200 medley relay to jump out to an early lead. The team of senior Travis Floyd, sophomore Martin Cernansky, junior Gilad Kaufman and freshman Jordan Hawley combined for the win in a time of 1:32.12. Interestingly enough, each Tiger represented a different class.
The men had no problem going the distance in the 1000 free. While the top spot went to the Hokies, the following three went to Mizzou. Up-and-coming freshman Spenser Lauver raced to runner-up honors in a time 9:36.85. Sophomore Dylan Lynn touched in third in a time of 9:43.51 with classmate Bobby Sundvold taking fourth in a time of 9:46.30.
Junior Matt Dahlke claimed the team's first individual win of the day with his victory in the 200 free. The Iowan clocked in with a winning time of 1:40.62. Redshirt freshman Cameron Sellers touched in just behind in a time of 1:40.69. Louisville, Ky., native Brad Hubbard got on the board for the Tigers as well with his fourth-place finish (1:43.61).
Claiming his fourth win of the weekend was sophomore Martin Cernansky in the 200 IM. The Austrian charged hard down the stretch to claim the win in a time of 1:52.16. Junior Bryan Difford rounded out the top-three leaderboard with his third-place time of 1:55.38.
The 200 fly brought another 2-3-4 finish for the Tigers. Junior Gilad Kaufman recorded runner-up honors in a time of 1:51.73 with sophomore Brice Grunert claiming the third spot in a time of 1:55.20. Senior Thomas Baumann took fourth in a clocking of 1:56.28.
Lynn returned to action in the following 100 free. The Tulsa, Okla. native swam to a second-place finish in a time of 46.03.
After leading off his winning 200 medley earlier in the morning Floyd raced to another win in the 200 back in a time of 1:50.67. The senior's win gives him a hat trick on the weekend. Junior Byron Carlisle clocked in at 1:54.02 to take third-place in the race.
Next up for the men was the 500 free, and it was all Sellers. The Valley Center, Kan., native swam a 4:36.03 in taking the victory, more than three seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.
One win was not enough for Cernansky, who returned to the pool in the following 200 breast to earn his second win of the day in a time 2:04.42. Junior Ted Harris tallied his third top-three appearance of the weekend in the event after posting a time of 2:08.48, less than one-tenth of a second behind the second-place Hokie.
The Tigers also fared well in the diving well on Sunday. Freshman Dante Jones scored 625.80 points to edge a talented Hokie diver and capture gold in the 1-meter diving competition. Sophomore Greg DeStephen's score of 610.35 rounded out the top-three.
DeStephen then one-upped his 1-meter performance with his runner-up score of 668.05 on the 3-meter board. Jones took third in the event after diving to a score of 633.30.
The Tiger men will take a much-deserved break from competition until Nov. 16 when they head to West Lafayette, Ind., for the three-day Purdue Invitational.