University of Missouri
Purdue Invite
Tigers Claim Boilermaker Invite Title in Style
11/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Nov. 18, 2007
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - - After a dominant display in West Lafayette, Ind., on Saturday the No. 18 University of Missouri women's swimming and diving team (7-1, 1-1 Big 12) cruised to the Boilermaker Invitational title in Sunday's final day of action. The Tigers amassed 821.5 total points in their tear, putting them more than 185 points ahead of second-place Purdue.
"The women had an explosive day," said Missouri Head Coach Brian Hoffer. "They raced well this morning and many put themselves in a position to race in finals. The team continues to impress me every week. They get better and better and will surely build on their dominating performance this weekend for the future."
Junior Kendra Melnychuk continued her fantastic 2007-08 campaign with yet another win, Sunday. After winning the 3-meter diving competition earlier this weekend, the Canadian collected her second victory of the weekend on the platform. Melnychuk tallied a score of 263.40 in beating a talented crop of Stanford, Purdue and Florida divers.
Another Tiger going the distance was sophomore Colleen Gordon in the 1650 free. The Missouri City, Texas, native clocked her fastest time of the season (16:45.60) to earn the win. Junior Jill Granger swam to a fourth-place finish in a time of 17:03.43 with classmate Carly Sullivan rounding out the top-five in a time of 17:11.64.
Freshman Lauren Lavigna also clocked a top-five finish on Sunday. The Tiger newcomer touched in a time of 2:02.09 in the 200 back to earn fourth-place honors. Lavigna's mark is the fourth best in Mizzou history. Senior co-captain Sarah Menefee captured the sixth spot in a time of 2:05.44.
In the following 100 free Phoenix, Ariz., native Lauren Cox brought the heat. The Tiger junior raced to the win in a time of 51.22, putting her fourth all-time in program history. After entering the top-10 in the morning's prelims, senior Taye Patterson now stands tied for fifth-all time at Mizzou with her time of 51.36 in the 100 back.
Classmate Erin Yeager fed off of Cox's heat wave in the 200 breast. The race went down to the wire with Yeager coming out on top in an NCAA "B" cut time of 2:16.41. The junior now stands second all-time in the Tiger record books and less than three-tenths of a second off of the school record. Senior Jill Bastien took seventh in a time of 2:24.60 with junior Kayla Bowcutt rounding out the top-eight (2:26.11).
After her fourth-place finish in the 1650 free, Granger returned to the pool in the 200 fly for a third-place finish (2:04.09). Senior co-captain Arica Jacinto took seventh in a time of 2:07.11. Freshman Melissa Jamerson won the consolation final in a time of 2:04.12. The Jacksonville, Fla., native's mark puts her sixth on the school's all-time top-10 list.
The women ended the weekend on a high note. Cox, Patterson, Gordon and junior co-captain Lori Halvorson combined for a runner-up finish in the 400 free relay in a time of 3:24.90. The quartet's time is good enough for fifth-place in the Tiger record books.
The Tigers will take the rest of the academic semester off from competitive action and return to the pool on Jan. 12 when they take on Arkansas and Missouri State at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
