Feb. 29, 2008
AUSTIN, Texas - Heading into the third day of the Big 12 Championships one point behind Texas A&M, the Mizzou men's swimming and diving team (13-1, 3-1 Big 12) quickly jumped back ahead of the rival Aggies on the strength of Tiger finalists, both in the pool and over in the diving well. Mizzou currently leads A&M by a 526-507 margin as the teams enter Saturday's final day of action. Texas, ranked second nationally, owns the overall lead with 768 points.
"I thought the men came out strong in both sessions today and remained very solid across the board," Tiger Head Coach Brian Hoffer said. "I'm very proud of Cameron and Gilad for their record-setting swims today. The divers also did a great job of helping us pull into second. We're going to try to try our best to hold off the Aggies tomorrow."
The day began with the preliminaries of the 400 IM. Senior Brandon Lee raced a 3:59.98 to finish sixth overall, with sophomore Dylan Lynn rounding out the top eight in a time of 4:04.78 to advance to the evening's championship final. Sophomore Bobby Sundvold's time of 4:10.53 netted him a spot in the consolation final.
It was a repeat of fortunes in the 100 fly, as two Tiger would claim the sixth and eighth spots in the `A' final. Junior Gilad Kaufman finished sixth overall in a near school-record time of 48.56. Kaufman now stands fourth on the all-time list and just .04 off the school mark. Classmate Bryan Difford touhed in 50.75 to take eighth. Making the consolation cut were freshman Jordan Hawley (51.02) and seniors Lex Howard (50.80) and Travis Floyd (51.24).
Yet another pair of Tigers made it to the `A' final in the 200 free, but this time one did so in record fashion. Redshirt freshman Cameron Sellers continued what has been a breakout campaign by clocking a new school record in a time of 1:38.18, the fifth-fastest overall. Junior Matt Dahlke secured a 1:39.09 to round out the top eight. Classmate Brad Hubbard touched the wall in 1:40.98 to make consols.
All four Tigers competing in the 100 breast punched their tickets to the championship finals. Junior Ted Harris' time of 57.03 was the morning's fourth-fastest overall time and the ninth quickest in school history. Also earning a bid to the evening session were sophomore Martin Cernansky (57.53), Lee (57.68) and Difford (57.78).
The morning's swim session closed with the 100 back. Floyd posted a lifetime best of 49.97 to earn a place in the `A' finals and sixth in the program record books. A trio of Tigers would qualify for consols, including Howard (57.21), classmate Joe Wilson (51.23) and junior Jake Hoffmann (51.23).
With swimming on hold until the evening, Mizzou's four-man diving squad started running the show. After posting a runner-up score on the 1-meter board, Wednesday, sophomore Greg DeStephen tallied a third-place total of 361.05 in 3-meter diving prelims to advance to finals. His three fellow Tigers would come along for the ride, including freshman Dante Jones (313.80), senior David Boyko (305.40) and sophomore Ryan Meeker (294.95).
The 200 free relay squad of Hawley, Kaufman, Lynn and Sellers opened things up for the Tigers in the evening session. The quartet combined for a time of 1:22.38 to finish third. Their time is tied for eighth best in school history.
Lee and Lynn were up next in the finals of the 400 IM. Lee clocked a 4:01.44 to secure seventh, with Lynn just behind in eighth (4:01.95). Sophomore Bobby Sundvold took runner-up honors in consols in a time of 4:08.48.
The Tigers found themselves down by just three points heading into the 100 fly. A pair of juniors would quickly take care of this. Kaufman soared to a sixth-place finish in a new school record time of 48.49, with Difford rounding out the top eight in a time of 50.14.
Up 24 points on the Aggies now, it was up to Sellers and Dahlke to continue the charge into the 200 free. After setting the school record earlier in the day, Sellers returned to the pool to capture a seventh-place finish in a time of 1:40.24. Dahlke was just behind, reaching the wall at 1:40.47. Hubbard finished fourth in the consolation final in a time of 1:41.30.
The men had increased their lead to 45 at the opening of the 100 breast. Cernansky broke out from the Tiger pack, clocking a 55.99 to claim the fourth spot. Just behind him in fifth was Harris, who posted a 56.85 to improve upon his lifetime best set in morning prelims. Difford and Lee rounded out the top eight with times of 57.07 and 57.98, respectively.
The lead had slipped to 35 before action in the 100 back got underway. Floyd beat out a trio of Aggie backstrokers to take fifth in a time of 50.20. Classmate Wilson posted a 51.04 to lead a Tiger 1-2-3 finish in consols. Hoffmann (51.63) and Howard (58.18) claimed the second and third spots, respectively.
The evening was brought to a close with 3-meter diving finals. DeStephen was at it again, tallying a score of 350.40 to earn his second bronze of the meet. Teammate Jones established a personal best score of 347.55 to follow in fourth. Meeker (330.45) and Boyko (300.65) dove to sixth and seventh, respectively.
Mizzou heads into Saturday's fourth and final day of action with a 19-point lead over Texas A&M. Preliminary swimming action is set to begin at 10 a.m. Men's platform prelims are scheduled for 11:30 a.m., with the women taking to the tower three hours later. The men head back up the platform for finals at 5 p.m., an hour prior to the beginning of the evening's swimming and women's tower finals. Complete live results will be available on mutigers.com.
SATURDAY'S ORDER OF EVENTS
PRELIMINARIES
10 A.M.
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
*15-minute break
400 Free Relay
11:30 A.M.
Men's Platform Diving
2:30 P.M.
Women's Platform Diving
FINALS
5 P.M.
Men's Platform Diving
6 P.M.
200 Back
100 Free
1650 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
Women's Platform Diving
400 Free Relay