June 9, 2008
The Missouri men's and women's swim teams completed the final two days of the 2008 USA Swimming Mutual of Omaha Swimvitational this past weekend, concluding the four days of competition. The event, which featured Olympians such as Katie Hoff and Michael Phelps, was the final tune up before the 2008 Olympic Team Trials, which will be held later this month.
Seniors Jill Granger (Midland, Texas) and Lori Halvorson (Tulsa, Okla.) and junior Colleen Gordon (Missouri City, Texas) got the Tigers off on the right foot Saturday morning in the 200-meter freestyle, with each finishing in the top-60 of the 126-woman field. Halvorson, who qualified for the Olympic Team Trials in the 100-meter freestyle on Friday, beat out her teammates with a time of 2:04.26, good for a 20th-place finish. Gordon's time of 2:06.06 put her in 48th-place, just edging out Granger, who swam a time of 2:06.39 and finished 56th. Granger also took 35th in the 400-meter IM earlier in the day, finishing in 5:05.33.
In the 100-meter breaststroke, sophomore Morgan McCleery (Celina, Texas) finished with a time of 7.58, putting her in 47th, while senior Kayla Bowcutt's (Clive, Iowa) time of 9.78 put her in 54th-place.
On the men's side, senior Gilad Kaufman (Netania, Israel) and sophomores Spenser Lauver (Omaha, Neb.) and Cameron Sellers (Valley Center, Kan.) all had strong runs in the 200 free, which featured 103 competitors. Sellers posted the best time of the trio, finishing the event in 55th-place after clocking a time of 1:56.31. Lauver swam the race in 1:57.06, which narrowly beat out Kaufman's 1:57.17 run. Lauver's time put him in 65th-place, while Kaufman's finish was good for 68th.
Seniors Byron Carlisle (Frisco, Texas) and Jake Hoffmann (Sugar Land, Texas) finished up the morning for the Tigers in the 100-meter backstroke. Carlisle finished in 50th, swimming in 1:00.98, while Hoffmann's time of 1:01.29 put him in 53rd.
The story of the day for the Tigers came in the form of the relay teams. After both the men's and women's team posted top-eight finishes the day before, the two squads did even better in Saturday's evening session.
The men's relay team, consisting of Lauver, Hoffmann, Kaufman, and Sellers, posted a time of 7:47.29, putting the squad in sixth-place out of 12 teams. The women's team, featuring Granger, Gordon, Halvorson, and sophomore Melissa Jamerson (Jacksonville, Fla.), finished the race in 8:27.70, good enough for a fourth-place finish in the 12-team event.
The Tigers finished up the morning session on Sunday with some impressive runs, concluding a long three days of competition for the squad.
In the 200-meter fly, Granger finished 18th out of 47 competitors after posting a time of 2:19.53. Jamerson's time of 2:20.34 put her in 27th-place in the event.
On the men's side of the 200 fly, Lauver came in 23rd with a time of 2:08.62. Sophomore David Dorak (Two Rivers, Wis.), competing for the first time since Friday, posted a time of 2:19.61, putting him in 32nd-place. Lauver would also swim later in the day in the 1500-meter freestyle event. He finished at 16:29.80 and in 16th-place.
In the 50-meter freestyle, Kaufman finished 60th out of 107 competitors after completing his run in 24.29.
Later, in the 200-meter backstroke, Hoffmann would go on to finish his final event of the weekend in 2:09.83. Although he just missed qualifying for the finals, Hoffman's time put him in 19th-place out of 41 competitors.
In the 200-meter IM, Gordon finished in 38th-place with a time of 2:24.08. Halvorson joined Gordon in the event, finishing her run in 2:28.76, which put her in 62nd. Gordon would conclude her weekend in the 800-meter freestyle, swimming in 21st-place after her time of 9:05.02.
Halvorson will be the lone Tiger representative at the 2008 Olympic Team Trials - Swimming event, which will also be held at the Qwest Arena in Omaha, Neb. The Team Trials are scheduled for June 29-July 6.