June 6, 2008
The Missouri swimming team wrapped up their first day at the 2008 USA Swimming Mutual of Omaha Swimvitational, with senior Lori Halvorson (Tulsa, Okla.) qualifying from the Olympic Team Trials early in the day, while both the men's and women's 4 x 100m freestyle relay teams posted impressive runs to cap off the evening.
Halverson, one of the first Tigers to swim in the Friday morning session, got the team off on the right foot with her performance in the 100-meter freestyle. Having already qualified Olympic Team Trials in the 200-meter freestyle event, Halverson added another qualifying time to her record, finishing the event with a time of 56.80, beating out the qualifying time of 57.19. Her time was good enough for a 13th place finish out of 116 competitors.
Both the men's and the women's 4 x 100m relay teams posted top-eight finishes in the last two events of the evening. The women's team, consisting of Colleen Gordon (Missouri City, Texas), Halvorson, Melissa Jamerson (Jacksonville, Fla.), and Jill Granger (Midland, Texas), finished in seventh place with a time of 3:57.51. The men's team of Gilad Kaufman (Netania, Israel), Jake Hoffmann (Sugar Land, Texas), Spenser Lauver (Omaha, Neb,), and Cameron Sellers (Valley Center, Kan.), posted a time of 3:33.02, which put them in eight place
"Getting in the top-eight is what it's all about, and to get both of our relay teams to do that is very encouraging for us," Coach Brian Hoffer said.
Both Granger and Gordon competed earlier in the night in the 400-meter freestyle, with both finishing in the top 35. Granger finished in 26th place with her time of 4.24.04. Gordon finished in 32nd place, posting a time of 4:24.86.
Gordon also competed in the 100-meter fly, finishing with a time of 1:05.44. Jamerson joined Gordon in the event, posting a time of 1:04.48. Sophomore Morgan McCleery (Celina, Texas) competed in the 200-meter breaststroke, completing the run in 2:46.91.
On the men's side, Kaufman competed in the 100-meter butterfly and finished in 22nd place out of 78 swimmers with a time of 56.09. Sophomore David Dorak (Two Rivers, Wis.) also swam in the event, posting a time of 57.40, good for 48th place.
Lauver, swimming in his hometown, raced in one of his four scheduled events for the weekend, swimming in the 400-meter freestyle with teammate Cameron Sellers. Lauver posted a 34th place finish with a time of 4:09.16. Sellers' time of 4:14.51 put him in 44th.
The Tigers will be back in action tomorrow morning for day two of the event.