Nov. 14, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 20 Missouri women will enter the second day of action in a heated battle with the No. 23 Cardinals, as Louisville leads the meet 86-81.
"The women are doing very well," said Missouri Head Coach Brian Hoffer. "We were beaten out on a couple of touches here and there, and there a couple of things we need to do better tomorrow, but it was a solid start for us being on the road. If we can come back tomorrow and improve on a few things, we have a great chance to win."
Like the men, the women opened up the meet with a runner-up finish in the 200 free relay. Freshman Lisa Nathanson, senior Lori Halvorson, senior Lauren Cox and sophomore Francie Szostak teamed up to finish the swim in 1:35.08, Mizzou's fastest time on the season in the event.
Junior Colleen Gordon followed the relay by finishing in second-place in the 200 IM with a time of 2:05.57. Gordon narrowly missed first-place, as Louisville's swimmer finished in 2:05.15.
The Tiger women got their first victory of the afternoon with a 1-2 finish in the 500 free. Szostak took gold with a time of 4:54.50, beating out senior teammate Jill Granger, who took second after touching at 4:55.14.
"Francie and Jill were great for us in the 500 free," said Hoffer. "The two of them took control from the beginning and posted some very good early season times."
In the 100 breast, sophomore Morgan McCleery improved on her career-best for the second time in as many meets. Her time of 1:04.47 put her in second, and improved her eighth-fastest time in school history. The time beat out her old career-best of 1:04.55, which she achieved earlier this month against Kansas.
Sophomore Lauren Lavigna scored a win in the 200 back, getting a great touch to finish in 2:01.84. Senior Lauren Cox came in third with a time of 2:04.33, while freshman Amber Molina's time of 2:05.44 put her in fifth.
Halvorson was just barely edged out in the 100 free, as she touched in second-place with a time of 51.17. Her Louisville opponent beat her out by only .07 for first.
Sophomore Melissa Jamerson landed her first victory on the season, beating the rest of the competition by over one second in the 200 fly with a time of 2:04.14.
Missouri got a 2-3 finish in the 400 medley relay to close out the first session. The "A" team of Lavigna, McCleery, Gordon and Halvorson took the runner-up spot with a time of 3:49.90. Mizzou's "B" squad of freshman Amber Molina, freshman Emy DiBenigno, junior Molly Bollen and Nathanson finished in 3:53.21 and took third.
Mizzou's 1-2 diving punch of freshman-phenom Jordan Morcom and senior All-American Kendra Melnychuk posted another 1-2 finish in the well. Morcom posted a score of 282.15 in the 3-meter to edge out Melnychuk's 279.22.
Missouri's No. 21 men's swimming and diving team will enter the second day of the meet trailing the No. 18 Cardinals 92-75.
"There were a couple of things that we didn't expect to happen today, both good and bad," Hoffer said. "The men have an uphill climb tomorrow, but if we can get a couple of events going our way, we've definitely got a shot."
Mizzou's 200 free relay squad of sophomore Jordan Hawley, freshman Scott Martin, redshirt sophomore Cameron Sellers and senior Ted Harris opened the day by posting Missouri's fastest time of the season in the event, finishing at 1:24.22 for second place.
Cernansky would score the first victory of the meet for the men in the 100 breast. In a race that came down to the wire, Cernansky touched at 56.56, edging out his Louisville opponent by just .02. Harris took third, finishing at 56.68, while freshman Michael Lopresti came in fourth with a time of 59.81.
Freshman Jan Konarzewski scored the second-straight gold for the Tigers in impressive fashion. The Warszawa, Poland native posted the fourth-fastest 200 backstroke time in MU history, clocking in at 1:48.15. Konarzewski dominated the rest of the field, beating out the second-place finisher by more than 1.5 seconds. Hoffmann took third at 1:50.71, while freshman John Higgins scored points for the Tigers with his 1:52.56 finish.
"The 200 back was a great event for us," said Hoffer. "Jan unleashed, we were very happy with his swim. Jake [Hoffmann] by far posted his best 200 back time on the season, and Higgins scored a new personal best with his time."
The Tigers ended the day in the pool with an impressive second-place finish in the 400 medley relay. The foursome of Konarzewski, Cernansky, Kaufman and Hawley closed the relay with a time of 3:21.54.
Missouri continued their diving dominance, getting another 1-2 finish out of junior Greg DeStephen and sophomore Dante Jones in the 3-meter. DeStephen dominated the field, posting a score of 342.67, beating out his old career-best of 341.35 while improving on the second-highest score all-time at Missouri. Jones finished with 290.93 for the silver.
Missouri will be back in action tomorrow as the Tigers look to come-from-behind. The second session is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. CT.