Feb. 13, 2009
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Day one of the Missouri Grand Prix saw the several Tigers do what no Missouri swimmers had done before. In the first day of the third-annual Missouri Grand Prix, seniors Gilad Kaufman and Ted Harris and junior Martin Cernansky found themselves racing in the "A" finals of their respective events, something no Tiger swimmer had ever accomplished in this meet.
Cernansky was the highlight of the evening for the Missouri squad, as his performance in the 100 meter breast earned him a third-place finish and a bronze medal. His time of 1:02.98 was a new personal best as he was just barely edged out by .14 by Matt Lowe of Longhorn Aquatic. Harris, swimming in the same event, took eighth in the race with a time of 1:05.04.
In the 100 meter fly, Kaufman posted the fourth-fastest time at 54.67, beating out his old personal best by four-tenths of a second.
Before Cernansky, Harris and Kaufman, the highest Tiger finish was 14th by Jill Granger in the 400 meter IM, which occurred at last year's Grand Prix.
Senior Carly Sullivan and sophomore David Dorak competed in the "B" finals during the first evening, with each coming in 12th-place in their respective events. Sullivan, racing in the 100 meter fly, touched in at 1:03.42, while Dorak, swimming in the same event, swam in 55.89.
Earlier in the day, sophomore Morgan McCleery set a new personal best in the 100 meter breast preliminaries, swimming in 1:13.24. Her time was the fourth-best preliminary time in the event, but she opted to scratch out of the finals.
Elsewhere in the pool, four-time NCAA Champion Mary DeScenza of Athens Bulldog Swimming took two golds, one in the 200 meter free and another in the 100 meter fly. Three-time gold medalist Ryan Lochte took first in the 400 meter IM, while the 2008 Olympic gold medalist Ous Mellouli won the 200 meter free.
The second day of action will begin Saturday morning with the preliminaries, kicking off at 9 a.m. CT.