Feb. 5, 2009
COLUMBIA, Mo. - On Saturday, the Missouri women's swimming and diving team will compete in dual action for the final time during the 2008-09 campaign as they head to Lincoln, Neb., to take on the rival Cornhuskers. The meet is scheduled to take place at the Devaney Natatorium and will start at 1 p.m. CT as the Tigers look to even their record at .500 for the season.
Scouting the Huskers
Nebraska enters the meet with a 3-3 dual record on the year, which includes two consecutive victories, both of which came last weekend. The Cornhuskers started the year with a 171-129 loss at Illinois, and were handed their second-straight loss when they fell to Iowa by a total of 192-107. Their first victory of the year came against South Dakota State in the last dual of 2008, winning 176-119. After falling to Kansas 161-139, they beat up on Nebraska-Omaha and Iowa State last weekend, winning 219-78 and 156-144, respectively.
The Huskers have also competed in the Husker Invitational and the Texas Invitational this season. They took fifth out of eight teams in the Husker Invite, and came in eighth out of 15 at the Texas Invitational.
Last Time Out
Last weekend, the Tigers earned their third-consecutive dual win and fourth win overall as they beat Iowa by a 188-111 final. The Tigers won 12 of 16 events.
Senior diver Kendra Melnychuk shined for the Tigers, as she once again swept both springboard events. Her performance of 287.85 on the 1-meter secured her the gold, while her 320.70 score on the 3-meter dominated the competition. Tiger freshman Jordan Morcom took the runner-up spot in both events, finishing at 275.25 in the 1-meter and 304.28 in the 3-meter.
Leading the way for Missouri in the pool were sophomores Francie Szostak and Lauren Lavigna, who each recorded two wins on the day. Szostak swam to first in the 200 free with a time of 1:50.96, and later won the 500 free. Her time of 4:57.00 won the event in dominating fashion.
Lavigna swept both of the meet's
backstroke events for her fifth and sixth wins of the season, and her
first since the Louisville dual back in November. She won the 100
back in a tight race, touching at 56.44, just .06 ahead of the
runner-up. Later, Lavigna completely dominated the 200 back, winning
the event by almost four seconds.
Coming Up Next
Though the Tiger dual season will come to a close Saturday, the Mizzou squads still have plenty of action left. Next weekend, starting Friday, February 13, the Tigers will be competing in the Missouri Grand Prix. Later in the month, the Tigers host the Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships from February 25-28.