March 5, 2009
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The NCAA announced Wednesday evening their list of entries for the 2009 Women's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, marking an historical event for the Missouri Tigers program. Six members of the Mizzou women's team were named as entrants to the event, which will be held at College Station, Texas.
Mizzou will also send the women's 800 free relay team, the first time the Tigers have qualified a relay squad under the new NCAA format. This also marks the highest number of qualifiers Missouri has had under the new format.
“Our goal was to get a team there, so this is a big deal for us” Tiger head coach Brian Hoffer said. “I'm so proud of our women for their hard work, but we're not done yet. We want to go and score some points.”
Heading down to College Station will be seniors Jill Granger and Lori Halvorson, junior Colleen Gordon, sophomores Lauren Lavigna and Francie Szostak and freshman Kayla Durnil. Freshman Lisa Nathanson will also travel with the team as an alternate, though it is unsure if she will actually compete.
Granger, Gordon, Szostak and Lavigna all qualified for the 500 free following their performances at the 2009 Big 12 Championships. All four women posted NCAA “B” cut times, and Granger, Gordon and Szostak finished 5-6-7 in the finals, respectively. Lavigna finished 12th, while Granger's time set a new school record.
Gordon will also compete in the 1650 free and 200 free, with the latter being alongside Szostak and Halvorson. Halvorson will swim in the 100 free as well. Granger will swim in the 400 IM, as will Durnil, who is also scheduled to swim in the 100 and 200 breast, the event in which she won the Big 12 Championship last weekend. Lavigna will race in the 100 and 200 back.
The Tigers are also scheduled to enter relay teams into the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
Missouri could add another entrant or two next weekend, as the divers will have their chance to qualify for the NCAA's at the NCAA Zone Diving qualifiers. Mizzou will be hosting the “D” Zone, beginning next Friday, March 15, and running through Sunday, March 17.
The 2009 Women's NCAA Championships are set to begin Thursday, March 19, and will conclude on Saturday, March 21.