March 21, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Missouri senior diver Kendra Melnychuk became just the second three-time All-American in program history following her eighth-place finish in the 3-meter dive at the 2009 Women's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
The Canadian, who notched a program-best 10th-place finish at last year's NCAA's on the platform, became the highest NCAA finisher in Missouri history after coming in eighth with a finals score of 347.85, setting a new school-record in the 3-meter springboard event. Melnychuk has a chance to become just the third four-time All-American in Missouri swimming & diving history on Saturday, as the divers will take to the platform event.
Missouri currently sits in 24th-place with 21 points.
Also scoring on the night was Missouri's 800 freestyle relay team. Seniors Lori Halvorson and Jill Granger, junior Colleen Gordon and sophomore Francie Szostak combined to finish in 12th-place, racing in a time of 7:09.15. The foursome's finish of 7:03.77 registered as the 10th-fastest time in the country this season, and marked the first Tiger relay team to qualify for NCAA's under the new format, which came to fruition in 1992.
Elsewhere on the day, Granger recorded a 34th-place finish in the 400 IM with a time of 4:15.34, while freshman Kayla Durnil swam in 4:20.25.
Halvorson posted an impressive run of 1:46.24, putting her in 24th-place overall in the 200 free, less than .85 of a second out of the top-16. Gordon finished at 1:48.21, while Szostak raced in 1:48.72.
In the 100 breast, Durnil finished just .31 off of her school-record breaking time, touching in 1:02.37, while sophomore Lauren Lavigna finished her 100 backstroke run in 55.06, .32 off of her school-record.
The Tigers will look to climb up the team standings as they close out the final day of NCAA's, beginning Saturday morning with the 200 backstroke. Stay tuned into mutigers.com for complete updates throughout the day.
Saturday Morning's Schedule
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving
400 Freestyle Relay
Saturday Finals Schedule
1650 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving
400 Freestyle Relay
Tigers Competing on Saturday
Lauren Lavigna – 200 Backstroke
Lori Halvorson – 100 Freestyle
Kayla Durnil – 200 Breaststroke
Kendra Melnychuk – Platform Diving