University of Missouri
Arkansas / Kentucky
Tigers Fall Victim to Tough SEC Squads
1/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Jan. 12, 2009
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri men's and women's swimming and diving teams battled two tough SEC teams on Saturday in the team's first meet of 2009. The No. 23 Mizzou women competed in a tri-meet, losing 159-141 to No. 22 Arkansas and 154-144 to Kentucky. The No. 22 Tiger men dueled with the No. 24 Kentucky Wildcats, getting slightly edged out by a 152-148 score.
Senior captain Lori Halvorson scored the lone women's swimming victory on the day, winning the 200 free in a time of 1:49.98. Halvorson would later finish second in the 100 free, touching in 51.47, just .05 out of first.
Freshman diver Jordan Morcom took gold on the 3-meter with a score of 313.65. Her total just barely edged out senior All-American Kendra Melnychuk, who tallied a 312.45 score for second-place. Earlier in the day, Morcom and Melnychuk finished 2-3 in the 1-meter.
Sophomore Lauren Lavigna earned runner-up finishes in the 100 and 200 back, finishing the races in 57.28 and 2:02.80, respectively. She was also a member of the second place 200 free relay team, along with freshmen Stephanie Rovig and Emy DiBenigno and junior Molly Bollen. The team touched in 1:35.25.
Freshman Lisa Nathanson also touched in at second, finishing the 50 free at 23.80, just .08 out of first.
The Tiger men scored nine individual victories on the day, but it wasn't enough to overcome a tough Kentucky squad.
Sophomore Spenser Lauver got things started off right for Missouri by winning the 1000 free in a time of 9:33.30. In the following event, redshirt sophomore Cameron Sellers struck gold with a time of 1:39.96 in the 200 free. Sellers would later dominate the 500 free winning the event by more than :03 over the second place finisher with a time of 4:35.14.
Junior Martin Cernansky added two more wins to total, touching first in both the 100 and 200 breast. Cernansky finished the 100 in a time of 57.18, while he swam the 200 in 2:04.86, edging out senior teammate Ted Harris by over :01.
Senior Gilad Kaufman followed Cernansky's 100 breast victory with a close win in the 200 fly. Kaufman, who holds the second-fastest 200 fly time ever at MU, finished the race in 1:51.81, just .08 ahead of the runner-up.
In the 200 back, freshman Jan Konarzewski added another first place finish to his young career, swimming in 1:47.70. Earlier in the day, Konarzewski took second in the 100 back with a time of 50.76
In the 1-meter, junior Greg DeStephen and sophomore Dante Jones finished 1-2, with DeStephen scoring 314.18. Jones had a total of 299.93 in the event. In the 3-meter dive, Jones took gold with a score of 338.70, while DeStephen came in third at 303.90.
The Tigers return to action this Saturday, January 17, when the teams will travel to Bloomington, Ind., to battle two Big Ten schools, the Indiana Hoosiers and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Players Mentioned
