Melnychuk Takes Silver at Big 12's
2/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 27, 2009
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri women's swimming and diving team extended their lead of third place over the rival Kansas Jayhawks, while senior diver Kendra Melnychuk captured the silver medal on the 3-meter springboard at the 2009 Big 12 Championships.
Missouri entered day three with a 36 point lead over Kansas for third, and closed the day up 62. Missouri has 395 total points. Texas A&M leads overall with 582 points, up by only two over the second-place Texas Longhorns. Kansas sits in fourth with 333, while Iowa State has 225. Nebraska rounds out the six teams with 194 points on the week.
On the day, the Tiger women set 20 new top-10 times, along with five new school records, as they continued to rewrite the school record books for the third day in a row.
Melnychuk entered the finals as the number three seed after she posted a score of 307.35. After botching her third dive in the finals, Melnychuk bounced back and nailed her last three dives to give her a total of 323.70, pushing her past Texas' Shelby Cullinan for the silver medal. Missouri freshman Jordan Morcom finished fifth, scoring 295.60 with her six dives.
The women's 200 free relay kicked off the sixth session of the Big 12's in exciting fashion for the Tigers. Missouri's “A” squad of Lisa Nathanson, Lori Halvorson, Allie Bennett and Francie Szostak used a huge late push to overcome the Jayhawks for third place. Szostak used a great push to surge her past Kansas' Emily Lanteigne in the last 25 yards as the Tigers finished at a school record-breaking time of 1:31.29, beating the Jayhawks by .1 seconds.
Missouri's “B” team of Stephanie Rovig, Colleen Gordon, Lauren Cox and Emy DiBenigno posted the third-fastest 200 free relay time at Missouri with their performance, racing in 1:33.24 as they beat out Texas' “B” squad.
The 400 IM saw two new top-two times after the finals session, with senior Jill Granger and freshman Kayla Durnil setting the new marks. Granger's time of 4:13.56 in the finals earned her an NCAA “B” cut and a fourth-place finish on top of breaking the school record. Durnil raced to sixth in just 4:15.41, also good for a “B” cut time, while setting the second-best time ever at MU.
In the 100 fly, a pair of Tiger seniors and a sophomore posted new top-10 times with their performances. Bennett put herself in the record book in the morning with her preliminary time of 55.81, sixth-best ever. Sullivan and Jamerson posted their times in the finals, with Sullivan racing to the third-fastest time in Missouri history as she finished 10th with a time of 55.12. Jamerson placed 14th in the event with the seventh-best 100 fly time ever, touching in 56.06.
Five new top-10 times were set on the day in the 200 free, with Szostak leading the way with the school record. Szostak placed ninth in the finals after posting her record-breaking time of 1:46.19, an NCAA “B” cut. Halvorson finished fourth overall in the event, and her time of 1:46.42 puts her second all-time. At third all-time is Colleen Gordon, who improved on her personal best after finishing in 10th with a time of 1:46.92. Both Halvorson and Gordon also earned “B” cut times. Moving into sixth all-time was Stephanie Rovig, who placed 19th with a time of 1:50.65, and fellow freshman Lisa Nathanson is now eighth overall at 1:51.57.
Durnil and sophomore Morgan McCleery broke the top-two times in the 100 breast early in the day, setting both top marks in the preliminaries. After McCleery set the new school mark in the preliminary round with a time of 1:02.49, Durnil bumped her in the very next heat, racing in 1:02.06 to take over as school record holder. Durnil did not compete in the finals, but McCleery came up big for the Tigers with a sixth-place finish. Elsewhere in the finals, senior Erin Yeager moved into sixth all-time after placing ninth, racing in 1:03.59. Freshman Emy DiBenigno snuck in with the 10th-best time ever at Missouri at 1:04.29.
Tiger sophomore Lauren Lavigna set the new school record in the 100 backstroke in the morning preliminaries. Her preliminary time of 54.74 beat out the previous record and put her into the finals, where she would go on to finish sixth. Senior Lauren Cox swam the preliminary heat in 56.04, the sixth-fastest ever, while Bennett found herself in the record books for the third time on the day, finishing her preliminary swim in 56.83 for 10th all-time. Cox would finish 11th, while Bennett did not swim in the finals. Fellow senior Kirsten David jumped into the record books as she raced to the eighth-best time ever at Mizzou, touching in 56.52.
The 2009 Big 12 Championships will conclude on Saturday. Stay tuned to mutigers.com for more information.
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 28
1. Texas A&M University 582
2. The University of Texas 580
3. University of Missouri 395
4. University of Kansas 333
5. Iowa State University 225
6. University of Nebraska-Lincoln 194
SATURDAY SCHEDULE
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10:00 a.m. CT: 200 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle, 200 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly, 400 Freestyle Relay preliminaries
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12:30 p.m. CT: Women's Platform Diving preliminaries
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3:00 p.m. CT: Men's Platform Diving preliminaries
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5:00 p.m. CT: Women's Platform Diving finals
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6:00 p.m. CT: 200 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle, 1650 Freestyle, 200 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly, Men's Platform Diving, 400 Freestyle Relay finals
