Feb. 25, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - With a strong performance by the 200 free relay team, the Missouri men's swimming and diving team completed day two of the 2010 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships and sit in third place overall.
The Tigers finished Thursday with 230 total points, with Texas leading the event earning 352 points, followed by Texas A&M with 291 points.
The Tigers got a jolt early in the 200 free relay when junior Jordan Hawley had a split of 19.97 seconds, aiding in the Tigers' 1 minute, 20.45 second finish in the race. It's the second fastest time in school history, and Hawley came within .25 seconds of breaking his own school record in the 50 free.
Hawley had a strong prelim swim in the 50 free, finishing in 20.13 seconds making the finals while also knocking .05 seconds off the team season best in the process. Hawley ended the day with a fifth place finish, reaching the end in 20.01 seconds. Adam Abernathy and Joe Hladik also scored in the event, in 21.12 and 21.23 seconds, respectively.
Jeff Hendricks assaulted the 500 free season best this year by close to three seconds in the preliminaries, making the championship final clocking in at 4:26.78 in lane six, while Spencer Lauver finished in 4:27.64. Hendricks also vaulted himself to third all-time in the event in school history and set a new personal best.
Lauver went on to out-duel Hendricks in the finals, with Lauver coming in fifth place by finishing in 4:27.93, while Hendricks placed sixth in 4:31.18. Mizzou also got points from Vito Cammisano, Cameron Sellers and Ethan Rose who finished tenth, 11th and 12th in the consolation event.
Yaniv Shnaider made it to the consolation race after shedding .18 seconds off of his season best time in the 200 IM, finishing in 1:49.53 and improving upon his fourth place standing in the school record books in the event.
The sophomore then went on to better that time in the finals by winning the consolation race in 1:48.75, just .08 seconds for moving up to third place in school history. Michael Lopresti also netted points for Mizzou finishing seventh in the event, clocking in at 1:56.39.
The Tigers will begin day three of competition tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. with the running of the 400 individual medley.