Mizzou Finishes Day One of Mizzou Invite

Dec. 4, 2010

Complete Results |  Women's Gallery 

Columbia, MO - After day one of the Mizzou Invitational, the University of Missouri women's swimming and diving teams stand in first place with 405 points. The Tigers are followed by Boise State (287), Nebraska (205), Drury (171) and Truman State (77).

Mizzou came out strong in the first event of the evening, with the 200 free relay team of Lisa Nathanson, Cassie Cunningham, Sydney Schaefer and Francie Szostak taking first with a time of 1:31.06. Following them in fifth was the team of Sasha Menu Courey, Brigette Selbert, Lauren Mason and Courtney Rhodenbaugh, finishing at 1:36.52.

The Tigers had a one-two finish in the 500 free, with Stephanie Rovig taking top honors in 4:51.68 and Francie Szotak taking second with 4:54.10. Leah Cowperthwaite finished sixth at 5:04.31.

Missouri had three representatives in the 100 fly final. Cassie Cunningham finished third at 54.68, Caitlin Connor was fifth at 55.64 and Lexi Spivak took sixth with a 56.08.

The women showed their all around dominance in the 200 IM with six finals qualifiers. Lauren Lavigna set the school and Invitational records winning the event with a 2:00.46 mark. Following her were teammates Dominique Bouchard, second at 2:01.15, Rachel Ripley, third at 2:01.49, Emy DiBenigno, fourth at 2:03.15, Amanda Masters, sixth at 2:05.81, and Morgan McCleery, eighth at 2:08.88.

Lisa Nathanson claimed the 50 free with a meet record time of 22.69. Also in the finals were teammates Cassie Cunningham, who finished third with a time of 23.23, and Sydney Schaefer, who came in seventh at 23.72.

In the final women's race of the evening, the Tigers finished one-two again in the 400 medley relay. The team of Bouchard, Ripley, Cunninghan and Nathanson took the win with a time of 3:40.03. Right behind them in second-place with a time of 3:43.26 were Lavigna, DiBenigno, Spivak, and Stephanie Rovig.

Day two of the Mizzou Invitational continues at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4. Live results can be found at http://www.mutigers.com/livestats/c-swim/realtime/.