Women's Swimming Year In Review

4/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

April 14, 2010

COLUMBIA, Mo. -

After losing a number of athletes to graduation, the 2009-10 version of the Missouri Tiger women's swimming and diving team continued producing record times and top ten finishes throughout the season, capped off by five athletes making the national championship meet at Purdue University and a season-ending national team ranking.

The season began with a four-meet home stand in October, beginning with the Show-Me Showdown against seven schools from the state of Missouri. Finishing first in each incarnation of the event, the Tigers continued that winning trend, finishing first with 382 points, winning all 16 events on the day.

The next week, the competition leaped up a notch when the Tigers welcomed top-five ranked Texas to the Mizzou Aquatics Center for the first time since 2005, falling 150-93 after a fierce day of competition. Mizzou won four events on the day, led by Lisa Nathanson's first place finishes in the 50 and 100 free.

The dual with Texas began a three-day competition swing for the team, as they hosted the Big 12 Relays the next day. All six teams competed in the event, with the Tigers finishing third with 75 points behind Texas A&M and Texas who finished first and second. Consisting of only relay events, the group of Nathanson, Cassie Cunningham, Kim Jasmer and Francie Szostak earned gold in 100 free event. The Tigers never finished lower than third in any event that day.

Finishing off the blitzkrieg of events in one weekend, the Tigers took on the Aggies in a head-to-head dual that Sunday, falling 171-129. Competing against the third best team in the country, the Tigers finished with seven first place finishes, two coming from Nathanson and Jasmer. Nathanson won the 50 free, as Jasmer won the 200 free. Both were also a part of the winning 200 free relay team as well. Dominique Bouchard won the 200 back, Colleen Gordon won the 100 fly and Jordan Morcom won her third event of the year.

Mizzou got a welcomed two week break before competing again, facing Kansas in an M&I Bank Border Showdown event. The Tigers fought off the Jayhawks for the 176-119 victory in Lawrence, winning 12 of the 16 events in the dual, as Jasmer, Gordon and Nathanson accounted for six of the 12 wins.

The Tigers earned another two-week break before taking on Southern Illinois-Carbondale in Columbia. Mizzou dismantled the Salukis 153-80, earning nine first place finishes in the meet. Lauren Lavigna and Morcom each had two victories each, as Lavigna won the 200 IM and 500 free, while Morcom won the 1 and 3-meter diving competitions. Not only did the Tigers win nine events, but also took the top three spots in 400 medley relay and top four spots in the 200 IM.

After nearly a month off, the Tigers got their first true taste of a championship atmosphere when they hosted the Mizzou Invite over three days in early December. The Tigers took the lead on the first day over the eight team field with 364 points after first place finishes by the 200 free relay team, Jasmer in the 500 free and Christina Gailey in the 3-meter dive. That lead ballooned by close to 400 points on day two, as the Tigers took the 200 medley relay, 800 free relay, 100 back and 200 free titles on day two of the event. Mizzou eventually held off Pac-10 power Arizona State for the Mizzou Invite title, earning 1109 total points over the weekend. The meet concluded with four more first place finishes by the Tigers in the 400 free relay, 200 back 200 fly and platform diving competition.

With nearly half of the season complete by that point, the Tigers earned a spot on the CSCAA/CollegeSwimming.com Division I poll, entering as the 25th ranked team in the country heading into the mid-season break.

The team returned to action in January, facing off with 18th ranked Arkansas in the last non-conference dual of the season. The Razorbacks were the third ranked team the Tigers faced during the season. But that higher ranking proved to be fools gold as the Tigers manhandled the Razorbacks 177-118 at the MAC. The squad won 12 events on the day, led by Gordon who won the 1000 free, 100 and 200 fly events, beating former Olympian Yi-Ting Sow. Jasmer won two races in the 200 and 500 free, while Nathanson won the 50 and 100 free.

Moving up four spots to No. 21 in the country, the Tigers traveled north to Ames for a tilt with Iowa State, traveling for the first time since facing off with Kansas. Although there was fear of a letdown against the Cyclones, Missouri came out just as strong against the north division rival and won the dual 190-105. Gordon, Bouchard, Rachel Ripley and Nathanson all earned two victories in the win against Iowa State, with Morcom taking the 1-meter dive title in a heated competition with Tien Tran. Gordon also set an Iowa State pool record in the 200 free win, becoming the first swimmer to ever swim below 1 minute, 50 seconds in the Cyclones' pool.

Gordon then earned her first Big 12 Women's Swimmer of the Week award after her five wins against Arkansas and Iowa State, where she set personal records in nearly every event over the two-week span.

Missouri would face another tough test in the Shamrock Invite, where the Tigers would do battle against Notre Dame, Denver and Iowa in a championship style dual meet format. The Tigers hit day one running, taking early leads over Denver and Iowa, only trailing Notre Dame by 30 points. Gordon was the only Mizzou swimmer to win that day, setting a new season and personal best in the 500 free. The team really shined in the second and third sessions of the invitational, with Gordon out front winning three more events leading the squad to a straight sweep of all three teams in the meet. Gordon's four more titles in the Shamrock Invite gave her a nine race undefeated winning streak dating back to the meets against Arkansas and Iowa State.

The Tigers wrapped up their home schedule against Nebraska, looking to send seniors Jasmer, Gordon and Molly Bollen out on a winning note. The meet was almost a no-contest with the Tigers defeating the Huskers 203-90, the most points scored this year by Missouri. The group won all 16 events, and had its most diverse number of winners all season, as only Jasmer and Morcom were the only two Tigers to win two events on the day.

A few of the Tigers stepped away from collegiate action during the weekend of the Missouri Grand Prix to take on some of the world's best swimmers. Lavigna and Bouchard teamed up to earn gold and silver medals at the event, while Jasmer took home a second place finish in the 100 free and Nathanson earned bronze in the 50 free event.

Jasmer's work over that span of time earned her the last Big 12 Women's Swimmer of the Week award for the year, after having strong performances scattered over the last three weeks of the season. She won seven races over the course of three meets, including the silver medal and top five performances in the Missouri Grand Prix, wins in the Shamrock Invite and setting a personal record and top ten school time swimming in the 200 IM for the first time in her career against Nebraska.

All the hard work of the season led to the crown jewel of the Big 12 season, the conference championships in College Station. The Tigers began the meet setting a new school record in the 200 medley relay, and second best school time in the 800 free relay. On the second day of competition, the Tigers demolished the school record in the 200 free relay, with Gordon having the highest finish of all Tigers coming in fourth in the 500 free and Morcom finishing fifth in the 1-meter dive competition.

Mizzou earned it's first two individual medals of the meet on the third day as Morcom earned bronze in the 3-meter dive and Jasmer won bronze in the 200 free, as her third place finish vaulted her to third all-time in school history. Gordon and Bollen each broke the school record in the 50 fly, leading to a seventh place finish overall, and second place finish in the consolation race. Although the seniors ruled the last day, it was a sophomore that earned the highest medal of all Missouri athletes on the final day of competition. Gordon once again destroyed another school record, this time in the 200 fly, while Jasmer vaulted Lori Halverson in the 100 free. But it was Gailey who made one of the largest leaps in the platform competition, diving her way into the finals, and then from the seventh spot to second, claiming silver and setting a new school record in the process.

Missouri finished third in the championships with 484 points behind champion Texas A&M and runner-up Texas, ahead of all the other Big 12 North schools. Overall there were six new school records set, 15 top ten new school times and 25 NCAA "B" cut times set at the conference championships.

With the completion of the regular season, Bouchard, Lavigna and Jasmer all made the cut for the national championships in West Lafayette, combining to make the event in eight races among the three. That number would soon grow to five after the zone diving meet back at Texas A&M. Morcom finished sixth on the 3-meter springboard earning her place in the competition, while Gailey added to her young medal collection with a gold medal in the platform event. Gailey's gold is the second for the women's program, as Kendra Melnychuk is the only other Tiger with a zone gold medal.

All five athletes finished the season strong at the NCAA Championships, with Morcom and Gailey scoring points for the Tigers in the diving well, while Lavigna set a new school and personal record in the 100 and 200 back. Missouri finished the season in 42nd place with five points and as the 21st ranked team in the nation.

With a bevy of talent returning for the 2010-11 season, the Missouri women's swimming and diving program will look to stake its claim as one of the nation's best next year.