Feb. 24, 2011
Austin, Tex.-- Twenty eight Tigers qualified for finals tonight after swimming prelims Thursday morning, and all seven divers qualified for A finals as well, as Missouri had an exciting morning at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
Stephanie Rovig placed third in her heat of the 500 free and seventh overall, setting the sixth fastest time in Mizzou history with a 4:49.14 and advancing to finals competition tonight. Cowperthwaite finished seventh in the heat in 5:00.56 and 24th overall, qualifying for tonight's competition, and Ashley Paterson swam the event in 5:02.19.
In the men's 500 free, Spenser Lauver finished ninth in 4:33.37, Jeff Hendricks placed 10th in 4:34.92, Vito Cammisano placed 11th in 4:35.41, and Ethan Rose took 12th in 4:35.73. Eric Blue placed 14th in 4:41.46 and John Hunt finished 15th in 4:43.64. Lauver, Cammisano, Rose, Blue, and Hunt will all compete in tonight's finals.
In the women's 200 IM, Dominique Bouchard finished seventh overall in 2:01.33, and that time stands as the second fastest in Missouri history. Lauren Lavigna placed ninth in 2:01.66, Francie Szostak took 11th in 2:02.07, Emy DiBenigno finished 12th in 2:02.88, Rachel Ripley took 15th in 2:04.73, and Amanda Masters finished 16th in 2:04.91. All six Missouri women will compete in tonight's finals.
Yaniv Shnaider led the way for the Tigers in the men's 200 IM, placing ninth and setting the second fastest time in Missouri history with a 1:49.26. Scott Martin (1:49.90), John Higgins (1:50.95), Colin Livasy (1:51.33), and Jowan Qupty (1:51.94) all qualified for the finals tonight.
In the women's 50 free, Cassie Cunningham's seventh place finish paced the Tigers and earned her a spot in the A finals, as well as the second fastest time in Missouri history. Lisa Nathanson will join her in A finals after her eighth place, 23.14 finish. Sydney Schaefer placed 15th in 23.56.
In the men's 50 free, Jordan Hawley placed sixth in 20.12. Roko Simunic placed tenth in 20.34, Adam Abernathy finished 13th in 20.80, John Krause placed 14th in 20.81 and Mark Conroy finished 15th in 20.84.
In an exciting finish, Anders Melin tied with A&M's Henrik Lindau for the eighth and final spot in the A finals with a 20.30 time. A swimoff was held after all prelims had ended, and in something rarely seen in college swimming, the two tied yet again, finishing in 20.40. To finally determine who would compete in A finals, the two had a coin toss, which Melin eventually won. Hawley and Melin will compete in the A finals tonight, while Abernathy, Krause and Conroy will compete in the B finals.
After preliminary rounds, Loren Figueroa leads the women's 1 meter diving ranks with 321.45 points. Sharon Finn placed third with 309.15, Jordan Morcom finished fourth with 298.95, and Christina Gailey finished sixth with 282.30 points. All four of Missouri's divers will compete in finals tonight.
David Bonuchi leads the way for Missouri in men's 3 meter diving, finishing prelims in third with 391.55 points. Dante Jones placed fourth with 388.80, and Dallas Becerra finished fifth with 366.53 points. The three will compete in finals this evening.
Come back to mutigers.com tonight for finals results, and follow the action on Big12Sports.com.
###MIZZOU SWIMMING AND DIVING###