Oct. 24, 2014
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Mizzou women's swimming and diving team beat No. 22 Arkansas, 166-134, on Friday to begin the Southeastern Conference season 1-0. The Tigers won 10 of 16 events including both relays en route to the victory.
Senior Danielle Barbiea, redshirt junior Abby Duncan and freshman Hannah Stevens each won two events individually to lead the team. Joined by sophomore Katharine Ross, the quartet set the tone early for Mizzou, claiming first place in the 200 medley relay behind a 1:41.40 to kick off the meet.
Stevens kept the momentum going and swam a 55.33 in the 100 back to win her first career event. Through just two career meets, the freshman owns the ninth fastest time in Mizzou history in the 100 back. Stevens continued her dominance in the 200 back, edging out Arkansas' Anna Mayfield by two tenths of a second with a 1:58.92. That time is also the ninth quickest in school history.
Duncan recorded her first individual event victory as a Tiger after posting a 1:01.85 in the 100 breast. The junior transfer from Auburn barely out-touched Ross (1:01.96) as the two teammates took first and second, respectively. Duncan now has the fourth-fastest time at Mizzou and Ross still owns the school record after a 59.56 performance last spring. Later in the meet, Duncan squeaked out a win in the 200 breast with a 2:15.38, touching in front of Razorback senior Nikki Daniels by less than a second.
Barbiea gave the Tigers some breathing room and took first in the 50 free and the 100 fly. The senior clocked a 53.45 to win the 100 fly by more than three seconds. In the 200 IM, Ross also secured a win with a 2:02.59. She now has three event wins through two meets to launch her sophomore campaign.
In the diving well, junior Lauren Reedy ousted the field in the 1-meter dive, scoring 299.63 points. Trailing in second place, freshman Alexa Beckwith put together the best output of her first collegiate season with 279.75 points.
Mizzou polished off its successful day on a high note. The Tigers' A 400 relay squad of freshman Rachel Hayden, Anna Patterson, Stevens and Barbiea won the final event of the meet, clocking a 3:23.16 to top the Razorbacks `A' team.
The Tigers will return home next Friday for another dual meet when they take on in-state foe Missouri State. The meet will start at 5 p.m. at the Mizzou Aquatic Center. For all the latest on Mizzou Swimming and Diving, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouSwimDive.