University of Missouri
Mizzou Invite
@MizzouSwimDive Sweeps Team Titles at Mizzou Invite
11/17/2018 9:48:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Mizzou men's and women's swimming and diving teams swept the 2018 Mizzou Invite team titles on Saturday after winning a combined 30 events during the three-day meet at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
The Tiger women scored 1,171 points to win the women's title ahead of 12 other programs. Arkansas placed second (714), San Diego State took third (636), Florida International was fourth (510) and BYU rounded out the top five (321).
On the men's side, the Tigers totaled 1,410 points to take first among 11 total teams. BYU finished second (667), California Baptist was third (576), Drury fourth (467) and McKendree placed fifth (278).
KEY PERFORMANCES
Over the three-day meet, the Tigers notched one school record (junior Nick Alexander in the 100 back), four NCAA automatic qualifying times (women's 200 free relay, men's 200 free relay, men's 400 free relay and men's 400 medley relay) and posted numerous personal bests.
The Tigers opened Saturday finals with a sweep in the 1650 free races. Senior Courtney Evensen (Golden Valley, Minn.) won the women's side with a personal best time of 16:09.08, two seconds faster than her old mark. She also set a new career best in the 1000 free, as she clocked a 9:44.45 in that portion of the race. On the men's side, senior Jacob Wielinski (Mounds View, Minn.) swam a 14:55.84 to take the victory.
Junior Nick Alexander (St. Louis, Mo.) claimed his third win of the meet as he won the men's 200 back on Saturday. Alexander, who clocked a career best time of 1:39.98 in prelims, clocked a 1:40.31 in the evening session for first-place honors.
Junior Jennifer King (Glasgow, Scotland) took home the 200 back win on the women's side, with a time of 1:53.67, just off her career best.
It was another event sweep in the 200 breast, this time by a freshman and a senior. Freshman Kayla Jones (St. Charles, Ill.) had a big finals swim of 2:10.36, over two and a half seconds faster than her prelims time, and a personal best. Also with a career best swim was senior Jordan O'Brien (Naperville, Ill.), who won the men's 200 breast in 1:54.55.
In the men's 100 free, senior Mikel Schreuders (Oranjestad, Aruba) dropped a personal best time of 42.76 in finals for the win. He later lowered that again with a 42.30 in the leadoff leg of the 400 free relay.
Juniors Azra Avdic (Skokie, Ill.) and Micah Slaton (Austin, Texas) both claimed top honors in the 200 fly races as well. Avdic held on for the win in the women's event with a 1:59.27, while Slaton posted a 1:43.30 to earn a victory on the men's side.
Mizzou closed out the meet with an NCAA A cut in the men's 400 free relay, were Schreuders, junior Giovanny Lima (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and freshman Kyle Leach (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Danny Kovac (Fort Collins, Colo.) touched in 2:50.05.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou Interim Head Coach Andrew Grevers
"Overall, I'm very proud. The team has been going through a lot and they came together and certainly performed very well as an entire team. We had awesome relays (this week). We had a lot of great individual efforts but still had some ups and downs for the team as a whole. We're going to get back to hard work now. We'll do a bigger taper into SECs for a lot of individuals. We did get a few people into NCAAs but we'll know more as we see times come in through early December."
>UP NEXT
The Mizzou divers next compete at the International CAMO Invitational, Nov. 29-Dec. 2, in Montreal, Canada, while the swimmers are idle until January.
MIZZOU EVENT WINNERS
Women's 1650 Free – Courtney Evensen (16:09.08)
Men's 1650 Free – Jacob Wielinski (14:55.84)
Women's 200 Back – Jennifer King (1:53.67 finals; 1:53.74 prelims)
Men's 200 Back – Nick Alexander (1:40.31 finals; 1:39.98 prelims)
Women's 200 Breast – Kayla Jones (2:10.36 finals, 2:12.92)
Men's 200 Breast – Jordan O'Brien (1:54.55 finals, 1:55.27 prelims)
Women's 200 Fly – Azra Avdic (1:59.27 finals, 2:01.14 prelims)
Men's 200 Fly – Micah Slaton (1:43.30 finals, 1:43.47 prelims)
Men's 400 Free Relay – Mikel Schreuders, Giovanny Lima, Kyle Leach, Danny Kovac (2:50.05)
Players Mentioned
