Mizzou Wins Nine Events During Day One of Kentucky Quad Meet

Mizzou Wins Nine Events During Day One of Kentucky Quad Meet

11/7/2019 6:35:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The No. 4/9 Mizzou men's and women's swimming and diving teams won nine events and recorded two nation-leading relay times during the first day of a two-day quad dual against No. 3/7 North Carolina State, No. 17/14 Kentucky and Arkansas Thursday afternoon at the Lancaster Aquatic Center in Lexington, Ky.

With one day of competition left, the men lead North Carolina State, 118-49, and Kentucky, 122-45. The women own an 85-81.5 edge over North Carolina State, 105-62 lead over Kentucky and a 135-30 advantage over Arkansas.

TOP TIGERS

Five individual Tigers earned event wins and Mizzou swept both relays during Thursday action.

Missouri opened the meet with wins in the 200 free relay, as the women's relay of junior Sarah Thompson (Collierville, Tenn.), senior Haley Hynes (Lee's Summit), sophomore Megan Keil (Derby, Kan.) and freshman Alex Moderski (McFarland, Wis.) won in 1:29.08, which ranks first in the nation. The men's foursome of senior Caleb Hicks (Colorado Springs, Colo.), sophomore Danny Kovac (Fort Collins, Colo.), junior Grant Reed (Austin, Texas) and sophomore Kyle Leach (Colorado Springs, Colo.) also placed first in 1:19.51.

Kovac earned Mizzou's first individual win of the day, as he touched first in the 200 IM with a season-best 1:45.28, which bettered his previous best and kept him ranked third in the nation.

The 100 breast also featured a Tiger sweep, with victories from freshman Molly Winer (Ames, Iowa) and senior Nick Staver (Bettendorf, Iowa). Winer claimed her third win in the event of the year with a 1:01.65, and Staver won his third-consecutive title in the 100 breast with a swim of 54.58.

Seniors Nick Alexander (St. Louis, Mo.) and Micah Slaton (Austin, Texas) also took home individual wins in day one competition. Alexander recorded his team-best sixth win of the year in the 200 back in 1:43.28, which was only three-hundredths of a second off his nation-leading time in the event. Slaton was victorious in the 200 fly after touching the wall in 1:45.15.

Mizzou concluded Thursday action with wins in the women's and men's 400 medley relays. On the women's side, Thompson, Winer and freshmen Meredith Rees (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Amy Feddersen (Ames, Iowa) clocked a time of 3:36.93. In the men's race, senior Daniel Hein (Sycamore, Ill.), Staver, Kovac and senior Giovanny Lima (Sao Paulo, Brazil) posted the nation's top time to easily take the win in 3:10.96.

QUOTABLES

Mizzou Head Coach Andrew Grevers
"I'm quite pleased with day one today, we're off to a great start. We had two nation-leading times, the women's 200 free relay and the men's 400 medley relay. We're really starting to see the details come together. We're getting better at the starts, the turns, the finishes, it's coming together at the right time. Zou Style is out in force and we're really excited for day two tomorrow."