No. 18/13 Mizzou Swimming & Diving Earns Two NCAA 'A' Cuts On Final Day of Mizzou Invite

Saturday, November 21

Columbia, Mo.

All Day

Missouri

Mizzou Invite

No. 18/13 Mizzou Swimming & Diving Earns Two NCAA 'A' Cuts On Final Day of Mizzou Invite

11/21/2020 9:41:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 18/13 Mizzou men's and women's swimming and diving teams notched two NCAA 'A' qualifying cuts Saturday during final day action at the Mizzou Invite at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.

The Tiger men won the men's competition with 1,275 points, ahead of Kentucky (1,057) and BYU (43). On the women's side, Kentucky won with 1,277 points, while Mizzou took second (862), Arkansas was third (822) and BYU was fourth (70).

TOP TIGERS

The Tigers earned NCAA 'A' cuts in two relays on Saturday, the women's 200 medley relay and the men's 400 free relay.

Swimming a time trial, the women's 200 medley relay of sophomores Meredith Rees (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Molly Winer (Ames, Iowa), senior Sarah Thompson (Collierville, Tenn.) and junior Megan Keil (Derby, Kan.) went 1:36.00, well below the qualifying time. The A cut means all of Mizzou's other relays with NCAA 'B' cuts will be eligible for the NCAA Championships.

In the final event of the meet, Mizzou's 400 free relay of freshman Daniel Wilson (Norman, Okla.) and juniors Danny Kovac (Fort Collins, Colo.), Kyle Leach (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Jack Dahlgren (Victoria, Minn.) secured their A cut after a 2:50.70, more than a second under the cut. Wilson led off the relay with a 42.87 to become only the fourth Tiger in program history to go under 43 seconds in the 100 free.

Individually, Kovac claimed his third win of the Invite with a big swim in the 100 free. Kovac went a personal-best 42.72 in the final to earn the win, narrowly ahead Wilson. The time bettered his old best of 42.90. The sophomore also won the 200 IM and 100 fly earlier in the meet.

Also with three wins on the weekend was junior Jack Dubois (Alpharetta, Ga.). Dubois clocked a 15:05.36 to place first in the 1650 free on Saturday, to go along with wins in the 500 free on Thursday and the 400 IM on Friday.

Dahlgren earned a win in the 200 back after a finals time of 1:42.12, not far off his prelims time of 1:41.82. The junior also won the 200 free yesterday.

Sophomore Will Goodwin (Centennial, Colo.) was the fourth Tiger to take top honors on final day action. Goodwin won the men's 200 breast after touching in 1:55.32, not far off his career-best of 1:55.29.

In diving platform prelims, sophomore Savana Trueb (Colorado Springs, Colo.) went for a career-best 294.7. The score moved her into third-place on Mizzou's all-time list.

Sophomore Katrina Brathwaite (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec, Canada) also moved up to third all-time at Mizzou on Saturday, as she swam a 2:09.33 in the 200 breast.

QUOTABLES

Mizzou Head Coach Andrew Grevers
"The meet ended on a high note, with the women getting the 200 medley relay A cut and the men getting the 400 free relay A cut. We had multiple women, in the last 30-35 minutes, with three races in the span. That's a grueling turnaround and they stepped up in a major way. I'm really proud of each and every Tiger that competed this weekend."