The Missouri women's swimming and diving team rolled over their Southern Illinois and Drury competition in Friday's first day of Mizzou Dual Challenge action. The Tigers scored triple digits in both victories, including a 124.5-42.5 win over defending NCAA Division II national champion Drury and a 115-52 triumph over the Salukis.

"The team swam well today," said Missouri Head Coach Brian Hoffer. "The women really focused on what they needed to do to win. They raced hard in each individual race and swam in the moment. Even though a couple of the women swam some secondary events, they still brought that same intensity."

The women opened Friday's action with a thrilling win in the 200 free relay. Seniors Katie Gates and Taye Patterson combined with juniors Lauren Cox and Lori Halvorson for the win in a time of 1:35.65, just three-hundredths of a second ahead of the runner-up Southern Illinois squad.

In the night's first individual event, sophomore Colleen Gordon continued her hot streak and led a Tiger 1-3-4-5 finish in the 200 free in a time of 1:52.12. Junior Carly Sullivan claimed third in a time of 1:53.56 to edge Canadian teammates freshman Lauren Lavigna (1:54.40) and junior Allie Bennett (1:56.57).

Junior and fellow Texan Jill Granger also did the Lone Star state proud Friday in the following 200 IM when she swam to a first-place finish in a time of 2:07.34. Senior Jill Bastien finished second in a time of 2:07.71 with fellow senior Sarah Menefee rounding out the top-three (2:10.39).
 

 
   

Patterson was next up for the Tigers in the 100 back. The Valdes Monts, Quebec native tallied a second-place showing in the race in a time of 56.67. Taking fourth was Patterson's 200 free relay teammate, Cox, who touched in at 57.86.

After earning her first win of the season in the 200 breast at Kansas last week, junior Erin Yeager returned to the pool Friday for a second-place finish in the 100 portion of the event in a time of 1:06.21. Freshman Morgan McCleery earned her second career top-three finish in a time of 1:06.57 with junior Kayla Bowcutt clocking in fourth in a time of 1:07.05.

Senior co-captain Arica Jacinto recorded the first win of her senior campaign in the 100 fly, which she finished in a time of 56.45. Freshman Melissa Jamerson got on the board for the Tigers with her fourth-place showing in the event (58.20).

The Tiger quartet of Patteson, Bastien, Gordon and Halvorson pooled their talents in the evening's final race, the 400 medley relay, which they won in a time of 3:48.55.

The Mizzou women will be back in action Saturday for day two of the Mizzou Dual Challenge. The Tigers take to the pool against Missouri State at 12:00 p.m. and return in the day's second session to take on rival Illinois at 6:30 p.m. 

The 20th-ranked Missouri women's swimming and diving team (6-1, 1-1 Big 12) tallied 124 points twice on Saturday in a complete routing of Missouri State and border rival Illinois. The Tigers bounced the Bears by a score of 124-24 and repeated this point total again in the evening session in their defeat of Illinois by a count of 124-45.

"Our women are on a roll right now and are starting to build up a great deal of intensity," said Missouri Head Coach Brian Hoffer. " They've put themselves in a good place heading into what will be a difficult matchup tomorrow with Virginia Tech."

In Saturday's first session of action at the Mizzou Dual Challenge, Missouri State proved to be no challenge for the Tigers, who swept all six individual events and both relays in the dual.

Mizzou began the meet with a bang when the quartet of seniors Taye Patterson and Jill Bastien, sophomore Colleen Gordon and senior Katie Gates combined for a victory in the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:46.36.

Taking a page out of the upperclassmen's book was up-and-coming freshman Lauren Lavigna in the following 500 free. The Vancouver, British Columbia native clocked a winning time of 5:00.37 in a race that featured three freshmen among its top-three. Classmate Francie Szostak finished just behind Lavigna in a time a time of 5:00.55 while Melissa Jamerson captured third in a time of 5:04.71. Junior Kirsten David touched in at 5:09.62 for a fourth-place finish.

Patterson returned to the pool in the 100 IM and climbed out with her second win of the weekend. The senior's winning time of 59.03 was just enough to edge 200 medley relay teammate, Gordon, who clocked a 59.53 in taking second-place.

After her time in the on-deck circle it was junior Lauren Cox's time to shine. The Phoenix, Ariz. native led a 1-2-3 Tiger finish in a time of 2:04.95. Senior co-captain Sarah Menefee made her second top-three appearance of the weekend when she raced to runner-up honors in a time of 2:05.91. Junior Allie Bennett captured the third spot (2:06.94) in her first top-three showing of the weekend.

Junior Erin Yeager continued her tear in the breaststroke category, pacing the field in the 200 breast in a time of 2:20.41. Freshman Morgan McCleery one-upped her third-place 100 breast showing on Friday with a runner-up finish in today's action (2:24.18). Fellow newcomer Anastasia Sotiropoulos joined in the fun with her fourth-place finish (2:28.69).

Yeager would be proud of her fellow juniors in the proceeding 200 fly. Junior Jill Granger followed up her win Friday in the 200 IM with another top showing in the 200 fly (2:04.99). Classmate Coralie Baumann got on the board for the Tigers as well with her second-place finishing time of 2:06.75 in the event. Junior Carly Sullivan touched in just behind in a time of 2:07.26 to round out the top-three.

Another relay win was in order for Mizzou thanks to the efforts of Sullivan, Gordon, Szostak and senior Arica Jacinto in the 800 free relay. The four Tigers combined for the win in a time of 7:36.97.

The women were no less dominant in the diving well in Saturday's first session. Reigning Big 12 Diver of the Week Kendra Melnychuk dove to victory in the 1-meter diving competition with her score of 553.40. In keeping pace with their fellow freshmen, the two through four spots went to Tiger newcomers. Jenny Franzone tallied 447 points to take second while classmate Abby Zepeda finished in the third spot with a score of 402.15. Colleen Burke scored 399.80 in taking the fourth spot on the 1-meter board.

The Tigers picked up where they left off in the nightcap with the Fighting Illini of Illinois. Junior Lori Halvorson got things started for the Tigers with a win in the 100 free (51.79).

Patterson was back at it again in the following 50 back. The Canadian clocked a 26.68 to claim her second win of the night and third of the weekend.

After tallying her first top-two finish of her MU career earlier in the day, McCleery repeated her fortune again in her second-place finish in the 50 breast (30.50). Junior Kayla Bowcutt finished just behind in a time of 30.60 to claim the third spot.

Gordon, the team's wins leader, added two more to her season's collection on Saturday against the Illini. The sophomore carded a victory in the 50 fly in a time of 25.60 then came back for more in a dominant win in the 1650 free (16:53.41). Gordon was the only swimmer to go under 17 minutes in the race. Taking runner-up honors in the 50 fly was Jacinto, who touched in a time of 26.10.

The Tigers wrapped up action in the pool with yet another relay win. The 400 free relay squad of Cox, Szostak, Patterson and Halvorson raced to victory in a time of 3:29.46.

In the diving well, Melnychuk proved unstoppable once again with a monstrous winning score of 611.75 on the 3-meter board. Displaying a runner-up performance in the competition was Zepeda, who tallied a score of 495.75. Franzone dove to third-place with a score of 450.10.

The Tigers will be back in action Sunday when they take on the No. 25 Hokies of Virginia Tech at 9 a.m. in the Mizzou Aquatics Center.