Missouri Sweeps Show-Me-Showdown

Missouri's No. 18 women and No. 21 men's swimming and diving teams strolled to a season-opening victory at the fourth annual Show Me Showdown, beating out four other teams across the state of Missouri. It marks the fourth time in four years that both Mizzou squads have claimed the Show Me Showdown title.

The men put up 393 points and won 12 of 16 events, out-pacing teams from Drury, Lindenwood, Missouri S&T, and Washington University. The women's 381 points beat out Drury, Lindenwood, Stephens, and Washington University.

"We need to get started, that's what this meet did today. It allowed us to get racing," Head Coach Brian Hoffer said. "I haven't seen my freshman race as Tigers before, so this was a good chance to see them. It also helps us get the process of the meet down. A lot of these athletes have never been in a college dual meet, so it was nice to get that started. This was the first time we were able to race against some other teams, which was what we were looking for today."

On the men's side, the 200 free relay team, consisting of sophomore Jordan Hawley, redshirt sophomore Cameron Sellers, senior Jake Hoffmann and senior Matt Dahlke, got the men off on the right foot. The quad of swimmers scored first place points in the meets opening event, finishing with a time of 1:24.62.

The 100 IM featured an abundance of Tiger swimmers, but senior Gilad Kaufman and junior Martin Cernansky led the way, finishing 1-2 in the event while scoring big points for the Tiger team. Kaufman's time of 52.40 just edged out Cernansky's second-place time of 52.48.

Kaufman also scored points in the 100 fly, coming in second at a time of 51.62. Right behind him was freshman Scott Martin, coming in third place in his first career individual collegiate race. Martin finished his run in 51.62.

Just like the women, the men would dominate the 100 back, as four Tigers would take the top four places in the event. Hoffmann took the victory in a time of 51.60, just barely edging out Sellers' finish of 51.63. The third and fourth place finishers featured two new faces to the Missouri squad. Freshman John Higgins came in third, touching in at 52.16. His time would just beat out fellow freshman Jan Konarzewski's fourth place time of 52.21.

Konarzewski would turn his best performance of the day in the 50 back later in the afternoon, putting up a time of 24.35 and earning his first career collegiate victory.

Cernansky would earn his first victory of the young season in the 100 breast, finishing in 56.88 and handedly beating the second place finisher. Senior Ted Harris, a 2008 Olympic Trials qualifier, came in third at 58.39. Cernansky picked up another victory in the 50 breast later in the day, finishing at 26.63

The final individual event of the first session was the 500 free, and the Tigers' two distance specialists showed off their stuff. Sellers dominated the event, finishing in first place with a time of 4:32.74. Sophomore Spenser Lauver took second place after racing to a time of 4:37.83.

The men's 400 medley relay team closed out the opening session. The team of Hoffmann, Harris, Kaufman, and Dahlke swam easily to first place, posting a time of 3:25.94 and beating out the second place team by almost five seconds.

"I think generally we had a good day," said Hoffer. "I think we had good energy and I think we had a lot of fun. There are some people swimming mid season times right now, and that was encouraging. We have a big challenge this week and we'll know a lot more after that."

The second session began much like the first, with a big win at the hands of a relay team. Dahlke, Kaufman, Sellers, and Hawley took first in the 400 free relay, finishing in 3:09.24 to beat Washington University's team by over two seconds.

The Tigers dominated the diving well, sweeping titles in both events. Junior Greg DeStephen, an All-American, scored 305.20 in the 1-meter and 329.05 in the 3-meter, taking first in each.

On the women's side, 200 free relay team got the day off on the right foot for the Tigers, as the team of junior Colleen Gordon, freshman Lisa Nathanson, sophomore Francie Szostak and senior Lori Halvorson took first place with a time of 1:35.61.

The top-five spots in the 100 IM were all occupied by Tigers, with Halvorson leading the pack and finishing in first with a time of 58.72. Following her was senior Lauren Cox in second, scoring more points for Missouri after touching in at 1:00.12. Szostak, Nathanson, and sophomore Lauren Lavigna rounded out the top-five. Halvorson would earn another win in the 200 IM later in the day.

In the second session, Nathanson would earn the first victory of her young career, finishing the 50 free in 23.98 seconds. Earlier this summer, Nathanson competed in the 2008 Olympic Trials in the same event.

Junior Molly Bollen and Gordon topped the 100 fly leaderboard, scoring more big points for the Tigers. Bollen finished in first with a time of 57.49, while Gordon came in right after her, touching at 57.89. Shortly after, Lavigna captured another first-place finish for the Tigers in the 100 back, clocking a time of 57.28, with Szostak taking third after finishing at 57.77.

In the 100 breast, sophomore Morgan McCleery finished first after a dominating performance, coming in at 1:05.54 Her time beat out freshman Kayla Durnil, who touched in at second place with a time of 1:07.00. McCleery would also put up a first place time in the 50 breast, finishing at 30.51

Senior Carly Sullivan's time of 5:05.37 in the 500 free gave her first place, beating out the second place finisher by almost 2.5 seconds. Senior Coralie Baumann scored points for Missouri with her third place finish.

Closing out the first session for the women was the 400 medley relay, which proved to be the most exciting race of the morning. The Mizzou team, consisting of Cox, senior Erin Yeager, Sullivan, and Halvorson, posted a time of 3:54.41, which just barely beat out Drury's time of 3:54.45.


"I think generally we had a good day," said Hoffer. "I think we had good energy and I think we had a lot of fun. There are some people swimming mid season times right now, and that was encouraging. We have a big challenge this week and we'll know a lot more after that."

In the diving well, senior Kendra Melnychuk took both titles, scoring 274.85 in the 1-meter and 287.70 in the 3-meter. Following Melnychuk in the 1-meter were freshmen Jenny Morcom, Keely Brooks, and Christina Gailey. Morcom's score of 239.25 put her in second, edging out Brooks' third place score of 234.30. Gailey finished at 219.35, good for fourth.

Final Men's Team Standings
1.      Missouri 393
2.      Drury 281
3.      Missouri S&T 268.5
4.      Washington Univ. 216.5
5.      Lindenwood 189

Final Women's Team Standings
1.      Missouri 381
2.      Drury 345
3.      Lindenwood 252
4.      Washington Univ. 233
5.      Stephens 153