Missouri vs. Missouri State and Illinois

COLUMBIA, Missouri, November 3. THE Missouri men's swimming and diving team (4-1, 1-0 Big 12) charged hard and defeated in-state rival Missouri State by a score of 97-51. The Tigers claimed several swimming events in addition to taking the top three spots on the 1-meter board in the win.

"I think we did a good job using our depth today," said Tiger Head Coach Brian Hoffer. "Missouri State is a quick team, but we were able to match up well against them and swim well throughout to get the win."

Highlighting Saturday's dual was the Tigers' efforts in the diving well. Freshman and Columbia native Dante Jones dove to a score of 625.80 took top honors in the 1-meter diving competition, which featured three Tigers atop the leaderboard. Sophomore Greg DeStephen earned second-place honors in the event with a score of 610.35 while classmate Ryan Meeker took third (576.10).

Joining Jones in the winner's circle was junior Gilad Kaufman. The Israeli raced to victory in the 100 IM in a time of 52.62 to edge classmate Matt Dahlke, who clocked in at 52.81. Two other Tigers rounded out the top-five. Sophomore Bobby Sundvold took fourth in a time of 53.16 with junior Bryan Difford claiming the fifth spot (53.55).

The Tigers proved who was captain of the ship in the following 200 back, which featured Mizzou's team captains in the top-three spots. Senior co-captain Travis Floyd earned his second win of the weekend after posting a winning time of 1:50.98. Junior Jake Hoffmann clocked in second in a time of 1:52.06 with senior Joe Wilson touching in at 1:53.42 to round out the top-three.

Sophomore Martin Cernansky extended the Tigers' winning steak on the night to three with his first-place finish in the 200 breast (2:03.65). The Austrian's win marked his third of the weekend. Junior Ted Harris tallied his second top-three showing of the weekend with a third-place finish in the event (2:09.24).

The Tigers' trend of top-three's continued into the evening's closing race, the 800 free relay. The quartet of Dahlke, redshirt freshman Cameron Sellers, Floyd and Harris combined to lead a Mizzou 1-2-3 finish in a time of 6:51.54.

The 20th-ranked Missouri women's swimming and diving team (6-1, 1-1 Big 12) tallied 124 points twice 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.

Special thanks to Missouri for contributing this report.

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