Day 1, November 16, 2017
Mizzou Aquatic Center (Columbia, MO)
Day 1 Events:
- 200 free relay
- 500 free
- 100 fly
- 200 IM
- 50 free
- 400 medley relay
Current Women’s Standings:
- Mizzou (500 points)
- Nebraska (248)
- Wyoming (161)
- Drury (136)
- Illinois (111)
- UC Davis (92)
- Oklahoma Baptist (66)
- South Dakota State (31)
- Iowa State (18)
- Cincinnati (13)
- Nebraska-Omaha (2)
Current Men’s Standings:
- Mizzou (507 points)
- Drury (235.5)
- Wyoming (193.5)
- Oklahoma Baptist (173)
- South Dakota State (119)
- Cincinnati (20)
Women’s Recap
Day 1 of the Mizzou Invite got off to a fast start with the first individual event final of the meet: the women’s 500 free. Mizzou senior Kira Zubar set a new school record with a 4:38.30, which took nearly a second off her school record from the 2017 NCAA Championships. In fact, Zubar’s swim would have placed her just outside of last year’s A final at the NCAA Champs.
Fellow Tiger senior Sharli Brady broke a school record of her own in the 200 IM prelims. Brady went 1:55.55, which is about a half-second off the automatic qualifying standard. The mark broke Shara Stafford‘s old mark of 1:56.30 set in 2012, and topped Brady’s previous best of 1:56.69. Brady now holds three Mizzou school records, including the 200 fly (1:54.60) and 400 IM (4:05.22). Her prelim time would have qualified for the 200 IM A final at the 2017 NCAA Championships.
The other big names in action for the Tiger women were Annie Ochitwa (Arizona transfer in her first year as a Tiger) and U.S. National Teamer Hannah Stevens. Ochitwa won the 100 fly (52.46) and 50 free (22.43), with best times of 52.39 and 22.34 from prelims, respectively . Her morning prelims times moved her into third-place in the Mizzou record books in both events. Stevens, meanwhile, shaved more than a tenth off her lifetime best in the 50 free (22.50), and led off Mizzou’s 400 medley relay in 51.16 in the 100 back.
Men’s Recap
On the men’s side, Mizzou again took top honors in every event. Giovanny Lima won the 500 free by nearly three seconds in 4:19.35, and Micah Slaton took the 100 fly (46.00). Nick Alexander won the 200 IM (1:44.93), but Alex Walton had the fastest time in the event from his prelims swim in 1:44.29. Luke Manus won the 50 free in 19.39. In the 400 medley relay, Mikel Schreuders powered home in a 41.71.
In the 100 fly, Drury’s Pavel Semochkin picked up a second place finish in 46.73. In the 50 free, Oklahoma Baptist’s David Lambert had the fastest time out of prelims with a 19.40, but finished second to Manus in finals with a 19.44.
To see how these times stack up, check out what it will likely take to qualify for the 2018 NCAA Championships.
Quality swimmers + Quality coaching = Quality program! Chemistry is everything, and the Mizzou team has it!
A lot of impressive results from several teams so far in this meet. I am most surprised with Drury and can’t wait to see how D2 Nats shapes up this year.
Unfortunately (I say that because DII has been all about dynasties for the past decade at least and that gets old) I don’t see anyone touching Queens again. Pijulet and Kusch are the best two swimmers in DII right now (considering Lobanov hasn’t swam in a meet yet) and their supporting cast fills in exactly where they’re needed. Drury’s good, and they may be better than last year with Semochkin and Martinez anchoring things, but I don’t think they quite stack up.
Mizzou graduated alot last year but the swimmers still with eligibility left swam great yesterday. Greg and the rest of staff always find a way to get the job done!
Rhodenbaugh sure knows how to develop good swimmers.