Huskers Open Season at Big 12 Relays

The 2004-05 Nebraska swimming and diving team will begin competition on Friday morning at the Big 12 Relays in Lawrence, Kan. The meet starts at 10 a.m. and is the first regular-season competition of the year.

"There's a real excitement with what the team accomplished last year," Assistant Coach Doug Humphrey said. "With what were adding this year, I know the girls are getting excited to finally get out and show a little bit of the progression they have made. They want to come out and put a stamp on the season early and show they are a force in the Big 12."

This season Nebraska features a much more experienced squad. Last year, the Huskers had just one senior and one junior on the roster. This year, Nebraska has a core of nine juniors in addition to senior Diana Torres. The Huskers will also have plenty of leadership from their sophomore class, which includes Lauren Bailey, a returning Big 12 champion and NCAA qualifier.

Overall, Coach Pablo Morales and his team have a common goal for this season. "There are two aspects of what we hope to accomplish this year. Continue moving upward in the conference and to establish a greater presence at the national championships," Morales said.

That goal begins Friday morning. Last year at the Big 12 Relays the Huskers placed highest when they recorded a second- place finish in the 4x200 freestyle.

"I think we're all really excited for this," said sophomore Bailey Ingles. "We have been practicing for over a month now and we are just ready to compete and see where we can be in the Big 12."

Ingles tallied seven individual first-place finishes last year.

Texas and Texas A&M are once again expected to be a force in the conference. The Longhorns captured both the Big 12 Relays and conference championships last season with the Aggies close behind. But with the Huskers threatening to make a climb in the conference, outcomes could be different this season.

"We have been showing a lot of improvement, and I'm really excited to show them all what we can do," junior Alex King said. "Our plan is to come out and show them what we've got and let them know we are going to be after them."

King is a key member of the large junior class who is expected to be one of the team's top middle-distance and distance freestyle swimmers. She finished 19th in the 50-meter freestyle at the Big 12 Championships last year.

On the diving side, Head Diving Coach Jeff DiNicola expects a lot of progress out of his squad which is led by junior Amie Buoy, a two-time NCAA Zone Diving qualifier.

"She's got a great attitude, is working very hard this year and is staying positive," DiNicola said. "She's got some pretty big goals this year that are achieveable as long as she keeps working hard. I think she is going to reach a higher level than she has in the past."

Freshmen Kaci Ressler and Courtney Jolly have battled through some injuries. Ressler had a viral infection while Jolly has a stress fracture in her back. Jolly will not compete this year.

However, DiNicola is confident and believes he has a core of consistent divers who can compete at the top of the conference.

Recap: Red/White Intrasquad
The 2004-05 Nebraska swimming and diving team took to the Bob Devaney Sports Center Pool on Oct. 2 for its first competition of the year in the annual Red-White Intrasquad meet.

The women performed at a high level and produced good times to the delight of fourth-year head coach Pablo Morales.

"The way they have been training and performing so far this year I actually expected some fast times, and there were some really fast times. Typically you don’t get a lot of fast performances this early in the season at the intrasquad meet," Morales said. "The girls are showing that they are well ahead of schedule from last year and they are doing some really remarkable things already."

Morales divided the teams equally to present the most competitive event as possible. At the conclusion of the meet each team had collected five first-place finishes out of the 10 event meet. There was no official team score compiled.

Leading their respective squads to strong performances were sophomores Kate Wheeler (Scarlet) and Lauren Bailey (Cream). Each collected two first-place finishes and one second-place finish including an exciting 200-yard freestyle that came down to Wheeler edging out Bailey by just three-tenths of a second in 1:52.9.

Three freshmen (Lynn Siemert, Betsy Grover and Adrienne Goodman) were also impressive with each picking up one title. Juniors Amie Buoy and Becky Johnson split the board competitions. Buoy won the one-meter event while Johnson came back to win the three-meter event by seven-tenths of a point.

Nebraska opens its regular season at the Big 12 Relays in Lawrence, Kan., on Oct. 15. The Huskers are looking to start the season strong and continue their success in the conference after finishing fourth last season.

Huskers look to move up in Big 12
Once known as arguably the greatest male swimmer in history, Pablo Morales enters his fourth season as Nebraska’s head swimming and diving coach. Morales, who won an NCAA-record 11 individual titles while at Stanford University, came to Nebraska in 2001 with a goal to lead the program to the top of the Big 12.

Morales seems to be working toward his goal, beginning with a combined 3-11 dual record in his first two seasons and improving to a 7-2 dual record last year. Adding to the anticipation and excitement for the upcoming season includes Nebraska’s 4th place team finish at the 2004 Big 12 Championships in Austin, Texas this February.

"Our goal was to move up from sixth. Any movement upward was going to be great. It was a total team effort. It required contributions from everybody. There were great experiences all around and is certainly something to build on," said Morales.

A large part of last year’s success is due to Lauren Bailey, whose season accomplishments rank high at Nebraska. The San Mateo, Calif., native was a freshman last year squad when she won 13 individual races en route to a trip to the NCAA Championships. Doing so, she became the first Husker to compete at the national event since 2001 when NU qualified six and finished 23rd overall in the team standings.
This season, Nebraska looks to build on last year’s success. Many of last years top performers move into the leadership roles, now with valuable experience. Both Kate Wheeler and Amie Buoy were within consideration for the NCAA Championships last year. This season, Wheeler and Bailey move to sophomores while Wheeler will be a junior.

Morales once again will focus the schedule on conference foes. The Huskers travel to Iowa State and Texas while they host Kansas and Missouri. The Jayhawks and Tigers are the only teams who defeated NU in dual action last season.

The team will also focus on the Minnesota Invitational and the Texas Invitational, meets that attract some of the top athletes in the nation. Morales is considering the Texas Invite a "focal point" of the 2004-05 season.