Huskers Open Big 12 at Home

The Husker swimming and diving team opens up Big 12 competition this Saturday when it hosts the University of Kansas Jayhawks at the Devaney Center Pool at 2 p.m.

Nebraska is looking to extend its 2004-05 dual record to 5-0 after defeating Nevada at the San Diego Invite on Jan. 7.

The Huskers have not started 5-0 in dual action since the 1998-99 season when NU went a perfect 7-0 on its way to capturing the Big 12 title, and an 11th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. A victory would also ensure Nebraska's second straight winning season.

In addition to defeating Nevada at the San Diego Invite, the Huskers also took the four-team quadrangular, finishing with 232 points to defeat San Diego, Rice and Nevada.

"It is good to get a streak going right now," said Head Coach Pablo Morales. "It was a struggle but it was our goal to win both aspects. The girls are continuing to grow and they responded better than the other teams."

The Huskers have already caught a glimpse of Kansas, as they competed against the Jayhawks in the Big 12 Relays on Oct. 15. NU finished the meet in 5th place with 39 points, as Kansas finished in a tie for third with 60 points.

Last year, the Jayhawks downed the Huskers in Lawerence, 178-122. The defeat dropped NU's Big 12 record to 0-2 before the Huskers defeated Iowa State to finish with a 1-2 record in the conference and a 7-2 mark overall.

Nebraska last defeated Kansas in the 2000-01 season by a score of 125-118. Saturday, Nebraska's looks to break KU's three-year streak and get off on the right foot in the Big 12.

Scouting the Jayhawks

The Kansas Jayhawks enter Saturday's matchup against Nebraska with a 4-4 dual record. The Jayhawks have faced three Big 12 opponents in Texas, Texas A&M and Missouri, dropping all three contests.

Aside from competing against the Huskers in the Big 12 Relays, the Jayhawks also traveled to Southwest Missouri State on Oct. 29. KU defeated SMS, 125-80, a week after Nebraska downed the Bears 77-35 in Springfield, Mo.

Kansas' remaining dual wins came over Illinois, Harvard and Hartwick. The Jayhawks also placed third at the Nike Cup in Chapel Hill, N.C. KU put up 614 points in the three-day event, and fell to only Purdue and North Carolina in the eight-team meet.

Huskers Aim for the NCAA's

Heading into the latter part of the season, Coach Pablo Morales' squad has begun to set its sights on the Big 12 Conference and NCAA Championships as it opens conference competition this weekend.

Nebraska looks to send a large contingent to the NCAA Championships this year, as four Huskers have already set NCAA provisional marks in their respective events. Although more than two months remain in the season, should all four qualify for the NCAA meet, it would be the largest group of Huskers to qualify for the National Championships since Nebraska sent six in 2001.

Sophomore Lauren Bailey leads the group of Husker contenders as she has met the provisional mark in three events, the 400-yard IM (4:23.41), the 500-yard freestyle (4:50.06) and the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:43.79). Bailey was the lone NCAA qualifer for Nebraska last season, competing in the same three events at the Championships. Bailey was also the Big 12 Champion in the 400-yard IM.

Sophomore Kate Wheeler looks to join Bailey in the 500 and 1,650 with times of 4:54.00 and 16:46.97.

Sophomore Casey Schnack rounds out the sophomore trio, setting a B-cut in the 1,650 of 16:52.73.

Junior Amie Buoy's score of 500.45 at the Minnesota Invite in November earned her a cut in the three-meter diving competition. The score also helped her earn Big 12 Diver of the Month honors for the month of November.

Purdue University hosts the 2005 NCAA Championships at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center March 17-19.

Recap: San Diego Invitational

The Nebraska swimming and diving team started the new year by capturing the San Diego Invitational on Jan. 7.

The Huskers defeated Nevada, Rice and San Diego in the quadrangular with a total of 232 points. Multiple-heat races were scored as separate events during the meet as Nebraska tallied 14 victories as a team, including six of the last eight events.

Sophomores Kate Wheeler and Bailey Ingles led Nebraska with three individual wins each. Wheeler leads the team with 10 wins this season, adding victories in the 200-yard freestyle (1:54.43), 100-yard freestyle (54.16) and 500-yard freestyle (5:02.13) at the meet. Ingles’ strong day began with a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly (2:10.60). The Omaha, Neb. native went on to capture the 100-yard butterfly in 59.72, and the 200-yard IM in 2:12.19. Junior co-captain Mackenzie Clark and sophomore Lauren Bailey each won a heat in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Clark swam a time of 10:30.41 to edge junior teammate Esmie Holderman by seven seconds. Bailey finished in 10:05.45, winning her seventh race of the season.

Junior Becky Johnson was the highest NU finisher in the only diving competition of the day. Johnson scored a 256.20 in the one-meter for a third-place finish. Freshman Kaci Ressler was fourth with 242.90 points. In addition to the quadrangular win, the Huskers also extended their dual meet record to 4-0, as a score was kept between Nebraska and Nevada. The Huskers edged the Wolf Pack 151-149.