Huskers Hit the Road for Three Duals

The Husker swimming and diving team will endure a busy two days of competition when it travels to Omaha on Friday to face UNO and Northern Colorado at 5:30 p.m., and to Ames, Iowa on Saturday to face Iowa State in its second conference match of the year at 1 p.m.

Nebraska holds a 5-0 dual record this season, including a 1-0 conference mark following a 180-120 victory over Kansas on Jan. 15.

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.

Nebraska has already guaranteed itself a winning season, marking back-to-back winning seasons for the first time under head coach Pablo Morales.

Two Husker swimmers will be returning to their hometown on Friday as sophomores Bailey Ingles and Michelle Criss are Omaha natives.  Ingles attended Millard West High School while Criss graduated from Omaha Marian. 

Following this weekend's action, the Huskers will host Missouri on Senior Day, Saturday, Feb. 5 at the Devaney Center Pool.

Scouting the Competition<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

The Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks have been impressive in the Division II ranks this year.

 

Under Head Coach Todd Samland the Mavs have put together a 5-1 record in 2004-05. UNO has also won two invites this year, capurturing the eight-team Jackrabbit Invite in Brooklings, S.D. and the Mutual of Omaha Invite at home.

The Mavs were 10-5 in dual action last season, including a 198-93 loss to Nebraska.

The Huskers will be looking to extend their all-time record versus UNO to 9-0.

The Northern Colorado Bears are entering the latter part of the season with a 9-8 dual mark.

The Bears went through the most successful part of the season when they earned six victories and one loss in a three-day stretch in mid-November.

This year marks the first time the Huskers and Bears have met in the pool.

The Iowa State Cyclones face off with the Huskers in a very important Big 12 match for both schools on Saturday.

The Cyclones and Huskers have split the last two matches as Nebraska defeated Iowa State in Lincoln 171.5-126.5 last season and the Cyclones downed the Huskers 163-126 in Ames the year before.

Iowa State and Nebraska have already faced each other once this year, at the Big 12 Relays on Oct. 15. ISU finished sixth with 27 points while NU was fifth with 39.

Nebraska holds a 23-4 record over ISU in the all-time series.

Distance Corps Providing Strength

The 5-0 Huskers have been paced by a strong corps of distance swimmers who have proven to be among the best in the nation.

 

The sophomore trio of Lauren Bailey, Kate Wheeler, and Casey Schnack all rank in the top 50 nationally in the 1,650-yard freestyle. The three spots held by NU is tied for the fourth-most total by any team in the nation. All three have set NCAA provisional marks.

The trio, along with junior co-captain Mackenzie Clark, also claim four of the top 10 spots in the Big 12 conference, the most by any Big 12 team.

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 and NCAA Championships. 

 

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. 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 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:  Huskers Down KU 180-120

Three Huskers won two events apiece and <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska took the top three spots in five events to down Kansas, 180-120 at the Devaney Center Pool on Jan. 15.

Junior Amie Buoy swept the diving events, earning top scores of 269.10 (one-meter) and 290.62 (three-meter).

Junior Becky Johnson took second in the one-meter (238.04) and third in the three-meter (244.04).

After the Huskers won the 200-yard medley relay to begin the day, sophomore Lauren Bailey won her first of two races to begin a successful day for the NU swimmers. Bailey swam a time of 10:03.79 in the 1,000-yard freestyle and edged out sophomore Bailey Ingles in the 200-IM in 2:08.33.

Sophomore Kate Wheeler also collected two victories, the 200-yard freestyle (1:51.64) and 500-yard freestyle (4:55.33).

Freshman Betsy Grover rounded out the victories for the Huskers with a career-best mark of 2:04.98 in the 200-yard butterfly, topping her old mark by two seconds.