Huskers Travel to 2005 Big 12 Championships

Following one of the most successful regular seasons in school history, the Nebraska swimming and diving team will set its sights on a top-three finish this week when it competes at the 2005 Big 12 Championships in College Station, Texas.

The meet will kick off on Wednesday at 6 p.m. with two relay events. Preliminary heats will begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with finals at 6 p.m. each day. Fox Sports Net will be televise the 2005 Big 12 Championships on a tape-delay basis beginning March 3. Live stats will be available throughout the week on the Big 12 Championships official website at http://www.aggieathletics.com/specialsites/big12swimming2005/.

Nebraska finished the regular season with an 8-1 dual record, and took first place at the four-team San Diego Invitational. The Huskers also placed third at the Minnesota Invitational and seventh at the Texas Invitational against some of the toughtest competition in the nation.

NU’s 8-1 mark in head coach Pablo Morales’ young career ranks among the best in school history. Only four teams in NU history have compiled a better mark, including 7-0 teams in 1975-76 and 1997-98. The 2004-05 squad was attempting to become the first team in program history to finish 9-0, before it dropped its regular-season finale to Missouri, 153-147 on Feb. 5.

In addition to meeting the Tigers at the Big 12 Championships for the second time this year, Nebraska also faced Kansas and Iowa State in dual competition this year, defeating both the Cyclones (189-110) and Jayhawks (180-120).

Nebraska enters the Big 12 Championships with hopes of continuing to climb the Big 12 ladder. The Huskers placed fourth at last year’s Big 12 Championships, after placing sixth in 2002 and 2003.

 

Huskers Place 15 on Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll

The Huskers placed 15 swimmers and divers on the 2004 Big 12 Commissioner’s Fall Academic Honor Roll that was released two weeks ago.

Juniors Becky Johnson and Alex King led the class, as each earned a spot on the list for the fifth consecutive semester. They were joined by juniors Rachel Schlatter and Amie Buoy, who were named to the list for the fourth time in their careers.

The sophomore class claimed the most spots on the fall honor roll with eight. Six of the eight were returnees to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll, including Lauren Bailey, Emilee Crawford, Michelle Criss, Bailey Ingles, Casey Schnack and Danielle Stansbury.

Five swimmers earned honors for the first time as Huskers, including freshmen Courtney Jolly, Haley Koss, Kaci Ressler, and sophomores Abby Fitzpatrick and Katie Bowden (2004 transfer).

Fitzpatrick obtained the highest average on the team with a 3.9 grade-point average, while Crawford, Ingles, Johnson and Jolly all produced a 3.5 GPA or higher during the fall semester.

The Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll recognizes student-athletes who have obtained a 3.0 grade-point average or higher each semester.

Nebraska had 257 student-athletes named to the honor roll across its 23 varsity sports.

 

Scouting the Big 12 Conference

The Univeristy of Texas enters this week’s meet as the nation’s fourth-ranked team, following an 8-1 regular season. The Longhorns hosted and won the Texas Invitational in December with 821 points, and earned second at the Big 12 Relays and third at the Boilermaker Invitational.

Texas is the defending Big 12 champions, and is led by January Big 12 Swimmer of the Month Elizabeth Tinnon. The sophomore has set NCAA automatic qualifying marks in the 100- (1:00.75) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:12.67) events this season. Tinnon’s 100-yard breaststroke time of 1:00.75 is currently the second-fastest time in the country and leadsthe Big 12 Conference.

No. 9 Texas A&M compiled a 9-3 dual mark during the regular season. All three losses came to ranked teams in No. 9 SMU, No. 10 Wisconsin and No. 4 Texas. The Aggies achieved great success in team invites, as they took first at the Big 12 Relays and the Texas A&M Invitational. They also finished second at the Boilermaker Invitational ahead of rival Texas, who finished third.

Four-time All-American Danielle Townsend will lead her team in the conference meet for the final time in her career. The senior is No. 2 in the nation in the 200-yard IM with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:59.00. Townsend holds every Texas A&M school record in the sprint freestyle events, and finished Big 12 runner-up in three events last season.

The Missouri Tigers capped a successful regular season with four straight victories after they defeated the Huskers in Lincoln, Neb., on Feb. 5. The victory ended their dual season at 9-3 and improved their conference season mark to 3-1. Missouri tied for third at the Big 12 Relays and finished second in the five-team TYR Invitational at Northwestern University.

The senior duo of Lindsay Palbykin and Becca Dawson have led the Tigers through their strong regular season. Dawson leads her team in both the 100- (56.81) and 200-yard (2:03.80) butterfly events, and is ranked 10th in the conference in the 200-yard butterfly. Palbykin is MU’s top freestyler, leading the Tigers in the 100- (51.70) and 200-yard (1:52.25) freestyle.

The University of Kansas began its season against tough competition by hosting the annual Big 12 Relays, and competing in dual action against Texas and Texas A&M in a three-day span. The Jayhawks tied for third with Missouri in the Big 12 Relays, and dropped its first two dual matches to the Longhorns and Aggies. KU earned its first dual win against Southwest Missouri State on Oct. 29, and went on to an 8-5 overall record with a 1-2 conference mark.

Senior Amy Gruber was named CollegeSwimming.com’s National Swimmer of the Week on Nov. 24 and Big 12 Swimmer of the Month in November. She earned the award by swimming an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 49.70 in the 100-yard freestyle and clocking a provisional time of 22.39 in the 50-yard freestyle at the Nike Cup.

The Iowa State Cyclones won three duals in a row in the middle of the season, but also lost three straight on two occasions to finish 3-6 overall and 0-3 in conference action. ISU defeated Northern Iowa, St. Olaf and Nebraska-Omaha in its only victories of the year, and placed sixth at the Big 12 Relays and 5th at the Minnesota Invitational.

Senior Gail Olsen has been the top performer for ISU this season, qualifying for NCAA Zones in the three-meter dive. Olsen’s score of 297.45 in dual competition leads the conference. She also sits third in the one-meter (Championship) and fourth in dual in the Big 12.

 

Nebraska on Big 12, National Levels

Heading into the 2005 Big 12 Championships, the Huskers’ success during a solid regular season has shown through in the latest Big 12 and national rankings.

Nebraska swimmers and divers occupy 30 spots in the top 10 of the Big 12, and four more rank nationally in the latest Taper & Shave Quick 50.

Sophomores Lauren Bailey and Kate Wheeler have been strong competitors for NU’s distance crew this year, as each has placed four individual times in the top 10 of the Big 12. In addition, Bailey also has her name in the top 50 in two events nationally, and Wheeler in one. Bailey’s 9:57.84 in the 1,000-yard freestyle ranks No. 1 in the conference.

Nebraska’s 800-yard freestyle relay team of sophomore Michelle Criss, Wheeler, sophomore Katie Bowden and Bailey hold the only NU relay spot in the top 50 in the nation, ranking 35th with a time of 7:33.47 from the Texas Invitational.

Head coach Jeff DiNicola’s divers produced solid scores the entire year, led by junior Amie Buoy. The Edmonton, Alberta, Canada native is first in the conference in both the one-meter (championship) and three-meter dual competitions. Junior Becky Johnson holds the second position in the platform (championship) dive. Overall, the Husker divers hold 13 spots in the top 10.

 

Huskers Set NCAA Provisional Marks

Sophomore Lauren Bailey began her quest to return to the NCAA Championships in just the second dual meet of the season. Bailey swam a 16:51.31 in the 1,650-yard freestyle at Southern Illinois on Oct. 23, 2004, later improving that time to a 16:43.79 at the Texas Invitational. Bailey also added the 500-yard freestyle (4:50.06) and 400-yard IM (4:23.41) to her qualifying list at the Minnesota and Texas Invitationals.

Sophomore Kate Wheeler just missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships last season, and is looking to accomplish that goal this year. Wheeler has met provisional marks in two events, the 500-yard freestyle (4:54.00), 1,650-yard freestyle (16:46.97). The Issaquash, Wash., native nearly added a third event to her list this year, the 200-yard freestyle, but missed out by under four tenths of a second versus Truman State.

The third sophomore freestyler to set an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, Casey Schnack completed the 1,650-yard freestyle in 16:52.73 at the Minnesota Invitational in November. The time lowered her career best by eight seconds, which ranked her among the top 50 nationally at one point during the season. Schnack will be looking to lower that time even more, after it already cut eight seconds off her career-best.

Junior diver Amie Buoy met expectations this season as the Huskers’ top diver. Buoy met NCAA qualifying standards on more than five occasions. Her top scores from the season included a magnificent 500.45 on the three-meter at the Minnesota Invitational, and a 269.24 on the one-meter versus Missouri. Buoy was named the November Big 12 Diver of the Month after her performance at the Minnesota Invitational.

 

Diving for DiNicola

In just his second year as diving coach at the University of Nebraska, head coach Jeff DiNicola and his diving squad have made an impression on the Big 12 Conference.

DiNicola’s squad competed in seven duals this season, taking the top spot in the one-meter competition four times. Nebraska took first in the three-meter all six times they competed in the event.

The duo of juniors Amie Buoy and Becky Johnson led the strong diving squad, while sophomore Danielle Stansbury stepped up and scored valuable points as well.

On five occasions, Buoy and Johnson took the top two spots on the three-meter, and three times on the one-meter. At Southwest Missouri State, DiNicola’s alma mater, the trio of Buoy, Johnson and Stansbury went 1-2-3 in both diving competitions.

Buoy finished the regular season by qualifying for her third straight NCAA Zone meet, and led the team with a combined six first-place finishes.

Johnson and Stansbury just missed out on the NCAA qualifying mark. Johnson tallied three wins during the year, while Stansbury, the Lincoln, Neb. native, picked up her first career victory on the three-meter at Nebraska-Omaha.

The diving corps strongest performance of the season may have come against Missouri. In danger of falling by a large margin into the final events, Buoy and Johnson went 1-2 in both the one- and three-meter competitions and brought Nebraska back to take a slim lead. The Huskers went on to drop the meet in the final event.

Heading into the Big 12 Championships, DiNicola and his squad have a goal to finish near the top. Buoy currently leads the Big 12 in the one- and three-meter (Championship) events, and the Husker divers hold 14 spots in the top 10 as a team.

 

Trio Enters All-time Top Five

Three of the most talented athletes on the 2004-05 Nebraska swimming and diving team jumped into the record books this season by placing their names on the Nebraska All-Time Top 5 list. All three record-setting marks came at the same meet, the 2004 Minnesota Invitational Nov. 19-21.

Sophomore Lauren Bailey added another mark to the prestigious list in her second season as a Husker when she swam a career-best 4:50.06 in the 500-yard freestyle at the Minnesota Invite this season. The time put Bailey at No. 3, ahead of Heather Park and Michelle Butcher. It is the third event that Bailey now sits in the top 5 all-time, as she is also fourth in the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:42.72) and third in the 400-yard IM (4:17.57), both times that were set at last year’s Big 12 Championships.

Sophomore Kate Wheeler enjoyed a successful freshman season last year, and continued to show impressive marks this year in the freestyle events. At the Minnesota Invite, Wheeler’s third-place time of 16:46.97 put her No. 5 in the all-time list, four seconds behind Bailey’s mark.

Junior diver Amie Buoy put up a spectacular score of 498.60 at last year’s Big 12 Championships, placing her No. 5 on the all-time charts. Buoy surpassed that mark this season, when she dove a 500.45 at the Minnesota Invitational.

In addition to these record-setting marks, Bailey also deliveried one of the most thrilling moments of the year when she set the Devaney Center Pool record in the 1,000-yard freestyle on Nov. 13, 2004. Bailey’s time of 9:57.84 was first in the conference the rest of the year.

 

Huskers Drop Regular-Season Finale to Finish 8-1

Junior Amie Buoy swept the diving competitions, and sophomore Kate Wheeler added victories in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle, but it was not enough as Missouri edged the Huskers 153-147 on Senior Day at the Devaney Center Pool.In a much anticipated meet, Nebraska was attempting to become the first Husker swimming and diving team in history to finish 9-0. The 8-1 mark set this year still ranks highly at Nebraska, as only four other teams in history have finished undefeated or with one loss.

Nebraska trailed by as much as 114-92, before Buoy led the Huskers back with victories in the one- and three-meter dive.

"Our divers carried us a little bit today," said NU Coach Pablo Morales. "I am so proud of our divers. They knew that we were in it and knew they had to do something big."

Buoy finished with a score of 269.24 on the one-meter, and scored 272.84 on the three-meter. Junior Becky Johnson finished second in both diving events.

Following Buoy’s victories to give Nebraska a slim lead with two events to go, Missouri’s Amy Charley swam a time of 2:07.15 to take first in the 200-yard IM, and the Missouri ?B’ relay team took the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:28.18) to cap the win.

Nebraska swam well in the distance events, as sophomore Lauren Bailey won the 1,000-yard freestyle

(10:04.92) to add to Wheeler’s victories in the 200- (1:51.86) and 500-yard freestyle (5:01.29).

Junior Rachel Schlatter added depth with a win in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.09) and freshman Betsy Grover won the 100-yard butterfly in 56.74, narrowly defeating Missouri’s Liz Schoberg by just over one-tenth of a second.

"Rachel stepped up in the 100-yard breaststroke," Morales said. "On paper we weren’t maybe expected to win that race but when it came time I told her to have faith in herself and she did it. Betsy found a way to gather herself after Missouri took the 200-fly and she swam a courageous 100-fly to touch out a Missouri butterflier. Both of those were huge."

The center of attention was Nebraska’s lone senior Diana Torres, who swam in the final home meet of her career. Morales, along with assistant coach Doug Humphrey and diving coach Jeff DiNicola honored Torres before the meet.

"Before the meet Pablo told me how I have come a long ways in these four years," Torres said. "That made me realize that I am lucky to be a part of this team. I made a decision to come from Colombia to Nebraska, and I am happy that I am here."

Torres finished fourth in both the 100- and 200-yard butterfly races in her last home meet at Nebraska.

 

Nebraska Starts 8-0 for First Time in School History

The Nebraska women’s swimming and diving team improved to 8-0 for the first time in program history with a 189-110 rout of Iowa State on Feb. 29.

Nebraska was dominant in all aspects on a memorable day for the Huskers, taking the top spot in 11 of the 16 events en route to its 79-point win.

Sophomore Kate Wheeler led the charge for Nebraska, winning the 100-yard freestyle (53.39), 500-yard freestyle (5:02.47) and 200-yard freestyle (1:52.68).

Freshman Lynn Siemert began the day with a victory in the 50-yard freestyle. Siemert won the race in 24.63 as the Huskers swept the five freestyle events.

Nebraska was dominant in the fly races as well, as senior Diana Torres led a trio of Nebraska swimmers to the top three spots in the 100-yard fly with a time of 58.21. Freshman Betsy Grover took the top spot in the 200-yard fly in 2:05.86, and was followed closey by sophomore Bailey Ingles, who finished in second (2:06.42).

Junior co-captains Mackenzie Clark and Rachel Schlatter also performed well. Clark took first in the 1,650-yard freestyle in a season-best 16:58.05. Clark was followed by sophomore teammates Lauren Bailey (17:08.54) and Casey Schnack (17:16.06) to sweep the top three spots. Schlatter took first place in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:26.49, ahead of Iowa State’s Krista Fehl by three seconds.

Lauren Bailey did pick up a win in the 400-yard IM. The defending conference champion in that event swam a time of 4:26.49 to defeat the competition by seven seconds.

Junior Amie Buoy continued to lead the diving squad, winning the three-meter with a score of 287.62. Junior Becky Johnson was second (257.77).