Huskers Stay Strong on Second Day of Minnesota Invite

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Minneapolis, Minn. - Nebraska enjoyed another strong day on the diving boards as senior Becky Johnson finished as runner-up on the one-meter and three Husker swimmers qualified for the finals to lead the Big Red on the second day of the Minnesota Invitational on Saturday in Minneapolis, Minn.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Johnson, an Anoka, Minn. native, scored a career-best 273.55 on the one-meter, falling to Erica Schiffler of Minnesota (277.05) to earn runner-up honors and keep Nebraska in sixth place in the team standings with 335 points heading into the final day of competition.

 

“We swam a lot of season and career bests so far,” Head Coach Pablo Morales said. “We are having some good performances, and the divers are doing incredibly well.”

 

Junior co-captain Kate Wheeler was NU’s highest finisher in the pool as she tied for third in the 200-yard freestyle after winning a swim-off following the prelims to qualify for the finals. The Issaquash, Wash., native took advantage of the opportunity and came up just one one-hundredth shy of a career-best time (1:50.41). The race was Wheeler’s second impressive race of the meet as she set a career-best mark in the 500-yard freestyle (4:50.51) to place third on Friday.

 

“Kate had another really good day,” Morales said. “She swam two career bests and it is really good to see her hard work paying off at this point in the season. She trained hard last spring and summer and now we are seeing the benefits of that.”

 

Junior Lauren Bailey finished fourth in the 400-yard IM in a season-best time of 4:22.27 to set her second NCAA provisional cut of the season, and mark the third straight year in which she has placed in the top four in the event at the Minnesota Invitational. It also gave her seven top-four finishes at the Minnesota Invite throughout her career.

 

Senior Rachel Schlatter was the remaining Husker to qualify for the finals as she tied for seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke in a season-best time of 1:05.20.

 

The 800-yard freestyle relay team of freshman Jenny Toler, Wheeler, junior Casey Schnack and Bailey was Nebraska’s top finishing relay with its season-best time of 7:31.81, breaking its previous best by almost 10 seconds (7:41.01) when it took first at the Big 12 Relays.

 

The Huskers conclude the three-day Minnesota Invitational on Sunday. Preliminary events begin at 10 a.m., followed by finals at 3 p.m.

 

“We are trying to move up in the standings,” Morales said. “We closed the gap on fifth today, and we will look to keep moving up and finish strong. We have talked about getting stronger and better and we want to keep that intensity and make a move on the last day.”