Huskers Head South for Big 12 Championships

Following a 7-6 regular season, the <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska swimming and diving team will travel to College Station, Texas this week for the four-day Big 12 Championships, hosted by TexasA&MUniversity.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Competition begins Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. with two relay events. Preliminary heats will begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with finals starting at 6 p.m. each day. TexasA&MUniversity, in conjunction with Fox Sports Net, will provide a live video stream of all championship finals on aggieathletics.com. Fox Sports Net will also televise the 2007 Big 12 Championships on a tape-delay basis at a later time. Live stats, results, updated team standings and more will be available throughout the week on the Big 12 Championships official website at www.aggieathletics.com/specialsites/2007swimming/. Huskers.com will provide daily recaps after each preliminary and finals session.

 

Nebraska achieved its 7-6 regular season dual mark (1-4 Big 12) with one of its toughest schedules in recent years. The Huskers opened the season by facing two nationally-ranked foes in No. 11 Texas and No. 5 Texas A&M in October, while also hosting the Big 12 Relays. Nebraska dropped both meets to the Longhorns and Aggies, but picked up a conference win on Jan. 20 at IowaState. Its remaining two losses came to Kansas and Missouri.

 

Among the Huskers’ most impressive accomplishments during the 2006-07 season has been solid performances on the road. In fact, Nebraska went a perfect 5-0 in dual meets away from the Devaney Natatorium this season, while also placing fifth at the highly competitive Minnesota Invitational.

 

Nebraska hopes to match the success from its last trip to College Station, when it finished third at the 2005 Big 12 Championships. The Huskers overcame a final day 34-point deficit to Kansas to claim the third spot, which remains the highest conference finish for NU since 2001. Last year, the Huskers were fifth at the 2006 Big 12 Championships in Columbia, Mo.

 

Huskers Place 20 on Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll

Nebraska was well represented on the most recent Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll as 20 swimmers and divers earned honors for the fall 2006 semester.

 

The number marks the most for the swimming and diving team in head coach Pablo Morales’ six-year career, surpassing the 18 that earned the required 3.0 grade-point average in the fall of 2005.

 

Eleven seniors led the Huskers, including three who have completed their eligibility but are still enrolled in classes at Nebraska (Amie Buoy, Kate Dulgar and Becky Johnson).

 

Emilee Crawford led the current senior class as she was named to the Big 12 team for the seventh consecutive semester. Lauren Bailey, Bailey Ingles, Casey Schnack and Danielle Stansbury all earned their sixth honors, while Katie Bowden picked up her fourth award in five semesters after transferring from South Carolina in 2004.

 

The academic efforts of NU’s underclassmen were also impressive as six freshmen were named to the team in their first semesters at Nebraska in Kaitlin Arntz, Sarah Broker, Colleen Criss, Mariah Hutchinson, Kelsey Ida and Sarah Ziegelmann. Ida earned a perfect 4.0 GPA, and she was one of only 33 who accomplished the feat across Nebraska’s 23 varsity sports. Johnson and Abby Fitzpatrick, a former NU diver, also had 4.0 grade-point averages.

 

A pair of juniors and sophomores also were named to the team in Dani Millis and Kaci Ressler and Christina Yemm and Courtney Jolly. Millis has appeared on the Big 12 Honor Roll for seven straight semesters, while Yemm and Ressler have also earned a 3.0 during each semester at Nebraska.

 

Nebraska had a total of 270 honorees on the 2006 Big 12 Commissioner’s Fall Honor Roll across all sports.

 

Scouting the Big 12 Conference

Iowa State tied Nebraska for fifth place at the Big 12 Relays in October and then went on to a 5-4 (0-3 Big 12) dual record. The Cyclones were among the 12-team field at the Minnesota Invitational, where they placed seventh with 183.5 points. ISU did not pick up a conference dual win.

 

Missouri has been a consistent Top 25 team this season and is currently ranked No. 24 by www.collegeswimming.com. The Tigers defeated Nebraska in their last regular season meet to end the season with an 8-2 (3-1 Big 12) dual mark. Missouri’s only losses came to No. 5 Texas A&M and No. 8 Indiana.

 

Kansas is 6-1 (2-1 Big 12) this season with its only loss coming at No. 24 Missouri. The Jayhawks had a solid showing at the 15-team Maryland Invitational in November when they placed second with 609 points. Their two conference wins came against Nebraska and IowaState.

 

Texas A&M has been the dominant team in the Big 12 Conference this season as it enters the Big 12 Championships as the fifth-ranked team in the nation. The Aggies took home the Big 12 Relays title in October en route to an undefeated dual season at 9-0 (3-0 Big 12). They defeated four ranked teams during the season.

 

Texas was 2-6 overall this season against a very tough schedule that included five ranked teams. In its last meet of the season, Texas defeated No. 8 SMU. The 11th-ranked Horns’ other win came over Nebraska in their first meet of the season.

 

Bailey Named Big 12 Swimmer of the Week

Nebraska senior Lauren Bailey was named the Big 12 Swimmer of the Week for the second time this season for meets from Jan. 22-Feb. 4, announced Wednesday, Feb. 7 by the Big 12 Conference.

 

Bailey earned the honor after a strong ending to the 2006-07 regular season in which when she won a combined four races in two meets against No. 24 Missouri and Nebraska-Omaha.

 

Against the Tigers, Bailey broke the school and pool record in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 9:51.48. The San Mateo, Calif., native also won the 500 freestyle in a NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 4:51.99 and took first in the 200 IM in 2:07.45. The previous night in Omaha, she won the 100 fly in 59.91.

 

Bailey was also named the conference swimmer of the week when the first award of the season was announced on Oct. 25, 2006.

   

Three Huskers Rank in Big 12 Top 10

Heading into the 2007 Big 12 Championships, three Huskers are ranked among the top 10 in individual events from performances throughout the 2006-07 regular season.

 

Leading the way is senior Lauren Bailey, as her school-record time of 9:51.48 in the 1,000 free from the Missouri dual leads the Big 12 Conference. Although the 1,000 free is not competed at the Big 12 Championships, she does rank seventh in the 1,650 free (16:47.54). Bailey is also 10th in the 500 free (4:51.99).

 

Senior Kate Wheeler sits behind Bailey in the mile, as she turned in a time of 16:49.04 on Nov. 19 at the Minnesota Invitational for the eighth-fastest time in the Big 12 this season.

 

The Huskers have also seen some youthful talent in the 100 breaststroke, as freshman Hailey Dean sits in ninth with a time of 1:05.31 from the Minnesota Invitational.

 

Senior Looks Toward Fourth NCAA Championship Appearance

Lauren Bailey has taken big strides this season toward a fourth straight NCAA Championship appearance.

 

The California native has 25 wins in 2006-07 and 67 during her career at Nebraska. She was a two-time Big 12 Swimmer of the Week this season after earning the last award of the season on Feb. 7.

 

Bailey has met the NCAA provisional-qualifying mark seven times this season in two events (500  and 1,650 freestyle). She also set a school record in the 1,000 freestyle against Missouri in 9:51.48.

 

Bailey is the defending Big 12 champion in the 1,650 free.

 

Underclassmen Step Up for the Huskers

The seven-person freshmen class has surpassed expections this season as it has totaled 17 wins heading into the Big 12 Championships.

 

Leading the charge is Mariah Hutchinson as her 11 wins rank third overall on the team. The Topeka, Kan., native specializes in butterfly events and has four wins in the 100 fly and two in the 200 fly.

 

Hailey Dean is second among the freshmen class with three wins, followed by Kaitlin Arntz with two and Kelsey Ida with one.

     

Last Year at the Big 12 Championships

Lauren Bailey and Kate Wheeler each placed in the top three in both the 500 and 1,650 free to lead the Huskers to a fifth-place finish at the 2006 Big 12 Championships in Columbia, Mo.

 

Bailey was crowned a conference champion in the mile with her winning time of 16:20.05. In the event, Bailey broke her 1,000 free school record with an official split of 9:51.91. She also placed second in the 500 free (4:46.96) and third in the 400 IM (4:19.10).

 

Wheeler was third in the 500 (4:47.49) and 1,650 free (16:36.24), while she placed fifth in the 200 free with a time of 1:49.36.

 

Three other Husker swimmers qualified for finals events, including Mackenzie Clark, who finished eighth in the mile (16:51.93). Rachel Schlatter was fifth in the 100 breaststroke and Bailey Ingles was sixth in the 200 butterfly (2:03.97).

 

Becky Johnson led the Nebraska divers with fifth-place finishes on both the three meter and platform boards.

 

Last Trip to College Station

In its last trip to College Station, the Huskers had one of its most memorable meets in recent history as it took home a third-place finish at the 2005 Big 12 Championships.

 

Nebraska overcame a 34-point deficit to Kansas on the final day of competition and finished the meet with 461 points, seven points ahead of the Jayhawks.

 

Nebraska racked up 50 points in the 1,650 freestyle, led by Lauren Bailey’s second-place showing, and clinched third in the team standings when Bailey Ingles won the consolation final in the 200 butterfly.

 

Bailey’s second-place performance was her second of the meet, after finishing as runner-up in the 500 freestyle on day two.

                

Recap: 2006 Big 12 Relays

The Nebraska swimming and diving team tied for fifth place with 41 points as the host of the 2006 Big 12 Relays at the Devaney Natatorium on Friday, Oct. 13.

 

The Huskers had a meet-high third-place finish in the 150-yard breaststroke relay in the final half of the meet that helped NU overcome a five-point deficit to tie the Iowa State Cyclones for fifth. More impressive was that the relay team consisted of two freshmen in Kaitlin Arntz and Hailey Dean. Junior Adrienne Goodman was the anchor leg on the three-person team that finished in 1:33.22.

 

Aside from the third-place finish, the Huskers also had six fourth-place finishes, five of which Arntz was a part of. The freshman from Omaha, Neb., also placed second on Thursday night against Texas in the 200-yard breaststroke.

 

Nebraska’s remaining fourth-place finish came in the 1,500-yard freestyle relay, an event that the Huskers won at the 2005 Big 12 Relays. The same team of seniors Kate Wheeler, Lauren Bailey and Casey Schnack turned in a time of 15:06.52 this year.

 

Review: Huskers Come Up Short on Senior Day

Despite another school-record effort by senior Lauren Bailey, the Nebraska swimming and diving team came up short on Senior Day as they fell to No. 24 Missouri, 169.5-122.5, on Saturday, Jan. 27 at the Devaney Natatorium.

 

Bailey’s school record mark was a time of 9:51.48 in the 1,000 freestyle, breaking her previous best of 9:51.91 from the 2006 Big 12 Championships. It was also a Devaney Natatorium pool record, marking the second time this season she has reset her own mark. The other came two weeks ago against Kansas in a time of 9:55.10 and her initial pool record came as a freshman against TrumanState (9:57.84) on Nov. 13, 2004.

 

However, Bailey’s win in the 1,000 free was Nebraska’s only victory through the first five events as the 24th-ranked Tigers built a large lead out of the gate.

 

Freshman Mariah Hutchinson ran her season-win total to 10 as she continued to impress in the butterfly races, winning the 200 fly in 2:06.11 and the 100 fly in 57.96. Hutchinson’s 10 wins are a team-high among Nebraska freshmen. She had two victories in the Huskers’ win over Nebraska-Omaha the previous night.