Huskers Travel to Arkansas for First Road Test

Nebraska at Arkansas
Date: Oct. 26
Time: 11 a.m.
Location: Arkansas Natatorium, Fayetteville, Ark.

The Nebraska swimming and diving team travels to Fayetteville, Ark., on Saturday, Oct. 26, to face the Arkansas Razorbacks in the squad's first road dual of the season. The meet will take place at 11 a.m. at the Arkansas Natatorium. 

Saturday's competition will mark the second of the season for the Huskers, who are coming off a 150-150 tie with Iowa State in their season opener. Nebraska is 6-4 all-time against the Razorbacks, including wins in the last two meetings (2005 and 2006). 

Saturday's dual will be the fourth regular-season competition for Arkansas, a team that finished 26th at last season's NCAA Championships and sixth in the SEC. Along with a relay invitational victory, the Razorbacks have dual wins against North Texas and LSU this season. 

The matchup between the Huskers and Razorbacks will feature two squads coming off program-changing seasons. Both teams set eight school records at their respective conference championship meets in 2013, including the 200 medley and 400 free relays, making both events must-see competitions on Saturday. 

Following Saturday's meet, the Huskers will have nearly three weeks to prepare for their second home competition of the season, a double dual with Iowa and South Dakota State. The meet with the Hawkeyes and Jackrabbits will take place at 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15, at the Devaney Natatorium. 

Check back in to Huskers.com for any and all updates regarding the Nebraska swimming and diving team, and follow Saturday's meet live at https://twitter.com/HuskerSwim with live tweets from @HuskerSwim. 

Last Time Out: Huskers and Cyclones Tie in Season Opener (10/12/13)

The Nebraska swimming and diving team battled the Iowa State Cyclones Saturday in their season opening dual which ended in a rare tie (150-150). This is not the first time Nebraska and Iowa State have tied in competition. The last time came at the Big 12 Relays in 2006 where they both tied for fifth place with scores of 41 each. 

"It was our first true test of the year," head coach Pablo Morales said. "We knew coming into this meet it was going to be a tough one. Iowa State came in ready to go. I am very proud of how our girls still battled until the very end. There aren't supposed to be ties in swimming dual meets but I guess we had one anyway." 

The Huskers won eight out of the 16 events on Saturday, including the 200-yard medley relay, 1,000-yard freestyle and a sweep in the butterfly events. A number of swimmers contributed to the victory, but junior Natalie Morris stood out, winning both the 100- (57.35) and 200-yard (2:06.21) butterflies. 

Senior Bailey Pons had an impressive meet as well, winning the 1,000-yard freestyle in an exciting race that came down to the finish. Pons out-touched Iowa State freshman Karle Clarete by three hundredths of a second and posted a time of 10:13.66. This time is only one second off her career-best 10:12.69. 

In the diving well, the Huskers swept both the one- and three-meter dives. Freshman Anna Filipcic had a break-out performance, taking first place in the one meter with a score of 279.30. In the three-meter dive Payton Michaud stood out with an impressive score of 304.80, which is only two points off her career-best dive in the event. 

Taryn Collura continued to shine in the sprint freestyle events, winning the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.91. She just missed out on her second victory of the day, getting out-touched in the 50 free and taking second place with a time of 23.78. 

Erin Oeltjen also added a victory in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.42.

"There are a lot of areas that we will continue to work on, but I'm definitely proud of how our girls stood up and battled today," said Morales.

Last Time Vs. Arkansas: Wheeler, Bailey Lead NU Over Lady Backs (10/28/06)

Seniors Kate Wheeler and Lauren Bailey dominated the field as they combined for five wins to lead Nebraska to a 168-132 win overArkansas on Saturday morning at the Devaney Natatorium.

The win moves Nebraska to 2-2 on the season and was the second in a row against the Lady Backs after a 181-115 victory in Fayettevillelast October. With Saturday’s meet, Wheeler and Bailey won 10 races in the two meets between NU and UA.

“We always except a lot out of Kate and Lauren,” Head Coach Pablo Morales said. “They are outstanding competitors and they have worked very hard to get to the level that they’re at. They just continue to swim great.”

Bailey’s second and final win of the day clinched the victory forNebraska as she cruised to a first-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley (4:28.11) in the second to last event. The Big 12 Swimmer of the Week for Oct. 22, Bailey also won the 200 free (1:52.92) and now has eight wins in 2006-07.

Wheeler had three of Nebraska’s eight event wins, including a season-best best time in the 100 free of 52.46. The Issaquah, Wash., native also won the 500 free (5:02.32) and 1,000 free (10:17.20).

While the veterans led the meet, a pair of newcomers also shined as freshmen Hailey Dean and Kaitlin Arntz each earned their first-career wins. Dean took the 100 breaststroke in a season-best time of 1:06.57 and Arntz won the 200 breaststroke in 2:22.25. Through four dual meets this season, three of the Huskers’ seven freshmen have already won their first races at the collegiate level (Mariah Hutchinson won the 100 fly at Missouri State).

Nebraska’s final win of the day came in the form of the 800 free relay when Hutchinson, Wheeler, sophomore Jenny Toler and Bailey turned in a season-best time of 7:39.98, more than two seconds ahead of Arkansas’ ‘A’ relay in 7:42.67.