Huskers Hit Road to Battle Buckeyes, Wolverines

Nebraska at No. 19 Ohio State with No. 21 Michigan
Date: Jan. 31-Feb. 1
Time: 5 p.m./10 a.m.
Location: McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, Columbus, Ohio

This weekend, the Nebraska swimming and diving team travels to Columbus, Ohio, to face the Michigan Wolverines and the hosts, the Ohio State Buckeyes, in its final dual meets of the season. Competition begins at 5 p.m. on Friday and will resume at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.

Last season's dual meet at Northwestern marked the first meeting for Nebraska and Ohio State. The No. 15 Buckeyes claimed a 224-134 victory over the Huskers, winning the invitational with a 3-0 record.

Nebraska finished second to Michigan at last season's Hawkeye Invitational, falling 200 points short of the Wolverines. The Huskers are winless in three prior dual meets with the squad from Ann Arbor.

Both Ohio State (384) and Michigan (309) finished ahead of Nebraska (195) at the 2013 Big Ten Championships. The Buckeyes claimed fourth, the Wolverines took sixth and the Huskers finished in ninth.

Ohio State is 8-1 in 2013-14, including a loss to Purdue and wins against Kentucky, Northwestern and Virginia Tech. Michigan (5-4, 2-3) has wins against Notre Dame, Iowa and Northwestern in addition to losses to Indiana, Minnesota and Texas this season.

Following this weekend's duals, the Huskers have nearly three weeks to prepare for their trip to Minneapolis, Minn., on Feb. 19 for the 2014 Big Ten Championships.

Check back in to Huskers.com for any and all updates regarding the Nebraska swimming and diving team, and follow this weekend's meets live with live stats at http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/livestats/m-swim/ and tweets from @HuskerSwim.

Last Time Out: Huskers Down Illini on Senior Day (1/25/14)

Eight different Huskers tallied victories, including a sweep of the diving events, and the Nebraska swimming and diving team held off Illinois 160-140 on Senior Day at the Devaney Natatorium. The Huskers won nine of the meet's 16 events, with the help of a six event win streak, en route to their second straight victory over the Illini. 

The Huskers started strong, winning the meet's opening event, the 200-yard medley relay by more than a second. The team of Jacqueline Juffer, Shannon Guy, Natalie Morris and Taryn Collura finished in a time of 1:43.76.

Bailey Pons then won the 1,650-yard freestyle in 17:02.65 to continue Nebraska's opening charge. With the win, the senior improved her career total to 39 victories. She would later add a fourth-place finish in the 500 free to cap the final home meet of her career. 

After the 1,650 free, Illinois started to gain momentum, taking the lead with wins by Courtney Pope and Alison Meng in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. Meanwhile, Huskers Morgan Flannigan (1:52.79) and Jacqueline Juffer (57.34) earned second-place finishes in the respective events to keep the score tight. 

Starting with the 100-yard breaststroke, Nebraska won the next six events to take control of the dual. Guy was the victor for the Huskers in the 100 breast, finishing in 1:04.88. The senior added a second-place finish in the 100 fly later on in the meet.

Natalie Morris was the next winner for the Huskers, claiming the 200 fly crown for the 6th time this season. The junior finished in a time of 2:02.41.

The Husker sprint freestyle corps also played a key role in the win streak, with Alexandra Bilunas (23.76) and Taryn Collura (23.88) finishing first and second in the 50-yard freestyle. Just two events later, Collura won the 100 free in a time of 51.58 to continue to build Nebraska's lead. 

Nicole Schwery also kept the win streak alive with a victory in the one-meter dive. The sophomore scored a career-best 297.23, edging teammate Anna Filipcic (296.18) for first place. Filipcic would return the favor in the three meter, besting Schwery's career-best 313.35 with a score of 321.07 for the victory.

The Huskers' final win of the streak came from Erin Oeltjen in the 200-yard backstroke. The freshman finished in 2:03.52 for her fourth victory of the season. 

Senior Morgan Flannigan nearly stretched the streak to seven for the Huskers, taking second in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:00.15. Flannigan also finished second in the 200 free, swimming a time of 1:52.79 in her final home meet. 

Illinois won five of the meet's final six events to narrow the final margin. Erica Lynn (200 breast), Gabbie Stecker (500 free), Alison Meng (100 fly) and Lori Lynn (200 IM) were the individual event winners for the Illini down the stretch, adding to their 400 free relay victory. With Meng's 100 fly title, she became the only multi-event winner on the day for either squad.

However, the Husker lead was too much to overcome as they improved their all-time series record to 3-4 against the Illini. Nebraska also moved to 4-2-1 on the season, while Illinois fell to 8-6-1.

Last Time vs Ohio State: Huskers Win One, Set Record at Northwestern (2/2/13)

The Nebraska swimming and diving team ended its regular season on Saturday with one win and two losses at the Northwestern Invitational held at Northwestern's Norris Aquatics Center. The Huskers won their dual meet against Northwestern by a score of 198-171 but fell to No. 15 Ohio State and Iowa by respective scores of 224-134 and 191-179.

With Saturday's results, Nebraska finished the regular season with a dual meet record of 12-3. Their 12 victories are a new school record, surpassing the 1986-87 and 1989-90 squads that finished with 11 wins. Eight was the previous season-best win total for Head Coach Pablo Morales.

The Huskers began the morning session with a second place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Hayley Martin, Shannon Guy, Natalie Morris, and Taryn Collura finished in a time of 1:43.01, less than a second behind Ohio State.

Shannon Guy then took second place in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing in a time of 56.22 seconds. Morris, Collura and Bria Deveaux finished seventh, 11th and 12th, respectively, in the event. Guy would later add a sixth place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke.

The squad also got a standout performance from Hayley Martin, as she took first place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 55.33 seconds. Earlier, Martin placed third in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing in 1:51.17.

Nebraska concluded the morning session with a third place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The team of Martin, Morris, Bailey Pons, and Ellan Dufour finished behind two Ohio State squads.

In the evening session, Bailey Pons got things started with a runner-up finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Pons finished the race in a time of 17:03.95.

Martin and Morris captured a pair of fourth place finishes in the middle events to keep up the scoring for the Huskers. Martin finished the 200-yard backstroke in 2:03.31, while Morris swam the 200-yard butterfly in 2:05.36.

The Huskers got their second and final win of the day from Taryn Collura in the 100-yard freestyle. The redshirt freshman finished in a time of 50.56 seconds.

In the diving well, Payton Michaud, Amy Herman and Kailey Harmon finished sixth, eighth and tenth, respectively, in the one-meter dive.

In the meet's final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Nebraska earned second place. The team of Martin, Guy, Deveaux, and Collura finished 65 hundredths of second behind Ohio State with a time of 3:25.67.

Katie Davis, Morgan Flannigan, Ashley Reiter, Ellan Dufour, Kristin Strecker, Kelsey Larson, and Melisa Mexia were the other top-ten finishers for the Huskers on Saturday. Overall, the Huskers produced 35 top-ten finishes and two victories over the two days at the invitational.

Last Time vs Michigan: Huskers Make Statement, Finish Second in Iowa City (12/2/12)

The Nebraska swimming and diving team finished in second place with an overall score of 670 points in the Hawkeye Invitational at the University of Iowa's Campus Recreation and Wellness Center on Sunday. 

The squad finished behind Michigan (876.5), but defeated Iowa (559.5) and Northwestern (472.5), both of which finished above the Huskers at last season's Big Ten Championships. 

The Huskers had a wide variety of standout performances during Sunday afternoon's finals. Bailey Pons got things started with a fourth place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:38.50). 

The trio of Ariel Weech (49.75), Hayley Martin (49.90), and Taryn Collura (49.98) finished second, third, and fourth, respectively, in the 100-yard freestyle. Weech's time was the third best in school history and was less than a second off the current school record of 48.76. 

Kristin Strecker and Ashley Reiter tied for fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:17.10. Natalie Morris added a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly (2:02.26). 

In the diving well, Amy Herman (266.55), Kailey Harmon (237.90), and Nicole Schwery (233.60) placed second, fourth, and fifth in the platform dive, respectively. 

Other top-16 finishers on the day were Ellan Dufour (200 Back), Morgan Flannigan (1,650 Free), Katt Sickle (1,650 Free), Shannon Guy (200 Fly), Melisa Mexia (200 Fly), Kelsey Larson (200 Breast), and Nikolina Sabo (200 Breast). 

Nebraska finished the day with a second place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Huskers lost a tight race to Michigan, losing by 28 hundredths of a second. The team of Weech, Martin, Dunn, and Collura had the fourth fastest time in school history, finishing in a time of 3:21.27. 

Overall, Nebraska accumulated 47 top-16 finishes on the weekend. However, the only win came in the first event of the meet, when the Huskers' 200-yard freestyle relay team finished in a time of 1:31.07, just one hundredth of a second slower than the school record.