Dec. 5, 2008
COLUMBIA, MO – The Iowa men and women came out strong in the first day of competition at the Missouri Invitational. Finishing the first day of the three day competition, the Iowa men currently sit in first place with 314 points, leading the nationally-ranked Missouri Tigers by 29. The women posted a score of 321 which was enough to put the Hawkeyes in second place.
The Iowa women dominated the relay events, taking first in both the 200 free relay and the 400 medley relay. Daniela Cubelic, Julie deBruin, Christine Kuczek, and Allison Gschwend teamed up for the 200 free relay and finished first in 1:33.10. Danielle Carty, Caitlin Polz, Hilary Leigh, and Kathryn Michelau also competed in the event and finished in fifth place. The Hawkeye women had two second place finishers in the individual events. Katarina Tour took second in the 200 IM, touching the wall in 2:03.33 while Christine Kuczek earned the second place spot in the 50 free in 23.54. Standout diver Deidre Freeman once again captured the top spot in the today’s diving event. Freeman took first in the three meter competition with a score of 308.60. The junior has won every three meter competition this season with the exception of one.
In men’s action, the Hawkeyes posted several top place finishes. Iowa took first and second in the 200 free relay and also posted the fastest time in the 500 free. The team of Duncan Partridge, Ryan Phelan, Richard Salhus, and Conor Dwyer were the top finishers in the 500 Free with a time of 1:20.95. Sean Hagan, Bryan Hill, Brian Farris and Jake Moore finished just behind in a close second (123.85). Conor Dwyer earned the only individual first place finish of the day for the Iowa men. Dwyer posted the fastest time in the 500 Free (4:24.74) and Nick Divan touched the wall in 4:25.12 to take third. Also earning top three finishing times were Paul Gordon, who took second in the 200 IM (1:50.39) and Partridge, who finished second in the 50 free (20.48).
“We’re happy that the invitational has started,” said Iowa Head Coach Marc Long. “We’ve got two more days of good competition ahead of us and we’re excited for the next two days. I’m looking forward to seeing more exciting relays from our teams and some good competition.”
The Hawkeyes will continue competition in day two of the Missouri Invitational tomorrow. Preliminaries will begin at 10 am CT, with the finals starting at 6 pm CT at the Mizzou Aquatics Center.