Huskers Remain in Third at Minnesota Invite

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Minneapolis, Minn. - The Nebraska swimming and diving team scored 254 of its 441 points in day two of the Minnesota Invitational to remain in third place in the team standings.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

The Huskers, who led fourth-place Iowa by just 12 points at the end of day one, extended the gap to 23 points (441 to 418) with solid performances on the second day of competition.

Although NU did not tally any first-place finishes, the Huskers performed very well to score valuable points in multiple events.

Kate Wheeler, Lauren Bailey and Katie Bowden provided big performances in the 200-yard freestyle.  In the A-Final, Wheeler finished in fifth-place with a time of 1:53.01 while Bailey finished eighth in 1:54.02.  Bowden earned a second-place finish in the B-Final with a time of 1:53.95 to finish tenth overall.

Bailey also led a trio of NU swimmers in the 400-IM.  Bailey, Casey Schnack and Bailey Ingles all qualified for the A-Final and gave Nebraska a combined 43 points in the event.  Bailey finished third (4:24.54) while Schnack was fourth (4:29.62) and Ingles seventh (4:35.10).

Nebraska received leadership roles from junior co-captain Rachel Schlatter and senior Diana Torres.  Both were the highest NU finishers in their respective events.  Schlatter finished sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.37) while Torres swam a time of 59.36 to earn a tenth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke.

Junior Amie Buoy also had a big day, finishing fourth in the three-meter dive.  Even more impressive, Buoy's score of 500.45 places her fifth on NU's all-time list.  She replaces her own score of 498.60 from the 2004 Big 12 Championships.

The highest relay finish for Nebraska came in the first event of the day.  The the 200-yard medley team of Schlatter, Emilee Crawford, Betsy Grover and Lynn Siemert finished sixth in 1:47.78, kicking off a day of strong performances for the Huskers.

The meet concludes tomorrow as competition starts with preliminary events at 11 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.

Team Scores
1. University of Wisconsin 745
2. University of Minnesota 567
3. University Of Nebraska 441
4. University of Iowa 418
5. Iowa State University 236
6. University of North Dakota 198
7. St. Cloud State University 63
8. Purdue University 60
9. St. Olaf College 32
10. Gustavus Adolphus University 22
11. South Dakota State University 8