Nebraska Gears Up for Final Session

College Station, Texas? The Husker swimming and diving team geared up for tonight’s final round of competition as two divers qualified for the finals, and nine swimmers qualified for the consolation finals in action that took place Saturday morning at the Big 12 Championships.

 

Juniors Amie Buoy and Becky Johnson, Nebraska’s 1-2 punch on the boards the entire year, finished third and fifth in the semifinals to qualify for tonight’s final round.  Buoy, who already captured two second-place finishes on the one- and three-meter dive, scored a career best 333.80, while Johnson dove possibly her best performance of the meet with a score of 321.35.

 

Nebraska, attempting to chase down Kansas for the third spot in the team standings, used another round of strong performances in the sprint freestyle and breaststroke events, as a combined six swimmers qualified for the consolation finals in the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard breaststroke.  In the 100-yard freestyle, sophomore Michelle Criss (12th 52.08), freshman Lynn Siemert (14th, 52.20) and sophomore Katie Bowden (15th, 52.24) all set career-best times, while junior Alex King qualified for the bonus finals after finishing 18th in 52.35. 

 

Adrienne Goodman continued to impress at her first Big 12 Championships, as the freshman qualified for her second consolation finals of the meet with a 12th-place finish in a career-best time of 2:21.46.  Juniors Rachel Schlatter and Lana Baker were right behind in 13th and 15th place.  

 

Senior Diana Torres will also give the Huskers an opportunity to score points tonight, qualifying for the consolation finals in the 200-yard butterfly with a career best time of 2:03.95.  Torres will be accompanied by sophomore Bailey Ingles, who finished 16th in 2:05.93.  Freshmen Betsy Grover (12th, 2:09.26) and Haley Koss (24th, 2:11.12) will swim in the bonus finals.

 

Sophomore Emilee Crawford was Nebraska’s lone representative in the 200-yard backstroke, and qualified for the consolation finals with a 15th-place finish in 2:05.50.

 

In Saturday night’s finals, Nebraska will look to close the gap on the Jayhawks on the platform dive, and will swim one of the strongest distance corps in the nation in the 1,650-yard freestyle.  The Huskers had four of the top 10 times in the conference in the event at the end of the regular season.

 

Finals action for the final session of the 2005 Big 12 Championships begins at 6 p.m.  Women’s platform diving finals begin at 5 p.m.

 

Saturday Preliminary Results

(Nebraska finishes)

 

200-yard Backstroke

Consolation Finals

15. Emilee Crawford, Nebraska, 2:05.50

 

100-yard Freestyle

Consolation Finals

12. Michelle Criss, Nebraska, 52.08 (Career Best)

14. Lynn Siemert, Nebraska, 52.20 (Career Best)

15. Katie Bowden, Nebraska, 52.23 (Career Best)

 

Bonus Finals

18. AlexKing, Nebraska, 52.35

 

200-yard Breaststroke

Consolation Finals

12. Adrienne Goodman, Nebraska, 2:21.46 (Career Best)

13. Rachel Schlatter, Nebraska, 2:22.12

15. Lana Baker, Nebraska, 2:24.58

 

200-yard Butterfly

Consolation Finals

12. Diana Torres, Nebraska, 2:03.95 (Career Best)

16. Bailey Ingles, Nebraska, 2:05.93 (Career Best)

 

Bonus Finals

21. Betsy Grover, Nebraska, 2:09.26

24. Haley Koss, Nebraska, 2:11.12

 

Platform Diving

Finals

3. Amie Buoy, Nebraska, 333.80 (Career Best)

5. Becky Johnson, Nebraska, 321.35

 

Other NU finishers

13. Kaci Ressler, Nebraska, 277.80

15. Danielle Stansbury, Nebraska, 241.45