Sprint Freestylists Lead NU at Big 12 Relays

Ames, Iowa? Nebraska’s sprint freestyle swimmers gave the Huskers their second-highest event finish at the Big 12 Relays since 2002 as they placed runner-up in the 100-yard freestyle relay to lead NU to a fifth-place team finish Friday in Ames, Iowa.

 

Nebraska accounted for 34.5 points on the day, while also earning four fourth-place finishes in the 18-event meet. Only the Huskers’ winning 1,500-yard freestyle relay (Kate Wheeler, Casey Schnack and Lauren Bailey) at the 2005 meet has finished higher in the past six years than Friday’s 100-freestyle team of senior Lynn Siemert, junior Jenna Stroud, freshman Meredith Matthies and junior Jenny Toler.

 

Their time of 45.06 not only placed NU ahead of Kansas (45.32), Texas (45.36), IowaState (45.48) and Missouri (46.19), but the mark was nearly a full second faster (eight tenths) than the Huskers’ time at last year’s Big 12 Relay meet. Their finish was vital in keeping the Huskers ahead of IowaState in the team standings as the 100-freestyle relay was the third to last event of the day.

 

Stroud and Siemert were also on the fourth-place 200 freestyle relay team, along with freshman Jess Andrews and sophomore Hailey Dean. In addition, Siemert and Dean swam on the 100 medley relay (with sophomore Kelsey Ida and freshman Kelsey Grushecky) that finished fourth to open the meet, while Matthies was the anchor of the fourth-place 300 butterfly relay that included Grushecky and sophomore Mariah Hutchinson.

 

Texas won the men’s side with 117 points, ahead of Texas A&M (78) and Missouri (76).

 

The Huskers will now return home to Lincoln for an 11 a.m. dual meet against South DakotaState Saturday at the Devaney Natatorium.

 

Final Team Standings

1. Texas A&M ? 117

2. Texas ? 88

3. Missouri ? 67

4. Kansas ? 56

5. Nebraska ? 34.5

6. IowaState ? 31.5

 

Scouting the South DakotaState Jackrabbits:

The Jackrabbits finished fourth at the 2007 Mid-Continent Conference Championships after a 5-7 dual season in 2006-07. Nebraska and South DakotaState had three common opponents on the year in Kansas, IowaState and Northern Iowa. The Huskers were 2-1 against those opponents (loss to Kansas), while the Jackrabbits were 1-2 (win against Northern Iowa).

 

South Dakota State head coach Brad Erickson is one of the most loyal coaches in the NCAA, serving his 31st season as the Jackrabbits leader in 2007-08 after graduating from SDSU in 1974. Erickson has guided the men’s and women’s squads to a pair of North Central Conference championships and was named the NCC men’s coach of the year in 2002. As a swimmer at SDSU, Erickson became the first Jackrabbit to qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships.