Oct. 13, 2005

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Freshman Jill Granger set Missouri school records in the 500 and 1000 free to lead the Tigers (0-0-1, 0-0-1 Big 12) to a 121-121 tie with national power Texas (0-0-1, 0-0-1) Thursday night in the Mizzou Aquatic Center's inaugural dual meet.

"We've had some big wins in the history of this program, but this ranks right around the top," Mizzou head coach Brian Hoffer said. "I'll take a tie with a team as talented and deep as Texas any day."

The Tigers got off to a fast start in the meet's first event, as the team of freshman Lori Halvorson, sophomore Jill Bastien, senior Liz Schoborg and junior Shannon Hogan placed second in the 200 medley relay.

The 1000 free was the next event, and it proved to be an historic one for Granger. The Midland, Texas, native broke Katie Mae Fields' school record of 10:09.71 by over seven seconds, clocking in 10:02.03 to finish in second place. Texas junior Stephanie Anderson took the event with a time 10:00.04.

One of the turning points of the meet came next with the swimming of the 200 free, and the Tigers managed to swing the momentum in their favor courtesy of freshmen Lauren Cox and Carly Sullivan. Cox placed first in the event, closely followed by classmate Sullivan, who finished almost a full second ahead of third-place finisher Elizabeth Wycliffe of Texas. That effort tied the meet at 27 and provided the Tigers with a spark midway through the meet.

With the tide in their favor, the Tigers took three of the top four spots in the 50 free. Hogan led the way with a time of 23.58, while sophomores Katie Gates (24.17) and Taye Patterson (24.66) finished third and fourth, respectively.

Halvorson chipped in a runner-up finish in the 200 IM (2:05.90) in the last event of the meet's first portion, and Mizzou entered the first diving break with a 48-44 lead.

In that first diving session, freshman Kendra Melnychuk managed a third-place finish on the 3-meter board, while seniors Nicole Frazier and Kim Massaro took fourth and fifth, respectively.

Schoborg, a team co-captain, kept the ball rolling in the 200 fly, the first event out of the diving break, winning the 200 fly in a pool-record time of 2:03.60. Senior Laura Pontecore and sophomore Arica Jacinto also managed to score for the Tigers in the event.

The 100 free came next and, again, freshman Cox provided a crucial win for the Tiger effort, posting a time of 51.63. In the 200 back, Halvorson battled to a second runner-up finish of the night and sophomore Sarah Menefee added three important points with a third-place finish.

Granger again stepped to the blocks for the next event, the 500 free, one which proved to be of vital importance to the Tiger cause. Another battle with Anderson ensued, but Granger managed to pull away in the final 50 yards to claim victory in a school-record time of 4:53.15.

"I can't tell you how pleased I was with Jill Granger in that 500," Hoffer said. "After coming off of that hard loss in the 1000 free, she battled all the way and really came through for us. What a way to start a career - two school records in her first dual."

Sullivan also played a large part in the outcome of the 500 free, out-touching sophomore Delia Huang of Texas for third place and three crucial points.

At the same time, in the diving well, Melnychuk was on her way to another third-place finish, this time on the 1-meter board. Massaro tallied a fourth-place finish and Frazier placed fifth.

Emotions were riding high as the swimmers stepped to the blocks for the 200 breast following the final diving break. Despite swimming against a formidable trio of Texas breaststrokers, Bastien turned in a career-best time of 2:20.84 to grab two much-needed points for her team.

In a scenario befitting such a tightly contested meet, the affair between the Tigers and the Longhorns came down to the final event, the 200 free relay. Mizzou put together an "A" squad of Hogan, Schoborg, Sullivan and Cox, and Texas countered with freshman Hee-Jin Chang, freshman Lina Petersson, junior Elaine Ferrito and Huang. In a clutch performance, the Tiger squad defeated the Longhorn's quartet by about 2.5 seconds to secure a tie for Mizzou.

"For us to challenge a top-10 team was a huge performance," Hoffer said. "I'm extremely pleased with how the women raced. Texas is the defending conference champion and we didn't back down from them."

The tie extends the Tigers' dual-meet unbeaten streak to six meets overall and four conference meets. The Tiger women haven't lost a dual since dropping a decision to Texas A&M on Oct. 16, 2004. The result also marks the first tie in Hoffer's 13-year head coaching career.

The Mizzou men and women will both be in the water at 9 a.m. tomorrow for the Big 12 Relays. For all the latest on Mizzou swimming and diving, including complete results, visit www.mutigers.com.