Dec. 4, 2000

Men and Women Swim Teams Dominate in Annual Bulldog Invitational

The Truman State University men's and women's swimming teams hosted their annual Bulldog Invitational at the Pershing Natatorium this past weekend. The Bulldogs performed extremely well, including setting new pool records, attaining new NCAA championship qualifying times, and achieving several lifetime best performances.

The Bulldog men won all events except for the 100 backstroke and in many cases placed the top two or three finishers. The men posted the top nine times in the 500 freestyle and the top seven in the 1,650 freestyle. Robby Cooper won both events in times of 4:49.22 and 16:49.39 (NCAA B-cut), respectively. Kyle Sterup also achieved the B-cut with a time of 16:54.32 in the 1,650. The 'Dogs dominated their opponents in all the events 200 yards or longer. Andy Harken (Liberty, Mo./Liberty) won the 200 IM in a time of 2:00.11 with his teammates claiming the next three places. Truman claimed the top five spots in the 200 freestyle with Eric McCullough (Lenexa, Kan./Shawnee Mission E.) leading the way in a time of 1:47.38. Cooper added two more wins in the 200 backstroke and 400 IM in times of 2:02.24 and 4:27.03, respectively, and Harken won the 200 breaststroke in 2:13.74. Matt Pray won the 200 butterfly in the time of 1:58.99.

Other event winners include Harken in the 50 and 100 breast (27.90 and 1:01.27), Bryan Teson (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit North) in the 50 backstroke (25.90), Pray in the 50 and 100 butterfly (23.47 and 51.84-B) and McCullough in the 100 freestyle (48.77). Drew Yemm (Overland Park, Kan./ Blue Valley NW) won the 50 freestyle and went faster than 22 seconds for the first time in his career, posting a time of 21.89.

Similar to the men, the women won every event and in many cases had the top three finishers or more. Jess Martin had many outstanding swims at the invitational. She won the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 17:27.78. That achieves the A-cut and beats the pool record by over 36 seconds. She also bettered her time in the 500 freestyle to 5:00.44 which is also a new pool record and an A-cut. Martin also achieved new B-cuts in the 100 and 200 butterfly events (1:00.54 and 2:11.72).

Bryna Busch also re-took the pool record in the 200 free that Martin took from her earlier in the year in a winning time of 1:54.64, also an A-cut.

Other A-cuts include Busch in the 500 free (5:04.88), Liz Hug and Kelli Dudley in the 200 IM (2:10.40 and 2:10.74), and Sara Hatcher in the 50 Free (24.30). There were also swimmers achieving B-cuts at the meet, including Hug, Bridget Riley, Katie May and Dudley in the 500 free (5:10.60, 5:13.84, 5:14.30, and 5:15.01), Christie Williamsen and Hug in the 400 IM (4:42.74 and 4:43.68), Martin in the 100 and 200 fly and 200 free events (1:00.52, 2:11.72, and 1:57.33), Dudley, May, and Krista Pray in the 100 back (59.68, 1:00.29, and 1:01.37), Riley and Ellen Frick in the 1,650 free (17:56.04 and 18:35.62), Andrea Newton and May in the 200 back (2:08.94 and 2:09.14), Busch in the 100 free (53.50), and Alison Blyth in the 200 fly (2:13.68).

The Bulldogs' next competition is at the Nebraska-Omaha Invitational, which will be their last of this semester and before they leave for their training trip in Tampa, Fla. The Dogs should be geared up and ready to swim fast at UNO.

Men's Swim Releases | Women's Swim Releases
Men's Swimming | Women's Swimming | Truman Athletics