Nov. 2, 2002
Truman Swimming Falls to Division I Missouri
The Truman men's and women's swim teams fell to Division I Missouri, however in an impressive showing. The bulldog women lost 122-83 and the men 119-86. The Missouri women are currently ranked 21st in the nation for NCAA Division I.
The bulldog women started off the meet strong. The team of Krista Pray (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North), Michaela Osborn (Tipton, Iowa/Tipton), Meredith Rocha (Whitehouse, Texas/Grace Community), and Sara Hatcher (Kingdom City, Mo./North Callaway) won the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:48.78. Next, sophomore Diana Betsworth (East Moline, Ill./United Township) won the 1,000-yard freestyle in a 10:22.12, and senior Liz Hug won the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:53.83. Senior Sara Hatcher won the 50-yard freestyle in a 24:07, and senior Kelli Dudley (Topeka, Kan./West) met the automatic qualifying time in the 400-yard IM in a time of 4:32.31 to place second.
After the 400-yard IM, the Truman women were leading Mizzou, but the tigers rallied to win the meet. Rocha placed second in the 100-yard butterfly and automatically qualified for the national meet with a 58.11. Betsworth automatically qualified in the 500-yard freestyle with a 5:02.80, as did Hug with a 5:03.69. The Truman women's 400-yard freestyle relay of Betsworth, Hatcher, Hug, and Sarah Dance (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Southeast) placed second with a national qualifying time of 3:32.91.
The bulldog men also swam well. Head Coach Colleen Murphy said that best swim of the evening had to be the men's 200-yard medley relay of Brian Teson (Kansas City, Mo./St. Pius X), Andy Harken (Liberty, Mo./Liberty), Matt Pray (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North), and Vince Struble (Omaha, Neb./Creighton Prep). They swam a 1:35.84 to touch out Mizzou by 0.11 seconds.
The bulldog men had more outstanding swims. Junior Robby Cooper (Holden, Mo./Holden) won the 200-yard freestyle in a 1:45.67 and the 500-yard freestyle in a 4:47.64. Freshman Josh Otis (Johnston, Iowa/Dowling) provisionally qualified for the national meet in the 400-yard IM, placing second with a 4:12.68. Teson provisionally qualified for the national meet in the 100 backstroke with a 53.49.
Although Truman lost the meet, Murphy was still pleased with the early season performance. The bulldog men and women are back in action on Saturday, November 9 at 3:00 p.m. in Kirksville when they face Missouri-Rolla, Nebraska-Omaha, and South Dakota.