MU swim teams lose in Indiana
Published Jan. 23, 2007
It wasn't a win, but the MU swim teams contend it wasn't a loss against the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington, Ind. The scoreboard said differently, though, as the men lost their meet 153-136. The women, who were ranked 24th in the nation, lost 161-121.
Coach Brian Hoffer said he wasn't pleased with the outcome but wasn't upset with the men's performance against the Hoosiers.
"I was pleased with the men's intensity and desire," Hoffer said. "Their times were actually very good, so I was not disappointed with the men. (I was) disappointed with the loss as always but not with the men."
Junior Bennett Clark again won the 50 and 100-yard freestyle, two events in which he has been undefeated in this season. The two events totaled half of the first place victories for the Tigers, who only placed first in four of 32 events. Clark attributes his success to the competition, which created extra adrenaline for him.
"One of the guys who is a good swimmer on Indiana is from St. Louis, and I've known him my whole life, so I got really excited before my races," Clark said. "They are a top 15 team, so whenever we go against the top teams, I get really pumped up before my races."
Clark said his success is attributed to hard work.
"This past summer was the hardest that I've worked in the summer by far, and I think it carried over to this season," Clark said. "I got to talk to a lot of the top guys and the fastest guys in the country. Being around those really fast swimmers is such a good experience. "
Hoffer said the women weren't swimming to the best of their abilities against the Hoosiers.
"The women weren't showing our speed very well," Hoffer said. "It was a tough meet for the women. I think Indiana was a lot better than we were that day."
Sophomore Jill Granger, who took first in the 400-yard individual medley which was the only event that the girls placed first in, said she wasn't thrilled with the meet's outcome but is taking it in stride.
"I don't think it went quite as we expected it to," Granger said. "We should have won a few more events, but I'm proud of the ones we did win. Overall, we've had better meets. We didn't step up like we normally do. It was just a learning experience."
The women's team has one more dual meet, but the men are done for the season until the Big 12 Championships Feb. 14-17, in College Station, Texas. Granger is confident that the next meet at Nebraska this weekend will be a win.
"We can win that meet if we just get excited," Granger said. "We have the energy, we have everything that it takes to win."
On the men's side, Texas is the No. 1 team in the nation and Texas A&M beat MU earlier this year, but the Tigers aren't counting themselves out against the two Texan powerhouses.
"These past couple years are the first years where we feel like we can climb up the ladder," Clark said. "So I think racing A&M and beating them is a goal of ours."
Granger said she is prepared to bring her A-game and take the championships one event at a time.
"We don't focus as much on teams, we just like to race whoever's next to us," she said.