Swimming and diving greets success at Big 12

Thanks to record-breaking swims, MU earned its highest-ever finish.

By Sean Leahy

Published March 2, 2009

Four days of rewriting its team's record book earned the Missouri men's swimming and diving team a second place finish at the Big 12 Championships, its highest-ever finish in the tournament.

A strong last two days of the competition propelled Missouri past Texas A&M as the Tigers posted a score of 810.5 and finished runner-up to Texas.

The Missouri women's squad finished third but captured the lone Missouri event champion as freshman Kayla Durnil set a school-record in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:11.20. Durnil became the third Missouri woman swimmer to win gold at the Big 12 championships.

"It was, at least in my era, the best meet we've ever had," coach Brian Hoffer said. "This weekend was the accumulation of a lot of work by a lot of people."

Hoffer, who has been Missouri's coach since 1992, received some honors himself. He was named the Men's Swim Coach of the Meet and Women's Swim Co-coach of the Meet.

Overall, the Tigers men and women's squads set numerous team and personal records during the course of the tournament and posted some times that might end up being NCAA championships qualifiers.

"I think we all did really great," Durnil said. "We were all really behind each other."

In order to topple Texas A&M, the men's squad had some work to do during the last two days of the tournament.

Friday night Missouri gained 15 points on the Aggies and found itself nine points back entering the final competitions.

Heading into Saturday's final heats, Hoffer's squad sensed the battle that lay ahead.

"We knew what was in front of us," Hoffer said. "We knew we had a challenge."

Sophomore Spenser Lauver helped fuel the Tigers' comeback by smashing the school record in the 1650-yard freestyle.

His performance earned him the bronze medal and helped Missouri eventually pass the Aggies.

"It was great to see when the scores were changed and we were on top," Lauver said. "We knew today would be a tough day and all of us were happy that we were able to pull it out."

Among the other men to break school records was junior Martin Cernansky, who broke his own record with a 1:57.69 in the 200-yard breaststroke and earned third place overall.

The Missouri women were busy breaking records in their events as well. The Tigers broke school records in the first two events as sophomore Lauren Lavigna set her mark in the 200-yard backstroke and senior Lori Halvorson posted an all-time best in the 100-yard freestyle.

The highlight for the women, though, came in the 200-yard breaststroke when Columbia native Durnil beat her nearest competitor by three seconds and broke her own school record.

Although her results were historic, Durnil said her approach was simple.

"I just wanted to go out there and do the best I could," Durnil said.