Durnil Wins Big 12 Gold, Women Place 3rd

Wednesday, February 25

Columbia, Mo.

All Day

University of Missouri

Big 12 Championships

3/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

March 1, 2009

Men's Recap | Complete Results | Finals Gallery

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Freshman Kayla Durnil became just the third women's Big 12 swimming champion in the history of the program, and the Missouri Tigers women's swimming and diving team locked up third place as the 2009 Big 12 Championships came to a close Saturday evening.

Over the span of four days, the Mizzou women's program set 48 new top-10 times and scores, set 15 school records and posted 25 NCAA "B" cuts. Missouri head coach Brian Hoffer was named the women's Co-Coach of the Meet.

The University of Texas took first in the event with 893 points. Texas A&M, who had won the previous two championships, finished second at 831 points. Missouri posted 582 points, while Kansas came in fourth with 493. Iowa State placed fifth at 332 and Nebraska came in sixth, scoring 298.

Durnil posted an NCAA "B" cut time of 2:11.20 as she took the gold in the 200 breast while breaking the school record in front of her hometown crowd. The Columbia, Mo., native became the first Missouri Big 12 swimming champion since Rebecca Wolfe took top honors in the 200 fly in 2003. Senior Erin Yeager took the bronze in the event, also posting an NCAA "B" cut, as she swam in 2:15.03. In the preliminaries, Yeager set the second-best time in school history.

In the mile, junior Colleen Gordon posted a "B" cut time while finishing in fifth-place, racing in 16:28.94. Senior Carly Sullivan came in eighth with a time of 16:50.81.

Sophomore Lauren Lavigna also touched in at fifth-place with a B cut of her own, swimming with a time of 1:57.10 in the 200 back.

Senior Kendra Melnychuk earned her third medal of the weekend, second bronze, as the 2008 Big 12 Platform Champion scored a 283.95 in the finals for third place.

The evening closed with the 400 free relay team of senior Lori Halvorson, freshman Lisa Nathanson, senior Lauren Cox and sophomore Francie Szostak took fourth place and posted an NCAA "B" cut time, swimming in 3:19.61.

Several Tigers will be back in action tomorrow morning as Missouri hosts the Last Chance Meet. The meet marks the last time this season that swimmers will have a chance to post NCAA-qualifying times. The Last Chance Meet will begin at 11 a.m. CT.

Final Women's Team Standings