Diver Sarah Rousseau, Sprint Depth Lead Missouri Past Arkansas
A sweep on the boards by diver Sarah Rousseau and Missouri’s sprint depth led the Tigers to a 174.5-125.5 win over Arkansas in Southeastern Conference action Saturday.
The Tigers relied on their freestyle depth for the bulk of their points. Allison Bloebaum led the way in the 1,000 in a time of 9:56.45, the Tigers owning the top four spots. Bloebaum also won the 500 free, with Jane Smith third in both. Molly Gowans won the 200 free, with Taylor Williams tying for second. And in the 50, Megan Kiel (22.22) and Sarah Thompson (22.60) went 1-2, both in NCAA B cuts.
The only spoiler on the freestyle side was provided by Arkansas’ Kobie Melton, who won the 100 in 49.44. Keil was second, followed by Gowans and Sierra Smith.
Rousseau won both diving events, scoring 282.90 on one-meter and 330.38 on three-meter.
Brecken Merkel (200 butterfly), Sarah Thompson (200 back, in a top-four sweep) and Meredith Rees (200 individual medley) added wins for Missouri. Rees, Molly Winer, Thompson and Keil won the 200 medley relay for the Tigers, with Keil splitting a decisive 21.71 off the end.
Melton also won the 100 back for Arkansas, with teammate Andrea Sansores second. Sansores would later win the 100 fly, with Arkansas’s stroke depth keeping it in touch. Vanessa Hermann swept the breaststroke events for the Razorbacks. Grace Walker put together an NCAA Zones qualifying score of 239.03 in platform diving.
The foursome of Melton, Bella Cothern, Sansores and Emily Barclay won the 400 free relay for a final consolation result.
The Missouri men also swam independently at the meet. Jack Dahlgren turned in NCAA B cuts of 1:45.23 in the 200 fly and 47.55 in the 100 fly.
