Oct. 26, 2007

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LAWRENCE, Kan. - Following an exciting evening of fast racing, broken records and diving qualifications, the University of Kansas swimming and diving team was tripped up, 162-138, by a speedy Missouri team in its home and Big 12 opener at Robinson Natatorium Friday.

The Border Showdown was just that; a night of intense competition and close races for both squads, complete with accolades for both teams. The Tigers finished with nine first-place victories, while the Jayhawks were close behind with seven.

"We are very happy with how we swam tonight," head coach Clark Campbell said. "It was better than last week. We ran into a fast team in Missouri and we can only control KU. Missouri is one of the hottest teams in the country right now, and we hung in there. We lost some close races tonight, but for now, we are focused on the long term and we will get better. We saw some things, like our turns and hitting our walls, which we will sharpen and adjust. Tonight was great because it gets our team excited to swim fast."

"Our divers dove out of their minds," Campbell added.

Freshman diver Erin Mertz and senior diver Jenny Roberts both qualified for the NCAA Zone "D" Diving meet, an early season accomplishment for the duo. Mertz sealed a victory for the `Hawks on the one-meter board with a score of 278.70, helping close the margin of victory for the Tigers. Roberts dove her way to a key second-place finish on the three-meter board (285.45) for Kansas, an exceptional start to her senior campaign. Stacking the depth for KU in the one-meter competition was Meghan Proehl (245.47) and Roberts (240.45), who finished third and fourth, respectively. In the three-meter showdown, junior Hannah McMacken (254.40) and Mertz (252.57) finished in third and fourth behind Roberts. Also completing the diving line-up for KU was sophomore Allison Ho and freshman Chelsea Hartling.

"All of our divers did great," diving coach Eric Elliott said. "It was an exciting night with our first home meet. Everyone has been fighting a bug and been sick, but we stepped it up tonight. Erin (Mertz) was impressive on the one-meter and Jenny (Roberts) had an important second-place finish on the three. Both of them qualified for Zones and I am proud of the team for their performance against such a good diving school in Missouri."

Junior Maria Mayrovich swam one for the record books in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing first with a time of 1:48.85, a new pool record, as well as a career-best time and a KU All-Time performance. Mayrovich, who will represent her home country, Russia, in the 2008 Olympics, is only about a second-and-a-half from breaking the Kansas record in the event and recording the fastest KU time in history, both 1:47.01, set by KU legend Amy Gruber in 2005 at the Big 12 Championship meet. Mayrovich repeated in the 50-yard free, clocking in at 23.49, and the 100-yard free (50.44), for her second and third individual victories of the evening.

Other Kansas Victories on the Night:

Ashley Leidigh, 200-yard butterfly (2:04.75)

Danielle Herrmann, 200-yard IM (2:05.77)

Maria Mayrovich, Terri Schramka, Ashley Leidigh, Emily Lanteigne, 400-yard freestyle relay (3:27.81)

KU will next be in action when it hosts Arkansas Nov. 1 at 4 p.m. at Robinson Natatorium.

-KU-