Results
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (10/11/07) One week after knocking off a team that they had never beaten before, the North Texas swimming and diving team did it again.
The Mean Green defeated Missouri State 125-118 in Springfield, Mo., in its first dual-meet of the season. Coming into the meet, North Texas was 0-3 against the Bears in the program’s 10-year history.
Trailing 114-112 heading into the final event of the night and needing to take first place in the 400 freestyle relay to win the dual, Alicia Hale, Nicole Leslie, Morgan Morrow and Bonnie Garcia-Meitin teamed up to finished two seconds ahead of Missouri State to take the relay and the meet. Hale’s lead-off leg of 52.99 was the fastest time by any Mean Green swimmer in the 100 free this season. It is also the fourth fastest time in school history.
“I’m extremely proud of the girls’ effort tonight,” said North Texas head swimming and diving coach Joe Dykstra. “We had a lot of things going against us, with this being their (Missouri State) first home meet and the loud home crowd, but we showed a lot of fight and pulled it off at the end.”
Hale, Garcia-Meitin, Angie Dworschack and Hannah Bakke all picked up first place individual finishes for the Mean Green. Hale finished first in both the 200 and 500 freestyle. Her time of 1:52.05 broke the Hammons Pool Record and her own school record in the 200 free.
Dworschack, a freshman from Peoria, Ariz., took gold in the 1,000 freestyle and used a come-from-behind finish to take second in the 500 free.
Garcia-Meitin took gold in the 200 backstroke, while fellow senior Hannah Bakke finished first in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:24.78.
North Texas will next head to Fayetteville, Ark., Friday to take on two SEC opponents in the University of Arkansas and No. 9 Georgia. The meet is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. in the Arkansas Natatorium.
“We’re real excited about tonight’s win, so we’re going to try and build on that heading into Friday’s meet,” Dykstra said. “We’re really looking forward to the high level of competition that we’ll see from Georgia and Arkansas. It will be a good test for us to build on heading into this season’s other dual-meets and the Sun Belt Conference Championships.”
