Lincoln - Behind a strong showing in the 50-yard freestyle and in the two relays on Friday evening, the Nebraska swimming and diving team overtook first place at the Husker Invitational. The Huskers, who were trailing Rice 152-130 heading into the day, surged ahead and now hold a 660-529 lead over the Owls.
Mariah Hutchinson won the 500-yard freestyle after coming into the finals session with the fastest preliminary time. Hutchinson's time of 5:01.30 was more than four seconds ahead of the rest of the field. NU's Brandie Kavalec came in fourth and Julie Giehl finished sixth.
Rice's Pam Zelnick won the 50-yard freestyle, with Nebraska's Hailey Dean, Ariel Weech and Jess Andrews taking the next three spots to give the Huskers three finishers in the top four. Hayley Martin came in seventh for Nebraska. The Huskers also had five Huskers score in the "B" finals of the 50-yard freestyle.
Iowa State's Tien Tran won the one meter dive with a score of 295.00. Nebraska's Amy Herman took second, scoring 260.15, while NU's D'Arcy Schmidt finished third with a score of 248.15
Nebraska won the final event of the day, the 400-yard medley relay, with a time of 3:53.52, just beating second-place Rice which finished in 3:53.71. The Huskers also finished third in the relay, giving them two of the top three times in all three relays so far during the Invite.
The Husker Invitational continues on Saturday morning with a preliminary session starting at 9 a.m. and a finals session at 4 p.m.
Results
200 Freestyle Relay
1. Rice - 1:37.32
2. Nebraska - 1:38.26
3. Nebraska - 1:38.55
500 Freestyle
1. Mariah Hutchinson (Nebraska) - 5:01.30
2. Karen Gerken (Rice) - 5:05.80
3. Stephanie Wei (Rice) - 5:06.42
200 IM
1. Shelby Bottoms (Rice) - 2:06.15
2. Kait Chura (Rice) - 2:06.56
3. Kelsey Larson (Nebraska) - 2:08.28
50 Freestyle
1. Pam Zelnick (Rice) - 24.10
2. Hailey Dean (Nebraska) - 24.53
3. Ariel Weech (Nebraska) - 24.58
One Meter Diving
1. Tien Tran (Iowa State) - 295.00
2. Amy Herman (Nebraska) - 260.15
3. D'Arcy Schmidt - 248.15
400 Medley Relay
1. Nebraska - 3:53.52
2. Rice - 3:53.71
3. Nebraska - 4:00.01
Team Standings (after 8 events)
1. Nebraska (660)
2. Rice (529)
3. South Dakota State (304.5)
4. UNO (266.5)
Saturday's Schedule (9 a.m. prelims, 4 p.m. finals)
200 Medley Relay (Finals session only)
400 IM
100 Butterfly
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
Three Meter Diving (Finals session only)
800 Freestyle Relay (Finals session only)
