Missouri’s Zara Zallen Hits Best Time in the 200 Free at Opening Intrasquad Meet

2024 UMIZ Black and Gold Intrasquad

  • October 4, 2024
  • Mizzou Aquatic Center, Columbia, MO
  • Short Course Yards
  • Results

The University of Missouri hosted its annual Black and Gold Intrasquad, with the swimmers competing in both traditional and non-traditional events.

The Black squad kicked-off the meet with a win in the mixed 8×50 medley relay. The event was contested in traditional medley relay order, with two swimmers completing each stroke back-to-back and the 2nd backstroke swimmer starting from a flying start. Once the dust settled, the Black team touched in a time of 3:03.71 for the victory over the Gold squad’s runner-up time of 3:05.05.

The black team was boosted by sophomore Zara Zallen, who swept the 50, 100, and 200 freestyles in times of 22.65, 48.77, and 1:46.41, respectively. The time in the 200 free is a new lifetime best for her, clearing the 1:47.11 that she did in her senior season in high school, and the time in the 100 free is just .12 seconds shy of what she did at last year’s SEC Championship meet, which is her current fastest performance.

She placed 13th in the 100 free at SECs.

In the women’s 500 freestyle, the Gold squad took its first win of the day with Katie Gresik holding-off Zoe Schneider for the victory. Gresik dropped a time of 4:48.95, touching less than a half second ahead of Schneuderm largely due to a 28.93 split on her closing 50. The men’s 500 freestyle told a similar story as Black squad teammates Jibran Himsieh and Matthew Stephenson charged home together, with Himsieth touching the wall first in a time of 4:28.39. Stephenson actually had the fastest closing 50 in the field with a 27.03, but settled for second with a 4:29.28.

Following a 21.24 lead-off leg on the winning 8×50 medley relay, Grant Bochenski dominated the men’s 100 backstroke, winning the event by over 3 seconds. Bochenski posted a time of 45.83, coming in well ahead of his competition to give the Black squad another victory. Sydney Bales posted a win in the women’s event for the Gold squad, swimming to a time of 54.05 to finish almost a full second clear of the field.

Jan Zubik posted impressive times while winning the men’s 200 butterfly/200 backstroke double. In the 200 butterfly, Zubik hit the wall in an impressive 1:43.08, over 2 seconds ahead of the competition. Just a few events later, he was back in the water, winning the 200 backstroke by another 2 second margin in a time of 1:46.36.

Lina Bank also doubled-up, winning both the women’s 100 and 200 breaststroke events. In the 100 breaststroke, Bank dropped a winning time of 1:00.74 to give the Gold team another victory. She followed up with a 2:14.72 in the 200 breaststroke, touching about a half second ahead of the field in the event.

Piper McNeil threw down an impressive 2:01.75 in the women’s 200 IM for the Black squad, taking the win exactly 2 seconds over Zoe Winter (2:03.75). Earlier in the meet, McNeil also finished 2nd in the 200 backstroke with a 1:59.12, coming in just behind winner Abbey Taute (1:57.30).

The Black squad secured its second relay win of the day to wrap up the meet in the mixed 400 freestyle relay, with the team combining for a time of 3:04.64 to dominate the event by over 6 seconds. The runner-up Gold squad touched well behind in a time of 3:10.64.

Missouri will begin their regular season on October 12 with a meet against SEC opponent Arkansas.

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Jan Zubik's 2nd Biggest Fan
30 days ago

Lifetime bests from Jaden Pospishil as well, 20.6 swing 50 fly and 46.8 100 fly. Get this kid the recognition he deserves.

Last edited 30 days ago by Jan Zubik's 2nd Biggest Fan
Former Big10
30 days ago

glad to see she’s swimming well! very nice person, and was fun to watch in Colorado!

JUSTICE FOR MIZZOU
30 days ago

48.7 flat start? Damn

MIZfan
30 days ago

You all just not going to acknowledge a 22.6/48.7/1:46 freestyler in there?

MIZfan
Reply to  MIZfan
30 days ago

nice edit

MizzouFan
1 month ago

22/48/146 free on the women’s side? Wow

About Nicole Miller

Nicole Miller

Nicole has been with SwimSwam since April 2020, as both a reporter and social media contributor. Prior to joining the SwimSwam platform, Nicole also managed a successful Instagram platform, amassing over 20,000 followers. Currently, Nicole is pursuing her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. After competing for the swim …

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