Beeler, a freshman from Parkville, Mo., captured an individual title in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.13, NCAA B Cut) and swam the second legs of Nebraska’s winning 400 medley and 200 medley relays. Beeler added runner-up finishes in the 200 IM (2:01.44, NCAA B Cut) and the 400 IM (4:21.02) and a third-place showing in the 200 breast (2:15.13, NCAA B Cut) on Sunday to help the Huskers secure the team championship. In the prelims of the 100 breast, Beeler raced to a career-best time of 1:01.23, a strong NCAA B standard swim that pulled her within 2.17 seconds of an NCAA automatic-qualifying standard on the season.
Jordan Ehly also had a big meet for the Huskers. The junior from Albuquerque, N.M., won the 200 breast in a time of 2:13.95 (NCAA B Cut) on Sunday, after finishing runner-up to Beeler in the 100 breast (1:02.34, NCAA B Cut) earlier in the meet. Ehly also claimed another individual title with a win in the 400 IM (4:19.95), just ahead of Beeler and Husker sophomore Anna McDonald (4:21.53) to give the Big Red a sweep of the top three spots in the event.
Sophomore Dana Posthuma (Omaha, Neb.) also captured a pair of event titles over the weekend. Posthuma capped a strong performance by racing to a meet-record time of 1:59.50 (NCAA B Cut) to win the 200-yard butterfly on Sunday. The win gave Posthuma a sweep of the fly events, following her Saturday victory in the 100 butterfly in a time of 54.29 (NCAA B Cut).
The Huskers stormed to the team title on Sunday with a 100-yard freestyle win from Nebraska senior captain Julia Roller (Naperville, Ill.) in a time of 50.92 and a 200-yard backstroke win from captain Erin Oeltjen in a time of 1:56.96 (NCAA B Cut). Oeltjen, a senior from Omaha, posted a meet-record time of 1:56.12 (NCAA B Cut) in the prelims earlier on Sunday.
Sophomore Kaylyn Flatt (Centennial, Colo.) added a runner-up finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle on Sunday in a time of 16:53.53.
The strong Sunday performances by the Huskers allowed Nebraska to hold off a final-day charge by the hosts from Kansas. NU entered Sunday with a 676-634 lead over the Jayhawks through 12 of the 18 scheduled events in the three-day meet.
Kansas led the six-team meet 282-263 over the Huskers following Friday’s action, before the Huskers overtook the beaks in blue on Saturday, beginning with a win from Husker 200-yard medley relay (1:42.53) of junior Cassie Brassard, Beeler, Oetjen and sophomore Lindsay Helferich.
Ehly, Beeler and McDonald followed with a top-three sweep in the 400 IM, before Posthuma added her victory in the 100 fly. Beeler and Ehly then grabbed the top-two spots in the 100 breast to put the Big Red in control, while Oeltjen (54.67, NCAA B Cut) and Brassard (55.98) added second- and third-place finishes respectively in the 100 back. Oeltjen (54.66, NCAA B Cut) and Brassard (55.26) both posted better prelim times for the Huskers in the 100 back, with Brassard just missing an NCAA B Cut by 0.17 seconds. KU narrowed the margin to close Saturday with a win in the 800 free relay.
Kansas started strong on Friday, but a win from McDonald in the 200 IM and a runner-up finish by Beeler got the Huskers rolling. Nebraska capped Friday’s performance with a victory in the 400 medley relay from Oeltjen, Beeler, Posthuma and freshman Allie Worrall in a meet-record time of 3:39.56.
The swimmers will continue training but will not be back in action until Senior Day against Omaha at the Devaney Natatorium on Saturday, Jan. 14. The meet with the Mavericks will start at 11 a.m. The Husker divers will be back in action at the Jean Freeman Invitational in Minneapolis, Dec. 2-3 at 10 a.m.
Nebraska’s NCAA B Standard Swims at Kansas Classic
200 IM – Anna McDonald – 2:01.41
200 IM – Tori Beeler – 2:01.44
100 Fly – Dana Posthuma – 54.29
200 Fly – Dana Posthuma – 1:59.50
100 Breast – Tori Beeler – 1:01.23 (prelim)
100 Breast – Jordan Ehly – 1:02.34
200 Breast – Jordan Ehly – 2:13.92 (prelim)
200 Breast – Tori Beeler – 2:15.13
100 Back – Erin Oeltjen – 54.66 (prelim)
200 Back – Erin Oeltjen – 1:56.12 (prelim)
Nebraska Kansas Classic Meet-Record Swims
200 Back – Erin Oeltjen (1:56.12)
200 Fly – Dana Posthuma (1:59.50)
400 Medley Relay – (Oeltjen, Beeler, Posthuma, Worrall) – 3:39.56
Way to go GOAL ladies!
Way to go MAC ladies!