The Nebraska swimming and diving team returns home to battle an old rival in the water when the Huskers collide with Kansas at the Devaney Center Natatorium on Friday at 4 p.m.
The Cornhuskers and the Jayhawks annually battled for the conference crown in the old Big Eight Conference in the 1980s and 1990s before the formation of the Big 12 Conference.
The 2021-22 Huskers hope to knock off the Jayhawks behind the strength of one of their strongest groups of swimmers in the past 20 seasons and another solid collection of talented divers.
Autumn Haebig, the 2021 Big Ten Champion in the 200 freestyle, returns for her fifth season to lead the Huskers. The Husker co-captain from Grafton, Wis., earned All-America honors in both the 200 and 500 freestyles at the 2021 NCAA Championships.
Nebraska features a strong distance freestyle corps led by 2020 CSCAA All-American and co-captain Audrey Coffey. The distance corps has been bolstered by the return of fifth-year senior co-captain Rachel Powers, who joined true freshman Ilaria Murzilli, juniors Katelyn Kilpatrick and Molly Rosenthal and senior Shannon Stott in helping Nebraska to the CSCAA Open Water National Championship hosted by Kansas in Lawrence in September.
Stott (St. Albans, Great Britain) has been a leader for the Huskers in dual action, capturing six individual titles, including two each in the 500 freestyle and 200 butterfly.
Ronquillio (Tracy, Calif.) has added four titles of her own with two each in the 100 and 200 backstrokes, while sophomore Ella Stein (Hudson, Wis.) also has contributed four individual titles with a pair in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes.
True freshman Milica Opacic (Novi Sad, Serbia) also has produced four titles in dual competition, including two in the 100 fly and one each in the 100 and 200 freestyles. Haebig has added three victories, while seven other Husker swimmers own at least one title so far this season.
Sara Troyer has led Nebraska in the diving well, capturing five individual titles on the one- and three-meter boards combined through four duals. Troyer opened the season with a career-high 345.68 on the three-meter board in a win over South Dakota State. Most recently, she set the Beyer Pool record with a 343.20 on three meter in Saturday’s victory at Iowa State. She was also the Big Ten Diver of the Week following Nebraska’s dual win over Iowa (Oct. 23).
The Husker divers also got a career-best 275.35 from Reagan Hinze on the one-meter dive in the recent win at Iowa State, while Hallie Roman continues to improve her scores on both the one- and three-meter boards under first-year Head Diving Coach Landon Marzullo.
The Nebraska diving corps has also recently added Colgate transfer Caroline LaPlante to its roster. LaPlante was a four-year competitor for the Raiders and was the team’s MVP as a freshman in 2018.
Although Nebraska lost conference contact with Kansas when the Big Red joined the Big Ten before the 2011-12 season, the Huskers and Jayhawks have continued to duel in the pool on a regular basis.
Friday’s meeting marks the 29th all-time dual between the two schools and the seventh time the teams have met since parting ways in conference realignment.
Kansas owns a 19-9 all-time edge in the series with Nebraska, including a 198-107 win in the most recent meeting in Lawrence, Kan., on Nov. 9, 2019. The Jayhawks have won three straight in the series, dating back to a 198-101 Husker victory at the Devaney Natatorium on Nov. 5, 2016.
Kansas comes to Lincoln with a 2-0 dual mark with lopsided victories over South Dakota (269-82) and Missouri State (228.5-118.5) at Robinson Natatorium to open the season (Oct. 22-23). The Jayhawks finished second at the Big 12 Conference Championships last season, trailing only Texas. It marked the third consecutive year that Kansas was the Big 12 runner-up. Iowa State, which Nebraska defeated 186-114 in Ames (Oct. 30), finished behind KU in third at last year’s conference meet.
KU’s top returning finishers from the 2021 Big Ten Championships are senior Kate Steward and sophomore Kara Church. Steward finished second in both the 100 (1:01.24) and 200 breaststrokes (2:10.86) and the 200 IM (1:58.00) in NCAA B-qualifying times, while Church was the runner-up in the 1,650 freestyle (16:41.12).
The Jayhawks also feature a trio of swimmers from Lincoln, including senior Dannie Dilsaver and junior Kaitlyn Witt who were teammates of Nebraska’s Berkeley Livingston at Lincoln Southwest, and freshman Katie Stonehocker (Pius X).
Nebraska vs. Kansas
Friday, Nov. 5, 2021 (4 p.m.)
Devaney Center Natatorium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Order of Events
200 Medley Relay
1000 Freestyle
200 Freestyle
100 Backstroke
100 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
50 Freestyle
3 Meter Diving
100 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
200 Breaststroke
500 Freestyle
100 Butterfly
1 Meter Diving
200 IM
400 Freestyle Relay
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