Nov. 30, 1999
Indiana Invite Final Meet of Semester
The final stop this semester for the Missouri swimming and diving teams will be at the Indiana Invitational, December 3-5 in Bloomington, Ind. At last year's Indiana Invitational, the women claimed the team title after defeating host Indiana on the final event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay. The men faired well finishing 3rd as a team behind South Carolina and Purdue.
The 1999 version of the Indiana Invitational will feature new teams that present the Tigers with a tough challenge over the weekend. On the women's side the MU will face Arkansas, Southern Illinois, Tennessee and host Indiana. The men's competition will feature Southern Illinois and Indiana.
The meet will be a prelim and final format with the top 8 times qualifying for the finals with the 9th through 16th place times qualifying for the consolation finals. The prelim session begins at 10:00 am with the finals session commencing at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Saturday's session will be held at different times with the prelims beginning at 9:00 a.m. and the finals session starting at 3:00 p.m.
Men Win Number Three
The University of Missouri men's and women's swimming and diving teams swept Western Illinois on Friday evening in Macomb, Ill. Things went pretty much as expected as the men defeated WIU by a score of 143-97 while the women won with a convincing score of 158-75.
Missouri was just too much for Western Illinois to handle from start to finish. The Tigers claimed the first and last events of the meet, the 200 medley and 200 free relays. In fact, Mizzou won all but two events while sweeping the top 3 places in three events.
Head coach Brain Hoffer was pleased with his teams overall performance as well as that of juniors Aaron Lo and Mike Cervenka.
"Western matched up very well with us. It was a good meet for the guys. The only events they were a little better than us was the distance freestyle races, but if Dane had been at the top of his game, those would have been some great races. We took control of the meet early and never really let them get close. Aaron and Mike really stepped up big. Mike's 200 IM was exceptional. He is now eyeing the school record in the event at the end of the season."
Aaron Lo was again the Tigers standout, winning both the 50 and 100 freestyles. Lo has now won all but two races in which he has competed. For Mike Cervenka, it was his coming out party. He won the 200 IM for the Tigers and came close to winning the 500 freestyle as well. His times at this point in the season are the fastest of his Missouri swimming career. Freshman diver James Sweeney also claimed both the diving titles.
How Lo Can You Go
Missouri's "go-to" man has been exactly that thus far into the season. The Whitby, Ontario native has led the Tigers in every aspect throughout the entire season to this point finishing no lower than second in any race. In fact, he has claimed six individual events and swam on three winning Tiger relays in four dual meets during the 1999 portion of the season.