Dec. 6, 1999

Tigers off 'Til January

The men's and women's swimming and diving teams are on hiatus from competition until the start of the new year. With final exams looming, the Tigers will be concentrating on their school work and training from the next month. Once finals have concluded, MU will travel to St. Louis to train until December 23rd before heading home for the holiday season.

MU Achieving Greatness

The Missouri Tigers women's swimming and diving team took a big step for the program this weekend at the Indiana Invitational in Bloomington, Ind. The MU women repeated as the Invite champions, defeating 27th ranked Indiana Hoosiers and the 18th ranked Tennessee Volunteers. The Tigers wracked up 1,158 points to the Hoosiers' 912.5 and the Vols' 770.

"This was an unbelievable team performance for this group," head coach Brian Hoffer said. "To upset two nationally ranked teams is a huge forward step for this program. Tennessee is ranked 18th in the country and that has to be one of MU's all-time great wins. This meet culminated a great semester in our program's history. We are looking forward to swimming at home now next semester."

Ready Or Not, Here Comes Hoh

Newcomer Leslie Hoh has burst onto the Tiger swimming scene in 1999. She has finished no lower than third in any event in which she has competed thus far into the season. Hoh, a 2000 Olympic Trials qualifier, won both the 200 and 400 individual medley events at the Indian Invite. In fact, her time in the 400 IM (4:53.24) was an NCAA provisional qualifying time.

In three short month, she has been competing for Mizzou she has won eight events and placed her name on the MU All-Time Top-5 list in four individual events. Other than her two wins in the Hoosier state, she placed third in the 100 breast and finished as the runner-up in the 200 breast. In the 200 breast, she nearly won the event after making a late charge toward the finish, but fell just short of the victory.

Looking to Sydney 2000

Three Missouri swimmers qualified for the Canadian Olympic Trials while in Bloomington over the weekend. The trials will be in Montreal, Canada the first week in June. It is the first time that all three of these athletes have clocked Canadian Olympic Trial standards.

Junior Aaron Lo qualified in the 50 and 100 free as well as the 100 breast. Senior Rikki Janes swam to qualifying standards in the 100 and 200 back and the 100 fly. Sophomore Tara Brooks will be competing in the 50 free at the trials.

Freshman Leslie Hoh has qualified for the United States Olympic Trials which are held in Indianapolis, Ind at the beginning of August. She me the U.S. qualifying standards at the Junior National East Championships last August and will competing in the 200 and 400 individual medleys.

What Was Once A Lost Now Is Found

The breaststroke events were a thorn in head coach Brian Hoffer's side until the 1999-2000 campaign. However, the tide has definitely turned this year as Missouri showed this area is now one of its strong points.

Six Tigers qualified for the championship final of the 100 breaststroke in Indiana this weekend. Senior Tawney Larm (4th) and juniors Kim Lambert (6th) and Kara Bramer (8th0 were joined by MU newcomers Leslie Hoh (3rd0, Tiffany Bohon (5th) and Kendra Jacobs (7th) in the final heat of the event. In the end, MU scored 82 points in the event.

The only other event the Tigers scored more points in was the 200 individual medley where they scored 85.5 points. The Black and Gold ladies claimed the top three spots as well as the sixth and seventh places as well. Leslie Hoh led the charge finishing first, followed by seniors Tawney Larm and Rikki Janes. Junior Kara Bramer and freshman Chrissy Frieh placed sixth and seventh respectively.

It's Chandler Time

Freshman Katy Chandler competed like a seasoned veteran over the weekend rather than a collegiate rookie. The Tiger newcomer started the invite off with a win in the 400-meter freestyle. Her winning time of 4:19.37 was just a second off the NCAA provisional qualifying standard in the event.

She followed that swim up with a third place finish in the 200 freestyle behind MU's middle distance ace Molly Vetter. The duo teamed up with Tawney Larm and Cristina Souza to finish second in the event to Tennessee. However, the girls did not give up without a fight. Chandler anchored the relay with a split of 2:02.1 which converts to a 1:49 in yards time. That time is the fastest time ever swam in Missouri school history.

Close , But No Cigar

Junior Jeana Willi was close, but not close enough in the 50 free at the Indiana Invte. The sprinter missed the Olympic Trial cut in the 50-meter free by just .04 seconds. She did, however swim a senior national qualifying time in the event.

Go Rikki Go

Senior Rikki Janes continued her winning ways claiming the 100 backstroke title in Indiana. She has now won seven backstroke events on the season. At the Indiana Invite, she came from behind in the final 25-meters of the race to claim the victory. Her only loss of the season in the backstroke event came in the 200 back as she place third in the final day of competition in the Hoosier state.

Vetter Time

Molly Vetter had a great weekend of racing in Indiana. She did not come away with any individual wins, but she was one of the most consistent performers over the weekend of racing. Vetter was a member of the 800-meter freestyle relay team that nearly won on the same day that she finished as the runner-up in the 200 free. Her preliminary time of 1:51.98 was close to a personal best followed by an outstanding race in the final session. She also finished fourth in the 400-meter free and third in the mile. The sophomore has added a new event to her regime during the 1999-2000 campaign, the 200 fly. She placed 5th in the finals of the event after knocking five seconds off her life time best in the preliminary session.

The Best of the Best

Seven University of Missouri swimmers recorded 14 new personal best times in the yards portion of the meet over the weekend at the Indiana Invite. All the swimmers recorded best times in the finals session since many of the Black and Gold athletes have never competed in a short course meters competition prior to the weekend. Listed below are the athletes and the events they achieved new life time best performances.

Kara Bramer 200 IM (2:04.99)
 400 IM (4:28.20)
 100 Breast (1:06.54)
Ellen Cross 50 Free (24.22)
 200 Free (59.21) 
 100 Back (59.21)
Chrissy Frieh 200 IM (2:10.19)
 100 Back (59.21)
Kim Lambert 100 Breast (1:06.37)
Buffy Milner 100 Back (1:01.48)
 100 Breast (1:10.11)
 200 Breast (2:32.33)
Sarah Stowe 100 Back (1:01.63)
Molly Vetter 200 Fly (2:07.92)