Indiana Invite is the Next Hurdle for MU Swimmers
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
November 17, 1998
INDIANA INVITE IS THE NEXT HURDLE FOR MISSOURI
The Missouri Tigers, coming off of perhaps the program's most successful meet, take to the water this coming weekend in Bloomington, Ind. at the Indiana Invite. The MU women swept through the six-team Illinois Dual Meet Extravaganza two weekends ago in Champaign, Ill. while the men went a surprising 4-1. The Tigers will not swim another dual meet until Dec. 5 when Kansas comes to Columbia.
The competition will be extremelly tough this weekend in Bloomington as all eight schools are considered top 30 teams in the country. How evenly are these teams matched? The University of Miami (FL). men are the highest ranked team at the meet, No. 22. That may change as the new rankings will be released on Thursday, Nov. 19 before the meet. The field in Bloomington includes: Missouri, Indiana, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Miami (FL), Purdue, Cincinnati and the South Carolina men's team. The Tigers upset both Indiana and Cincinnati in dual competition at the Illinois Dual Meet Extravaganza.
Competition begins on Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. Finals begin at 6:00 p.m. Competition will run through Sunday evening.
SCHOOL RECORDS IN JEOPARDY
Take one last look at pages 12 and 22 in your 1998-99 Missouri Swimming and Diving Media Guide, because after this weekend, those pages may seem very outdated.
The Tigers will shave for this meet, meaning times will be faster and that school records are bound to fall. There are very few school records that are not in jeopardy on the women's side this weekend. Freshman Katie Mae Fields already set a school record two weeks ago in the 500 freestyle, unshaved.
The men will look to attack the record books in the stroke events, meaning the backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, as well as the relay events. Seniors Chris Peters and Mike Miller will look to better their school records in the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly respectively, while Ryan Ruddy will look to close in on teammate Mike Tucker in the breaststroke.
TIGERS AWAIT NATIONAL RANKING
It will be this Thursday when the Tigers find out if they have cracked the nations top 25 for the first time in school history. After upsetting Indiana, Illinois and Cincinnati two weeks ago at the Illinois Dual Meet Extravaganza, the chances of the MU women breaking into the nation's elite are good. The MU men will be happy with votes after upsetting 25th-ranked Indiana and Cincinnati. Whether those upsets are good enough to crack the top 25 remain to be seen.
SEVERAL TIGERS AMONG THE BIG 12's BEST
The first release of the Big 12 rankings shows that the Missouri Tigers are holding their own in one of the countries elite swimming and diving conferences. Several Tigers are ranked among the top eight in the conference in their individual events.
Heading the list is freshman Katie Mae Fields. After six dual meets, Fields is currently ranked in the top eight in four different events: the 200 freestyle (8th), 500 free (5th), the 1000 free (2nd) and the 1650 free (3rd).
Fellow freshman sensation Molly Vetter is also highly rated in the Conference. Vetter is ranked 7th in the 200 free, 6th in the 500 free and 4th in the 1000 free.
Freshman Tara Brooks is ranked 8th in the 50 free with sophomores Jeanna Willi (9th), Kim Lambert (11th) and junior Whitney Nigh (13th) knocking at the door. Brooks is ranked 5th in the 100 freestyle as well.
Junior Rikki Janes is currently sitting in the 5th spot in the 100 backstroke and ninth in the 200 back behind sophomore Amanda Smiley who is ranked No. 8. School record-holder Tawney Larm is ranked 8th in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke and is also sitting in the 8th spot in both the 200 and 400 individual medley. Sophomore Kara Bramer is having a break-out year as she is ranked 6th in both individual medley events.
The Mizzou men are well represented in the Big 12 rankings as well. Sophomore Aaron Lo has already swam a lifetime best, unshaved, in the 50 freestyle (21.02) and is ranked 5th in the conference.
Senior Chris Peters, who has been ranked in the top eight the last two seasons in the Big 12 Conference, is currently ranked 4th and 5th in the 100 and 200 backstroke. Senior Ryan Ruddy looks to make a big jump in the breaststroke events this weekend as he is ranked 8th in the 200 breast. Ruddy was a top eight finisher last year in both breaststroke events at the Big 12 Conference Championships. Sophomore Charlie Davies was a big surprise at lllinois two weeks ago and currently sits 8th in the 100 breast and 10th in the 200 breast.
Senior Mike Miller will also make a charge in the conference rankings this weekend in the butterfly events. Miller is 7th in the 100 fly and 10th in the 200.
MEDIA NOTE FOR THIS WEEKEND
Results from this weekend will be called and FAXed in Friday through Sunday night between 9:00 and 9:30 p.m. If the FAX will be later than 9:30, newspapers will be contacted to let you know that the FAX is coming.
