May. 1, 2000
The Missouri women's swim team inked three high school seniors to national letters of intent during the spring recruiting period. With the signing of Sarah Lo, Andrea Nigh and Elizabeth Igoe, MU brings its incoming freshman class to a total of five.
Mizzou has to fill some big holes that were left with the graduation of eight swimmers. With these three freshmen, MU is taking the first steps in the process. These latest three recruits have a lot of talent and will be able to step right into the line up.
The headliner of the group is Sarah Lo, the younger sister of current Tiger Aaron Lo. The backstroke and breaststroke specialist will immediately fill a void left by Rikki Janes and Tawney Larm to graduation. The Whitby, Ontario native is a three-time Canadian national finalist in two different events. During the spring of 1998-99, Lo was ranked third in Canada and 49th in the world in the 100m backstroke. At the 1999 spring east junior national championships, Lo won the 100 backstroke. She was also selected to the Ontario Tour team in 1996.
"Sarah has great speed in the backstroke, an area we have been lacking in during the last couple of years," stated head coach Brian Hoffer. "She will make us better at the conference meet immediately. She will also impact our dual meet line ups from the start"
Joining Lo as a freshman and fellow Tiger sister is Andrea Nigh. Nigh comes to Mizzou from Castle Rock, Colo. where she was the runner-up at the Colorado state meet in the 100 freestyle in 2000. Nigh, the sister of former Tiger Whitney Nigh, was also a finalist in the 50 freestyle as well while also scoring at the junior national level.
"Andrea gives us a lot of depth in the sprint freestyle events," Hoffer said. "She will be a great help in the relays for us. Her relay speed will allow her to help us at both the conference and dual meet level immediately."
The final person to join the Tiger line up is Elizabeth Igoe. The Phoenix, Ariz. native is a junior national qualifier in the middle distance freestyle events and has also finaled at the Arizona state high school meet. Igoe is also very strong in the classroom. Her sister also swam at Northwestern.
"Elizabeth gives us more depth in the middle distance races," said Hoffer. "She will compliment Katy Chandler and Molly Vetter very well."
These three bring MU's 2000-2001 freshman class total to five. The Tigers added distance freestyler Jessica Shaw and backstroke specialist Shannon Hollsten during the fall signing period.