Oct. 30, 2000
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MISSOURI AND KANSAS TO HEAT UP THE POOL In what could very well be the meet of the year, the Missouri Tigers will host Big 12 rival Kansas this Saturday afternoon at the MU Natatorium. The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m.
Both Missouri's men and women enter the meet with 1-0 dual records. The men defeated Missouri-Rolla on Oct. 21 while the women knocked off Arkansas. Both Kansas squads are 0-1 after dropping dual meets to Texas A&M last Thursday.
The Tigers and Jayhawks caught a glimpse of one another this past Friday in Lawrence, Kan. at the Big 12 Relays. Both Missouri teams finished in fourth place out of five teams. The men ended up with 61.50 points, just six points out of third place which was taken by Iowa State. Mizzou finished 15 points ahead of Kansas (46.50). The Missouri men have defeated KU in each of the last two seasons in dual meet action.
On the women's side, the Missouri-Kansas battle has a chance to be a classic. The Tigers have never defeated Kansas in the program's history, dating back to 1978-79. Last Saturday in Lawrence, the Jayhawks finished in second place at the Big 12 Relays with 75 points, just four points ahead of the Tigers' 71 points.
"I expect this meet to be very competitive," said Missouri Head Coach Brian Hoffer. "The Kansas men have a lot of incentive after we defeated them the last two years. As far as the women go, it is going to be exciting. Kansas' strengths are our weaknesses while our strengths are KU's weaknesses. It is going to be a fun meet."
TIGERS OPEN SOME EYES AT BIG 12 RELAYS Both the Missouri men's and women's teams performed well at the Big 12 Relays in Lawrence, Kan. last Friday. Both teams finished in fourth place. For the men, it was the first time the Tigers had gotten any higher than fifth in the five-year history of the event. The women finished just four points out of second place and two points out of third.
The women brought home two first place finishes while the men collected one victory. The team of Tiffany Bohon, Kara Bramer and Leslie Hoh were victorious in the 300-yard breaststroke. The winning time was 3:19.80. Missouri came back later and won the 150-yard breaststroke. Sarah Lo, Hoh and Bohon were the winners in a time of 1:32.63.
The MU men were winners in the 800-yard medley relay. Mike Cervenka, Matt Ferrarelli and Aaron Lo won the race by almost five seconds with a time of 7:55.88. Ferrarelli keyed the win with an impressive split time of 4:02.1 for 400-yards.
WOMEN MAKE A STATEMENT IN RACES THAT COUNT Being a relay meet last Friday in Lawrence, Kan., several of the relays were races that would never occur in a normal meet. In the races that were "real," the Missouri women made a statement.
The Tigers finished in second place in the 200 freestyle relay (1:36.04) and the 800 freestyle relay (7:43.28) while taking third place in the 400 freestyle relay (3:33.06).
Missouri proved that they have great depth on this year's team. Only sophomore Ellen Cross was part of all three of the above relays while senior Kim Lambert and freshman Andrea Nigh appeared on two of those teams. Hoffer also called upon Bramer in the 400 and senior Jeanna Willi in the 200. Then he went to freshman Lizza Igoe, junior Molly Vetter and sophomore Katy Chandler in 800.
WANNER, SWEENEY STEP UP ON THE BOARDS Senior Kristy Wanner and sophomore Jamie Sweeney scored big points for the Tigers on the diving boards at the Big 12 Relays last Friday. The two divers found themselves in the top-five on all three boards.
Wanner, who qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Meet on the 3-meter board last week, finished fourth on the 1-meter, fifth on the 3-meter and surprised the field with a second place finish on the platform.
Sweeney was solid for the men. He placed third on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards and finished in fifth place on the platform.
FOUR TIGERS HOPE TO REMAIN PERFECT Four Tigers, two men and two women, were double-winners in individual events in Missouri's season-opener two weeks ago against Missouri-Rolla and Arkansas. Sophomores Matt Ferrarelli and Radu Miclaus won both of their individual events against Rolla while sophomore Katy Chandler and senior Jeanna Willi did the same on the women's side.
HOFFER HAS HIS PROGRAM HITTING 100 The number 100 has become a milestone number for Hoffer's program. Last season, the Mizzou men and women eclipsed the 100-plateau in school records broken in Hoffer's eight seasons. The men and women are just a combined four dual wins away from giving Hoffer 100 victories for his career. His overall record stands at 96-79 (55-36 women, 41-43 men).
The Tigers have also achieved in the classroom under Hoffer. MissCouri has had 132 athletes selected to the Academic All-Conference teams over the last eight seasons.
TIGERS ARE A FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH Four seniors, Kim Lambert, Jeanna Willi, Kara Bramer and Kristy Wanner, will play major rolls this season for the Missouri women. All four contributed to Mizzou season-opening win over Arkansas. The rest of the contributors were all underclassmen.
Five of Missouri's first place finishers were sophomores while two others were freshmen. As a matter of fact, 12 of Missouri's 20 swimmers are freshmen or sophomores.
The Mizzou men are in the same boat. Only seven of the Tigers 22 athletes are juniors and seniors. Three sophomores, Matt Ferrarelli, Radu Miclaus and Dane Pedersen, were all winners in the season-opener against Missouri-Rolla.
HOW "LO" CAN YOU GO What is the next best thing to having one of the most competitive athletes your program has ever had? Two of them.
Senior men's captain Aaron Lo is one of Hoffer's most competitive swimmers he has ever coached. He is in Missouri's all-time top five in four different individual events and three different relays. Now Hoffer possesses his sister, Sarah Lo.
The Tigers are expecting big things from the freshman from Whitby, Ontario. Lo has a shot of breaking the Missouri school record in the 100 backstroke this season. She will also be a factor in the 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley.
WANNER OVERCOMES ILLNESS TO ACHIEVE FEAT Just two weeks before, senior diver Kristy Wanner was in the hospital with a stomach illness. One week later, Wanner was winning the 3-meter diving competition against Arkansas.
Not only did Wanner win the event, she also qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Meet in Austin, Texas in March. Wanner, who came to Missouri at mid-year last season, qualified for the NCAA Zone Meet late last season. She finaled on both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards last year at the Big 12 Championships in College Station, Texas.
GREAT DANE As a freshman, it took MU distance specialist Dane Pedersen until the fourth meet of the season before he won his first career race. As a matter of fact, his only two dual meet wins were in the 1000 freestyle against Southwest Missouri State and Missouri-Rolla.
Pedersen wasted no time in getting his first win of the 2000-01 campaign under his belt. Against Missouri-Rolla, the sophomore edged out teammate Stephen Durley for first place in the 1000 freestyle (9:41.54). Pedersen also put on a solid performance in the 200 freestyle, finishing second behind Durley with a time of 4:46.25. The third place finisher was a good two seconds behind Pedersen.