Nov. 20, 2000
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri men's swimming and diving team finished in fourth place over the weekend in Evanston, Ill. at the Northwestern Invite. The Tigers, who had to compete without their top swimmer in captain Aaron Lo, scored 539 points over the three-day meet.
Northwestern won the meet with 873 points. Southern Illinois finished a close second with 828 points with South Carolina placing third with 652.
Sophomore Matt Ferrarelli led the Tigers over the weekend in the absence of Lo, who is out with mononucleosis. On Saturday, Ferrarelli finished in second place in the 400 individual medley in a time of 3:57.50. He came later to place third in the 100 backstroke (52.22) and then went out Sunday to finish second in the 200 backstroke (1:50.22).
Missouri had a solid day on Saturday. Ferrarelli was joined by freshman Chris Tingley in the 100 backstroke finals. Tingley finished in seventh place in a time of 54.61. The Tigers also had two finalists in the 100 butterfly. Sophomore Radu Miclaus and junior Shane Whildin placed fourth and sixth respectively in times of 50.07 and 51.26. Miclaus and Whildin finished third and 13th in the 200 fly on Sunday.
Senior Mike Cervenka chalked up a second place finish in the 200 freestyle on Saturday in a time of 1:42.30. Stephen Durley finished ninth overall by winning the consolation race.
Sophomore Dan Knudson was a finalist in the 100 breaststroke and finished sixth while freshman Stephen Darmitzel won the consolation race.
On Sunday, freshman Tyler Belanger was impressive in the 100 freestyle. He placed seventh in a time of 47.32. Cervenka was the 12th place finisher in that event. The Tigers had three finalists in the 200 backstroke, led by Ferrarelli, who finished second. Tingley finished sixth in a time of 1:58.27 while Miclaus finished eighth.
The Tigers also had success in the 1650 freestyle on Sunday. Durley led the way in with a fourth place finish (16:23.11). Sophomore Dane Pedersen placed sixth (16:30.14) while freshman Brady Knippenberg finished ninth.
On the diving boards, sophomores Jamie Sweeney and Jason Otte were both finalists over the weekend. Sweeney placed third on the three-meter board with a score of 485.65, a score that qualifies him for the NCAA Zone Meet in Austin, Texas in March. The NCAA Zone Meet is the qualifying meet for the NCAA Championships. Otte was a finalist on the one-meter board and finished seventh.