Dec. 19, 2000

COLUMBIA, Mo.- The Missouri swimming and diving teams have added a meet over the Christmas holidays. The Tigers, who are scheduled to train at Arizona State University in Tempe, will face the University of Wyoming in a dual meet on Sunday, Jan. 7. The Tigers, who take a Christmas training trip each year, are scheduled to work out in Tempe from Jan. 3 through Jan. 11.

The meet against Wyoming has some significance. With 98 combined career victories between the men's and women's teams, Head Coach Brian Hoffer can claim his 100th career coaching win at his alma mater, Arizona State University. Hoffer spent the first seven years of his coaching career at ASU. He is originally from Phoenix, Ariz.

"It is kind of ironic, but that would be special," said Hoffer on the possibility of notching his 100th career coaching victory in front of friends and family. "We need to win though, and without knowing a lot about Wyoming, I am sure that this will be a very competitive meet."

In the past, the Tigers have competed in one-day invite meets during the Christmas training, but Hoffer feels that this is a good opportunity for his teams to really get into the mood of competing while in training.

"Many of the past invites during the Christmas break have been more or less fun meets, something to break up the tough workouts," said Hoffer. "This is a great opportunity for us to really get the competitive juices flowing and to be able to compete in a meet that counts. Christmas training is usually a really hard week both physically and mentally. This meet helps shift the focus mentally a little bit."