Feb. 9, 2001

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MISSOURI AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Missouri Tigers have continued to improve at each of the last three Big 12 Championship events. In 1997, the Tigers tallied 363 points. That point total increased to 410 in 1999 and jumped improved again in 2000 to 425 points.

Not only do the Tigers hope to increase their point total, they would also like to climb out of the fifth place slot that they have held since entering the Big 12 Conference.

A LOOK BACK AT THE 2000 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Missouri recorded its highest point total, 425, in school history at last year's Big 12 Championships in College Station, Texas. It wasn't until the final day that Kansas was able to pull away from the Tigers for the fourth place finish.

The Tigers got things going in the right direction from the very beginning. In the very first event, the Missouri 200 freestyle relay team of JEANNA WILLI, TARA BROOKS, KIM LAMBERT and ELLEN CROSS finished in fourth place while breaking the MU school record with a time of 1:33.65.

In the third event of the meet, the Tigers took both fifth and seventh places in the 200 individual medley. LESLIE HOH finished in fifth place with a school record time of 2:03.75. That time was also an NCAA consideration cut time, as Hoh would go on to compete in the 200 IM at the NCAA Championships. Senior TAWNEY LARM, the former MU record holder in the 200 IM, placed seventh.

Hoh made some more noise on day two in the 400 individual medley, solidifying a trip to the NCAA Championships with a second place finish. Her time was 4:18.29, also a school record.

Missouri racked a number of points in the 50 freestyle, despite having no one in the finals. Four Tigers: Willi, Lambert, Cross and Brooks, all finished in the top six in the consolation race with Willi and Lambert finishing first and second. Lambert's time of 23.70 was a personal best and fourth fastest time in school history.

Missouri finished fourth inthe 400 medley relay, and again broke an MU school record. The team of RIKKI JANES, Willi, Hoh and Lambert finished the race in a time of 3:49.17

On day two, Hoh's 400 IM was the dominant story for Missouri, but several other Tigers posted outstanding performances. Jeanna Willi, finished fifth in the 100 butterfly and broke the school record in the preliminary race with a time of 56.10. MOLLY VETTER, who had a tremendous Big 12 Championships as a freshman, finished seventh in the 200 freestyle.

The Tigers had four scorers in the 100 breaststroke, led by Kim Lambert's personal best time of 1:05.43, placing her eighth in the event. TIFFANY BOHON won the consolation race for Mizzou, and KRISTIN ZIEMKE and KARA BRAMER also finished in the consolation race for the Tigers.

Rikki Janes capped off her brilliant career by reaching the finals in both the 100 and 200 backstroke, finishing eighth and seventh respectivley. Janes 200 backstroke kicked off a good final night for Missouri last year.

Missouri's sprinters were solid in the 100 freestyle, led by Lambert who finished eighth with the second fastest time in school history, 51.36. Ellen Cross and Tara Brooks both scored in the consolation race for the Tigers.

Tawney Larm led four Tigers in the 200 breaststroke. Larm broke her own school record with an amazing third place finish in a time of 2:19.09. Three Tigers, Hoh, Bohon and Ziemke, all reached the consolations.

The Missouri divers also emerged and showed great improvement at the 2000 Big 12 Championships. KRISTY WANNER made her presents felt by reaching the finals on both the one and three meter diving boards, making her the first MU diver to final in two diving events since entering the Big 12 Conference. ERIN WILKE reached the finals and place eighth on the platform.

TIGERS SURVIVE TOUGH SCHEDULE
The Missouri women posted what Head Coach BRIAN HOFFER calls "a solid" 6-4 dual meet record this season. The Tigers got off to a great start, knocking off Arkansas and Kansas in their first two dual meets. Hoffer then challenged his women by taking them to an extremely competitive Rice Invite in Houston, Texas, which featured several nationally-ranked teams including Michigan and Cal. The Tigers entered the meet just six days after an emotional victory over Kansas and a hard week of training.

Missouri responded in it's next meet three weeks later at the Arkansas Invite in the Fayetteville where they dominated the meet breaking several records.

The Tigers went through Christmas training in Tempe, Ariz. in early January, and again were challenged with a dual meet just three days into training against the University of Wyoming. Wyoming, who was coming out of its training cycle, was much stronger than Mizzou and won the meet.

The following week, the Tigers returned home and traveled two hours up the highway to Truman State University where they split a double-dual with Truman State and Northern Iowa. Missouri was out-touched on the final race of the day by Truman State and lost 52-43, but dominated Northern Iowa.

The Tigers were back in competition six days later as they looked strong in defeating Iowa State in a Friday evening in Columbia. The following afternoon, Missouri dominated Southwest Missouri State.

The next challenge for the Tigers came a week later on the road as they traveled to Iowa City, Iowa for a Friday night dual with the Iowa Hawkeyes and then jumped back onto the bus for a Saturday afternoon meet at Nebraska in Lincoln. Missouri ran into a buzz-saw in Iowa City. Despite several fast times, Iowa enjoyed what may have been its fastest meet of the season as they defeated the Tigers. The next day in Lincoln, Missouri again was fast, but just not deep enough get by the Cornhuskers.

The Tigers rapped up the regular season two weeks ago in Evansville, Ind. as they dominated the Lady Aces.

TIGERS ARE A FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
It isn't too hard to figure out why the Missouri Tigers are excited about the direction the women's program is going. When breaking down the MU roster, the Tigers feature just three seniors and three juniors. The remaining 13 swimmers and divers are freshmen and sophomores. Eight of those freshmen and sophomores already appear on Missouri's all-time top five list in several events.

HOFFER RECORDS 100th CAREER VICTORY
To say that Head Coach BRIAN HOFFER has revived a program that was seemingly on its last legs when he took over in 1992 is a major understatement. On Jan. 13 in Kirksville, Mo., Hoffer recorded the 100th coaching victory of his career (men and women combined) in a double-dual meet vs. Northern Iowa and Truman State. He now owns a career coaching record of 106-86.

The women alone are 60-40 under Hoffer and 29-11 in the last four seasons. The men and women combined have broken over 100 schools records in Hoffer's nine seasons at MU.

TIGERS MAKE THE GRADE
The Mizzou women are accomplishing success in the classroom as well as in the pool. The Tigers collectively earned a 3.10 GPA during the fall semester, the third highest of any sport at Missouri. Senior diver KRISTY WANNER led the way with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Ten other Tigers on the Student-Athlete Dean's List include: Tiffany Bohon, Katy Chandler, Ellen Cross, Leslie Hoh, Shannon Hollsten, Lizza Igoe, Kim Lambert, Jessica Shaw, Sarah Stowe and Molly Vetter.

NATIONALLY-RANKED TIGERS
The Missouri women have a number of times ranked among the top 50 in the nation according to Taper and Shave. Freshman SARAH LO is currently ranked No. 35 in the 100 backstroke and 38th in the 100 breaststroke.

All five Tiger relays are ranked in the top 50. Both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays are ranked No. 17. The 800 freestyle relay is ranked 29th. MU's 200 medley relay is currently ranked 30th in the country while the 400 medley relay is 47th.