Mike Cervenka Was One Of Several Tigers To Break MU Natatorium Records Over The Weekend.
1/24/2001 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Jan. 24, 2001
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
The Missouri women's swimming and diving team have a tough task ahead of them this weekend. The Tigers will depart Columbia on Thursday afternoon and bus to Iowa City, Iowa for a Friday night dual meet with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Following Friday night's meet, the Tigers will hop back on the bus and drive across the heartland where they will meet the MU men's team in Lincoln, Neb. for a 2:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon tilt with the University of Nebraska.
The Tigers enter Friday's night dual with a 5-2 dual meet record. Missouri took care of business this past weekend with a 133.5-108.5 Friday evening victory over Iowa State and a 162-76 romp of Southwest Missouri State on Saturday afternoon.
Missouri will take on an Iowa team that owns a dual record of 4-6. The Hawkeyes dropped three of their first four duals of the season, but then racked up three in a row, before losing their last two. Iowa lost to Notre Dame over Christmas break in a dual in Hawaii, and are coming off of a 187-112 loss to defending Big Ten Champion Minnesota this past weekend.
Both Nebraska's men's and women's squads own 4-2 dual meet records. The Husker women were off last week after defeating Iowa State 130-113 the week before. The Nebraska men competed at the Dallas Morning News Classic last weekend in Dallas and placed fifth behind nationally-ranked Tennessee, SMU, Minnesota and Florida.
Nebraska enters the meet unranked, as the Husker program is going under a transistion phase under interim coach PAUL NELSON. The longtime Nebraska staff, headed by veteran coach CAL BENTZ, was suspended indefinitely when it was announced that the Nebraska program was under investigation for NCAA violations back in late September.
CERVENKA GOES OUT ON FIRE
Senior MIKE CERVENKA made his final two home meets memorable this past weekend. The Plymouth, Minn. native lit up the MU Natatorium on Friday night by breaking the pool record in the 200 freestyle. His winning time was 1:40.17.
Not satisfied, Cervenka went even faster on Saturday against Southwest Missouri State. Again, he came out on top, this time turning in a time of 1:39.89.
MORE POOL RECORDS
Mike Cervenka wasn't the only Tiger breaking MU Natatorium records over the weekend. As a matter of fact, the Mizzou men took down three pool records in all over the weekend.
Sophomore MATT FERRARELLI broke his own 200 individual medley record on Friday night against Iowa State. Ranked seventh in the country in that event, Ferrarelli won the race in a time of 1:51.30, over seven seconds faster than the second place finisher.
RADU MICLAUS also broke an MU Natatorium record. On Saturday, Miclaus took down the 200 butterfly mark, establishing a new top time of 1:48.65. Miclaus is ranked No. 22 in the nation in that event.
MIZZOU DIVERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE
New MU diving coach GREG TRIEFENBACH has made a big impression on the Missouri divers. The Missouri diving squad has taken huge strides so far in 2000-01 and have been a major factor in Mizzou's dual meets this season.
Senior KRISTY WANNER is on a roll on the women's side. Wanner swept away the competition this past weekend, winning on both apparatus on Friday against Iowa State and Saturday against Southwest Missouri State. She claimed a first place finish earlier in the season on the three-meter board against a solid Kansas team.
Wanner has already qualified for the NCAA Zone Meet. She finaled in both the one and three meter events at last year's Big 12 Conference Meet and hopes to continue climbing the ladder in her finale in February.
Two other women's divers made tremendous progress over the weekend. Junior ERIN WILKE scored a 243.68 to claim third place on the three-meter board on Friday night against Iowa State, and then improved to 255.60 on Saturday against SMS, good for second place.
Sophomore KELLY POZZOLI enjoyed a career-day on Saturday with a second place finish (244.88) in one-meter competion and a fourth place finish (181.10) on the three-meter.
On the men's side, sophomore JAMIE SWEENEY had another impressive weekend, winning three of the four competitions. On Friday, Sweeney claimed victory on the three-meter board with a score of 315.45. He came back on Saturday and won both boards against Southwest Missouri State.
The event that Sweeney did not win, Friday's one-meter competition, was won by his teammate, JASON OTTE. Otte turned in score of 283.28, and upped that number to 286.28 on Saturday, good for second place behind Sweeney.
FERRARELLI HOPES TO KEEP ON ROLLING
Sophomore MATT FERRARELLI had a semester to remember, and the Tigers hope that the first two months of the season are only the tip of the iceberg.
Ferrarelli enters the second half of the season nationally-ranked in three events. He is currently ranked second in the nation in the 400 individually medley with a time of 3:50.69. He is ranked seventh in the 200 IM (1:49.30) and 14th nationally in the 200 backstroke (1:47.62).
Ferrarelli was named the Big 12 Male Swimmer of the Month for November and December. He has won all but one dual meet race he has been entered in so far this season, and has failed to finish in first place in just five events.
NATIONALLY-RANKED TIGERS
Matt Ferrarelli is not the only Tiger swimmer in the national rankings. According to Taper and Shave Magazine's College Quick 25, Missouri is ranked nationally in seven events.
Besides Ferrarelli, fellow sophomore RADU MICLAUS is ranked 18th in the country in the 200 butterfly. Miclaus' top time is 1:48.33.
Three Missouri relays are currently ranked. The men's 200 medley relay is ranked 17th in the country. The team of Ferrarelli, Lo, SHANE WHILDIN and MIKE CERVENKA posted a time of 1:31.41 at the Arkansas Invite.
Two of the Tigers' women's relays are also ranked. Mizzou's 200 freestyle relay team consisting of JEANNA WILLI, ANDREA NIGH, TARA BROOKS and KIM LAMBERT own the 14th fastest time in the country. Nigh and Lambert join ELLEN CROSS and KARA BRAMER as the 16th fastest 400 freestyle relay team in the country. They posted a time of 3:26.65 at the Arkansas Invite.
THE LO DOWN
How "Lo" can the Tigers go? Pretty "Lo" and that's a good thing.
The brother/sister combination of men's captain AARON LO and women's stud freshman SARAH LO has been tough to beat. Aaron, the senior leader, has returned from a bout with mononucleosis and has never looked better. Aaron won both the 50 and 100 freestyle events on Saturday against Southwest Missouri State. He swam a strong 21.02 in the 50 free.
Sarah led the charge for the women on Saturday with victories in the 200 IM and 200 backstroke. She won the 100 backstroke against Iowa State on Friday evening.
Missouri hopes to hear the name Lo mentioned often at the Big 12 Championships.
HOFFER CLAIMS 100th CAREER COACHING VICTORY
Missouri Head Coach BRIAN HOFFER earned his 100th coaching victory of his career at Truman State on Jan. 13. Hoffer entered the meet with 98 career victories. Hoffer's career coaching record stands at 104-83. He is in his ninth season as the head coach of the Missouri Tigers.
MAKING THE GRADE
It was another solid semester in the classroom for the Missouri swimming and diving program. The women posted a fall semester GPA of 3.10 while the men averaged out at 2.79.
Of 25 MU student-athletes to obtain a 4.0 GPA, five of those were recorded by Mizzou swimmers. Current Tigers MATT FERRARELLI, KYLE SANDERS and KRISTY WANNER earned 4.0 GPAs in the fall while former Tigers JULIA ALEXANDER and KRISTIN ZIEMKE posted perfect scores on their way to earning degrees.
The Tigers had 18 swimmers show up on the Fall 2000 Student-Athlete Dean's List. Making the grade on the men's side were: BERT BAIOTTO, STEPHEN DARMITZEL, MATT FERRARELLI, DAN KNUDSON, RADU MICLAUS and ERIC SULLINS. On the women's side, 10 current Tigers showed up on the list: TIFFANY BOHON, KATY CHANDLER, ELLEN CROSS, LESLIE HOH, SHANNON HOLLSTEN, LIZZA IGOE, KIM LAMBERT, JESSICA SHAW, SARAH STOWE and MOLLY VETTER. Former Tigers pursuing their degrees that made the Dean's List were RANDY SWIFT and TAWNEY LARM.
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 have combined for a 104-83 record during Hoffer's tenure (59-38 women, 45-45 men).
The Tigers have also achieved in the classroom under Hoffer. Missouri has had 132 athletes selected to the Academic All-Conference teams over the last eight seasons.
TIGERS ARE A FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
Three seniors, KIM LAMBERT, KARA BRAMER and KRISTY WANNER will play major rolls the rest of the season for the Missouri women. The rest of the contributors are all underclassmen. Twelve 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.
FOUR TALENTED SWIMMERS SIGN LETTERS OF INTENT
The Missouri Tigers signed two women and two men to letters of intent in the early signing period. Highlighting the recruiting class as of date is St. Louis native REBECCA DAWSON. A product of the Rockwood Swim Club which has produced several Mizzou swimmers, Dawson is the defending state champion in the 100 butterfly and the runner up in the 200 individual medley. Dawson is regarded as one of the top swimmers in the state of Missouri.
Dawson will be joined by Tempe, Ariz. native LINDSAY PALBYKIN. Palbykin is the defending Arizona state champion in the 200 freestyle and a top-three finisher in the 100 free. She has only been swimming for three years.
On the men's side, the Tigers feel that they have found a diamond in the rough in Champaign, Ill. product RYAN SEARBY. An all-state football player, Searby will give up the helmet for goggles full-time as he is expected to help Missouri in the sprint free events.
Joining Searby is JOSH BOYD of Greenville, S.C. Boyd is a talented distance swimmer who along with current Tigers DANE PEDERSEN and STEPHEN DURLEY, will give the Tigers one of the deepest distance teams in the Big 12.
