Oct. 19, 2001
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri women's swimming and diving team finished in second place and the Mizzou men finished third in the Big 12 Relay Invite held at the MU Natatorium in Columbia on Friday. The Tigers scored 77 points, finishing behind teh Texas Longhorns, who won the meet with 124 points. The defending Big 12 champion Texas Longhorns won all but one event in the women's competition while the Texas A&M Aggies knocked off the two-time defending national champion Texas Longhorns in the men's competition. The Aggies finished with a four-point victory, 104-100, over Texas. Missouri finished third with 70 points while Southern Illinois finished fourth with 65 points.
For the Missouri women, it was highest finish for the Tigers since the inception of the Big 12 Invite Meet in 1996. The Tigers claimed the only event that Texas did not win, the 150 breaststroke. Missouri took second place in nine of the 18 events. The Tigers won the 150 breaststroke in a time of 1:31.47. Sophomore Sarah Lo led off the relay, followed by freshman Mariona Costa, and then junior Tiffany Bohon. Bohon brought the Tigers home with a final split of 30.20 seconds. Costa and Bohon also teamed up with Leslie Hoh to finish in second place in the 300 breaststroke relay.
The Missouri women gave the Texas Longhorns a great battle in the 200 freestyle relay. The Longhorns recorded a winning time of 1:36.74 as U.S. Olympian Erin Phenix edged out Missouri freshman Lindsay Palbykin on the final leg of the race. The Tigers finished the race in a time of 1:36.88.
The Tigers 150 butterfly relay team of freshman Becca Dawson, sophomores Andrea Nigh and Rebecca Wolfe turned in a solid second-place time of 1:20 73. Texas won the event in a time of 1:19.37. The Tigers also made a run at the Longhorns in the 100 yard freestyle, the final event of the day. Texas finished the race in a time of 44.62 while the team of Nigh, Tara Brooks, Ellen Cross and Sarah Lo finished second in a time of 45.05 seconds.
The Missouri women's divers finished in second place in the first of two diving relay events. The team of Erin Wilke, Amanda Maret, Anna Massey and Sarah Sprigg finished behind the Longhorns.
In the men's competition, the lone Missouri winner came in the diving event. Representing the Tigers was Mizzou's lone male diver, Jamie Sweeney, who knocked off the competition.
The Missouri men had two second place finishes on the day. The team of Matt North, Radu Miclaus, Shane Whildin and Matt Ferrarelli finished second in the 400 individual medley relay in a time of 3:34.19, just beating the Texas Longhorns, who were represented by Big 12 Champion Joey Montague and Olympic Gold Medalist Tommy Hannan. The Longhorns recorded a time of 3:34.24.
The Tigers also displayed a strong showing in the 150 butterfly relay. The team of Shane Whildin, Tyler Belanger and Radu Miclaus finished in second place behind a very strong Texas A&M team. Missouri's time was 1:09.21.
The most exciting race of the day was the 800 medley relay. In the second leg, on display were three of the top 400 individual medley swimmers in the Big 12 Conference - Matt Ferrarelli from Missouri, Joey Montague of Texas and Scott Mueller of Texas A&M. When Ferrarelli entered the water for Missouri, the Tigers were in third place by nearly half a pool length. By the time Ferrarelli reached the wall, the race was nearly a dead-even heat with Southern Illinois, Texas A&M and Missouri running neck-and-neck. Southern Illinois ended up winning the race in a time of 7:55.87, just ahead of Texas A&M, who finished at 7:55.94. Freshman Matt North swam a strong final leg for the Tigers and claimed third place (7:56.17).
The Texas A&M Aggies will spend the night in Columbia tonight, as the Tigers and Aggies will be back in the water on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. for a dual meet. It will be the first dual meet of the season for both teams and the first ever dual meet between the two schools.
FINAL STANDINGS:
Women: Texas (124), Missouri (77), Kansas (65), Texas A&M (64), Iowa State (46)
Men: Texas A&M (104), Texas (100), Missouri (70), Southern Illinois (65).