Swimming Kicks Off 2001-02 Season
10/9/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Oct. 9, 2001
2001-02 Outlook in PDF Format
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BACK IN THE WATER:
The Missouri Tigers kick off the 2001-02 season this weekend with two exhibition meets at the University Natatorium. Both the men's and women's teams will be split up into two teams on Friday night in the annual Black and Gold Meet beginning at 5:00 p.m. The Tigers return to the pool on Saturday morning and will compete against several Tigers of the past in the Alumni Meet.
TIGERS HOST BIG 12 RELAYS:
The Big 12 Relay Meet will be hosted by the University of Missouri next Friday, Oct. 19. The meet begins at 9:00 a.m. Participants include the men's and women's teams from the University of Missouri, the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. The University of Kansas and Iowa State will bring their women's teams to the meet while Southern Illinois University will bring its' men's squad. The Big 12 Relay Meet will showcase a number of the top swimmers, not only in the United States, but the world. The University of Texas is the men's defending national champions and feature Olympian Ian Crocker and world champion Brendan Hansen. The Texas women are led by Olympian Erin Phoenix. Texas A&M will have World Championships qualifier Riley Janes, the younger brother of former Missouri swimmer Rikki Janes, while the Aggie women are led by NCAA qualifier Clara Hoh. The Missouri Tigers feature All-American and Big 12 Champion Rebecca Wolfe on the women's side while the men's team is led by Big 12 Champion and NCAAqualifier Matt Ferrarelli.
MIZZOU WOMEN RETURN 10 CONFERENCE FINALISTS:
The Missouri women's team enters the 2001-02 season as talented as ever. The Tigers return 10 Big 12 Conference finalists. Leading the way for Missouri is Rebecca Wolfe, a transfer from the University of Nebraska. As a freshman, Wolfe earned All-American honors when she placed seventh at the NCAA Championships in the 200 butterfly. She is also the defending Big 12 Champion in that event. Junior Leslie Hoh was an NCAA qualifier as a freshman. She is the school record holder in both the 100 breaststroke and 400 individual medley. Sophomore Sarah Lo is the most versatile Tiger and was the team MVP as a freshman last year. Lo holds the second fastest time in school history in three events - the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 100 breaststroke. Fellow sophomore Andrea Nigh was the biggest surprise at the 2001 Big 12 Championships where she finaled in both the 50 and 100 freestyle events. Nigh broke the 19-year old school record in the 100 free, formerly held by Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Susan Tietjen. Senior Molly Vetter is the school record holder in the 200 freestyle and ranks among the top five all-time in the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle events. Vetter joins Big 12 finalists Katy Chandler and Sarah Stowe, who finished fifth and seventh respectively in the 1650 free at the 2001 Big 12 Championships. Junior Tiffany Bohon is one Mizzou's all-time best breaststroke swimmers and is coming off of the best season of her career. The Tigers also return junior Ellen Cross, a finalist in the 100 backstroke last year and key member of the Tiger relays. Missouri's relays will once again be strong in 2001-02. Senior Tara Brooks is back and may be one of Missouri's all-time best relay swimmers. On the diving board, senior Erin Wilke is a returning conference finalist on the platform diving board.
SOLID NUCLEUS LEADS YOUNG MEN'S SQUAD:
Missouri's men's squad features six returning Big 12 finalists, including Big 12 Champion and NCAA qualifier Matt Ferrarelli. Ferrarelli, the Big 12 champ in the 400 individual medley, is the school record holder in three different events. He finished fourth at the Big 12 meet in both the 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley. Junior Radu Miclaus is coming off his best season. Miclaus, who hopes to join Ferrarelli this season at the NCAA Championships, is the school record holder in the 200 butterfly and reached the finals in the 200 fly at last year's conference championships. Missouri will be led by junior Dane Pedersen in the distance events. Pedersen was the runner-up in the 1650 freestyle at last year's Big 12 meet and is the school record holder in both the 1000 and 1650 free. Another junior, Stephen Durley, will be looking for a breakout year in the distance events for the Tigers. The lone senior on this year's squad is Shane Whildin. Whildin will play a major role in the butterfly events and will be a much bigger factor in the sprint free events.
HEAD COACH BRIAN HOFFER:
Brian Hoffer enters his 10th season as the head coach of Missouri's men's and women's teams. Hoffer owns a combined career record of 106-86 in dual meet competition. The women's team is 60-40 all-time under Hoffer while the men are 46-46. The Missouri Tigers have broken a combined 113 school records in the last 10 years under Hoffer. Academically, the Tigers have had 148 student-athletes earn Academic All-Conference honors under Hoffer. Once again in 2000-2001, the Missouri women's team was recognized as an Academic All-American team. Hoffer was recognized as the 1999 Missouri Academic Coach of the Year.
YOUNG GUNS:
In addition to the solid foundation that both Missouri teams return for the 2001-02 seasons, Hoffer and his staff went out and assembled another talented recruiting class. Not only did the women add Rebecca Wolfe, the Tigers are now very deep in the butterfly events with the addition of freshmen Becca Dawson and Belinda Wood. Dawson was arguably the top high school swimmer in the state of Missouri a year ago. Wood was regarded as one of the top South African high school swimmers. Mariona Costa, who hails from Barcelona, Spain, is another key addition and will be a big-time factor in the breaststroke events. The Tigers are also excited about freestyle specialist Lindsay Palbykin, a state champion from Mesa, Ariz. Twins Amanda and Megan Morford will also add depth to the Tiger lineup in the backstroke, breaststroke and individual medley. Diving Coach Greg Triefenbach landed two talented divers in Amanda Maret and Anna Massey.
NEW BLOOD:
The men's team also added several young and talented swimmers during the off-season. Freshmen Josh Boyd and Blake Davis are two names to watch in the distance free events. Both swimmers will add depth to an already talented lineup that includes Big 12 runner-up Dane Pedersen and Stephen Durley. In the sprint free events, freshmen Justin Zeimetz and Ryan Searby will step in right away and play key rolls for the Tigers. Jacob Thomas is a newcomer in the backstroke and Matt North is another young freshman who will make waves in the breaststroke and individual medley events. Missouri also added experienced depth in the backstroke and breaststroke events. Dustin McKnight, a transfer from Nebraska, scored at the Big 12 Championships a year ago in the backstroke and IM events. Former Kansas swimmer Chris Musfeldt is now a Tiger and will compete in the breaststroke.
