Nov. 10, 2001
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri men's swimming and diving team held off the Southern Illinois Salukis to win the Illini Fall Classic hosted by the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill. on Saturday. The Tigers scored 574 points, just six points better than Southern Illinois who finished second with 568 points. Northern Illinois placed third with 451 points. Meanwhile, the Missouri women came in third place with 450 points. Illinois won the women's meet with 714 points with Southern Illinois finishing second with 516. Illinois State finished behind Mizzou in fourth with 117.
The men used three big swims by freshmen Matt North, Justin Zeimetz and Jacob Thomas to hold for the victory. In the second from last individual event of the meet, North won the 100 breaststroke for the Tigers in a time of 59.25, holding off the SIU swimmer who second in a time of 59.36. In the final individual event, Zeimetz and Thomas finished first and second in the 100 backstroke to clinch the win for the Tigers. Zeimetz dominated the race with a winning time of 53.65 seconds. Thomas' second-place time was 54.42 seconds.
Missouri got the second day competition off to a good start by winning the 200 medley relay. The team of Matt Ferrarelli, Shane Whildin, North and Tyler Belanger won the event in a time of 1:34.74. The Tigers actually won the first three events of the day. Ferrarelli cruised to victory in the 400 individual medley in a time of 4:02.41. Freshman Josh Boyd finished fourth in the event in a time of 4:11.85.
Junior Radu Miclaus and senior Shane Whildin gave the Tigers a commanding lead with a first and second place finish respectively in the 100 butterfly. Miclaus won the event in a time of 49.66 seconds. Whildin's second place time was 51.25 seconds.
The women's team started day two of the Illini Fall Classic with a second place finish in the 200 medley relay. The team of Amanda Morford, Belinda Wood, Leslie Hoh and Lindsay Palbykin posted a time of 1:50.00. The Tigers racked up big points in the 400 IM, won by Megan Morford in a time of 4:31.74. It was the first career win for Morford. Leslie Hoh finished second in a time of 4:34.86.
Senior Molly Vetter was the third-place finisher in the 200 freestyle. Vetter's time was 1:58.38. Hoh came back later for the Tigers to post a third-place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.10).
The Tigers took places third, fourth and fifth in the 100 backstroke. Amanda Morford finished third in a time of 58.67. Junior Ellen Cross finished fourth (59.27) and sophomore Shannon Hollsten was fifth (1:00.89).
Only half of the women's team competed at the Illini Fall Classic. The other half of the team participated in the Continental Airlines Invite hosted by Rice University in Houston, Texas. On Friday night, the Tigers finished in a tie for fourth place with 172 points. The second half of the meet held Saturday afternoon was team-scored.
The Tigers finished in second place in the 200 medley relay to get things started on Saturday. The team of Sarah Lo, Becca Dawson, Mariona Costa and Andrea Nigh posted a time of 1:48.88.
Freshman Becca Dawson reached the finals in the three events on Saturday. Dawson finished fourth in the 100 butterfly (58.59) and fourth in the 200 fly (2:07.34). She also placed seventh in the 200 IM in a time of 2:11.68. Sophomore Rebecca Wolfe finished second for Mizzou in the 200 fly in a time of 2:05.92.
Sarah Lo, who finished second in the 200 backstroke on Friday night, recorded another second place finish on Saturday, this time in the 100 backstroke. Lo's time was 58.00 seconds. Junior Chrissy Frieh reached the finals and finished eighth for the Tigers. Andrea Nigh finished in fourth place in the 100 freestyle.
The highlight of the nigh was in the 200 breaststroke where freshman Mariona Costa recorded a first place finish. Costa won the event in a time of 2:22.34.
Both the men's and women's teams are in action next weekend at the Pittsburgh Invite. The meet begins on Friday morning and will run through Sunday.