Sophomore Sarah Lo was named Missouri's most valuable swimmer a year ago and is off to another great start this season.Sophomore Sarah Lo was named Missouri's most valuable swimmer a year ago and is off to another great start this season.
Swimming & Diving

Men's and Women's Swimming Travels To Pittsburgh Invitational

Nov. 13, 2001

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TIGERS TRAVEL TO PITTSBURGH FOR THREE-DAY INVITATIONAL:
Both the Missouri men's and women's swimming and diving teams travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. this weekend to take part in the Pittsburgh Invitational hosted by the University of Pittsburgh. Missouri will take on Ohio State University, the University of Miami (Fla.) and the University of Pittsburgh. The Missouri men are coming off of a victory at the Illini Fall Classic at the University of Illinois last weekend. The Mizzou women participated in two seperate meets over the weekend. Half of the squad placed third at the Illini Fall Classic while the other half tied for fourth place at the Continental Airlines Classic hosted by Rice University in Houston, Texas. The Pittsburgh Invite will begin on Friday morning with preliminary races. Prelims will take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. Finals of each event will take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.

HOFFER TO COACH AGAINST MENTOR:
Missouri Head Swimming and Diving Coach Brian Hoffer will coach against an old friend this weekend at the Pittsburgh Invite. Chuck Knoles, the head men's coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers, was Hoffer's high school coach at Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, Ariz. Knoles is in his 11th season at Pitt and owns a dual meet record of 81-30. Pittsburgh's men's squad was ranked 18th in the country in the preseason and are 3-0 in dual competition so far this season.

RECAPPING THE CONTINENTAL AIRLINES CLASSIC:
Ten Missouri women's swimmers competed at the Continental Airlines Invite this past weekend in Houston, Texas. The Tigers tied for the fourth place in the six-team invite meet, scoring 172 points. The University of California scored 227 points to win the meet. Virginia finished second with 195 points and the host school, Rice, came in third place with 178 points. Mizzou tied the University of Washington with 172 points. Nationally-ranked Penn State finished sixth with 155 points. Four Tigers were multiple-event finalists in the scoring portion of the meet on Friday. Freshman Mariona Costa finished in third place in the 200 breaststroke (2:21.23) and was sixth in the 400 individual medley (4:44.29). Sophomore Rebecca Wolfe was the fifth-place finisher in the 1000 freestyle and came back later in the meet to place second in the 200 butterfly. Sophomore Andrea Nigh posted fourth place finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyle events. Junior Katy Chandler was fifth in the 200 freestyle and fourth in the 500 freestyle. In relay action, Mizzou put together an impressive performance in the 400 medley relay. The team of Sarah Lo, Becca Dawson, Tiffany Bohon and Andrea Nigh posted a very good time of 3:50.63.

MEN'S TEAM WINS ILLINI FALL CLASSIC:
The Mizzou men scored 893.5 points over the weekend to win the Illini Fall Classic in Champaign, Ill. Southern Illinois finished second with 875.5 points while Northern Illinois came in third with 698 points. The Tigers were led by Matt Ferrarelli who won three individual events - 200 individual medley, 400 individual medley and 200 backstroke, while leading off the winning 200 and 400 medley relay teams. Radu Miclaus won both the 100 and 200 butterfly events while coming second behind Ferrarelli in the 200 IM. Diver Jamie Sweeney was the winner on both the one and three-meter diving boards. Missouri also received excellent performances out of its freshmen. Josh Boyd was the winner in the 1000 freestyle while taking second place in the 500 free and fourth in the 400 IM. Justin Zeimetz won his first career collegiate event by winning the 100 backstroke. He also picked up points for Mizzou by finishing third in the 50 freestyle and fourth in the 100 freestyle. Two other freshmen, Matt North and Jacob Thomas, picked up second place finishes for Missouri in the 200 breaststroke and 100 backstroke respectively.

WOMEN ARE THIRD AT ILLINI FALL CLASSIC:
While half of the MU women's team competed in Houston, the other half of the squad performed well at Illinois over the weekend, coming in third place with 715 points. Illinois won the meet with 1.059.5 points. Southern Illinois finished in second place with 715. Illinois State (117) and Northern Illinois (47) rounded out the scoring. Missouri's younger swimmers stepped into the spotlight over the weekend. Freshmen Megan Morford and Lindsey Palbykin claimed their first collegiate victories in the 400 IM and 100 freestyle respectively. Morford and her sister Amanda finished third and fourth in the 200 IM. Amanda Morford also took home top-five finishes in the 100 backstroke (3rd) and the 200 backstroke (4th). Junior Ellen Cross enjoyed a solid meet for the Tigers, placing second in the 50 freestyle and fourth in both the 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle. Leslie Hoh claimed a second place and two third place finishes for the Tigers. Missouri also claimed a victory in the 200 freestyle comprised of the team of Palbykin, Amanda Morford, Shannon Hollsten and Ellen Cross. The MU divers played a major role over the weekend. Freshmen Amanda Maret and Anna Massey won the one and three-meter competition respectively. As a matter fact, the Tigers swept the top three places on the three-meter board. Massey won the event while senior Erin Wilke placed second and Maret came in third. Wilke also finished third on the one-meter board.

FERRARELLI, MICLAUS RACKING UP WINS:
Juniors Matt Ferrarelli and Radu Miclaus are off to fast starts this season. Both swimmers have won five of the six individual races that they have competed in this season. Ferrarelli won three events at the Illini Fall Classic last weekend. He won the 200 backstroke, the 200 individual medley and the 400 individual medley. Ferrarelli is the defending Big 12 Champion in the 400 IM. Miclaus won three events against Texas A&M. He was victorious in the 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly and 200 freestyle. Miclaus won both the 100 and 200 fly at the Illini Fall Classic last weekend. The only race Miclaus has failed to win was the 200 individual medley at Illinois. He finished second to Ferrarelli.

SWEENEY'S DIVING GIVING MU MEN A BOOST:
Junior Jamie Sweeney is the lone men's scholarship diver. Sweeney has not let that deter him. The two-time Big 12 finalist represented the Tigers against a number of divers from the other three schools participating in the Big 12 Invite. In the first relay competition, Sweeney finished in fourth place with a score of 374.55, just three points short of second place Texas. In the second relay, it was all Sweeney. The lone Tiger acted more like David as he slayed the divers from Texas A&M, Southern Illinois and Texas. The next day, it was a one-on-one match-up between Texas A&M's Jesse Evan, an NCAA qualifier, and Sweeney representing the Tigers. Evan got the best of Sweeney on the one-meter board, defeating Sweeney by a eight points, 178.20-170.20. It was a different story though on the three-meter board. Sweeney knocked off Evan and Texas A&M, recording 210.80 points, bettering Evan who scored 200.95 points. Last week at Illinois, Sweeney won both the one and three events.

FRESHMEN OF INFLUENCE, PART I:
The Missouri freshmen have played a big part in the Tigers' early season success. Josh Boyd has won both of his 1000 freestyle races and has two second place finishes in the 500 freestyle. Matt North claimed his first collegiate victory over the weekend in the 100 breaststroke. He also has four second place finishes to his credit. Justin Zeimetz also won his first collegiate race in the 100 backstroke at Illinois while Jacob Thomas finished right behind Zeimetz for second place.

FRESHMEN OF INFLUENCE, PART II:
Not to be outdone is the freshmen class on the MU women's squad. Mariona Costa and Becca Dawson are two of the top new faces in the Big 12 Conference. Costa has already won four individual races this season and has already claimed the third fastest time in school history in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.63). Dawson is already the second fastest Tiger in school history in the 200 butterfly. Her time of 2:03.24 at Kansas is the second fastest time by almost a second. Dawson was one of eight swimmers at the Continental Airlines Invite to break the meet record in the 200 fly. Megan Morford and Lindsey Palbykin have both garnered victories this season while Amanda Morford has finished in the top-five in all but one her individual events. Freshmen divers Amanda Maret and Anna Massey both won their first collegiate diving events over the weekend at Illinois.

THE LO DOWN:
Sophomore SARAH LO was named Missouri's most valuable swimmer a year ago as a freshman. She is off to another great start this season. Lo won three events against conference foe Texas A&M in the Tigers' dual meet opener on Oct. 20. Her time of 56.47 in the in the 100 backstroke is an NCAA consideration cut time. Lo also three second place finishes to her credit so far this season. She placed second in both the 100 and 200 backstroke at Rice last week.

STUDENT HAVE THEIR SAY: NEW POOL AT MIZZOU:
A student vote took place on the University of Missouri campus on Oct. 21-23 regarding expansion and improvements of the Student Recreational Center. Plans for the recreational center include the expansion of fitness and weight room space, new locker rooms, a new air ventilation system, new aerobic and marital arts studios, new sauna and steam rooms and a new climbing wall. The students voted on a fee increase of $75 per semester beginning in 2004 that includes a new 50m-competition pool with a separate diving well. It will also include a lap pool and a club pool.