Jan. 15, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
BUSY WEEKEND AHEAD FOR MIZZOU:
The Missouri men's and women's swimming and diving teams return to competition this weekend with a trip to Springfield, Mo. The Tigers will take on Southwest Missouri State on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. followed by a dual meet with Drury College on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Missouri is coming off of a two-week Christmas Training trip in Tempe, Ariz. Both the men's and women's teams competed once while training on the campus of Arizona State University. The men competed in a non-scoring invite meet against Arizona State and North Carolina State. The women drove up to Flagstaff, Ariz. last Thursday and defeated Northern Arizona University in a dual meet by a score of 123-75.
MIZZOU WOMEN LOOK TO STAY UNDEFEATED:
The Missouri women are a perfect 5-0 in dual meet competition thus far in 2001-02. The Tigers hope to improve to 7-0 this weekend. Southwest Missouri State enters Friday's meet with a dual meet record of 5-4. Last year, Missouri handed SMS a 162-76 defeat in Columbia. Drury has competed in just one dual meet so far this season. They lost that meet to Arkansas by a score of 168-75.
MEN'S TEAM LOOKS FOR FAST START TO SECOND SEMESTER:
The Missouri men's team enters the weekend with a 2-1 dual meet mark. The Tigers will tangle with a solid Southwest Missouri State team that enters the meet with a dual record of 4-3. Last year in Columbia, Missouri came out on top by a score of 135-106. On Saturday, the Tigers take on a Drury team that has competed in just one dual so far this season. They lost that meet to Missouri-Rolla by a score of 116-91.
TIGERS COMING OFF CHRISTMAS TRAINING:
Both the Missouri men's and women's teams are coming off two vigerous weeks of training. Head Coach Brian Hoffer brough the Tigers to Tempe, Ariz. where they trained for two weeks under the warm Arizona sun. Both teams did take one day off of training for competition. The men competed in a non-scoring invite meet against North Carolina State and Arizona State on Jan. 5. The Tigers won three events, including both the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. The team of Matt Ferrarelli, Matt North, Radu Miclaus and Tyler Belanger turned in a winning time of 1:36.05 in the 200 medley relay. Ferrarelli and Belanger teamed with Justin Zeimetz and Shane Whildin to win the 200 freestyle relay in a time of 1:25.20. Missouri swept the top three spots in the 500 freestyle. Dane Pedersen was the winner in a time of 4:44.50. Freshmen Blake Davis and Josh Boyd finished second and third respectively in times of 4:45.34 and 4:46.71. The women earned a 123-75 victory over Northern Arizona in their day of competition against Northern Arizona University. It was a challenging meet for the women. Flagstaff, Ariz. is located at 7,000 feet above sea level and the meet was swam in short course meters instead of the usual yards. Still, the Tigers improved their dual meet record to 5-0 and broke three pool records in doing so. The team of Sarah Lo, Mariona Costa, Becca Dawson and Tara Brooks broke the pool record in the 200 medley relay in a winning time of 2:02.19. Freshman Becca Dawson cruised to a victory in the 100 butterfly in a pool-record time of 1:04.63. Fellow freshman Mariona Costa out-raced NAU star Annie Warner in the 100 breaststroke to win the race in a pool-record time of 1:13.72. The Tigers swept the top three places in two other events, including the 200 individual medley that saw Leslie Hoh turn in a solid winning time of 2:26.68. Hoh was followed by Megan Morford and Sarah Lo. Ellen Cross led a Missouri sweep in the 100 freestyle for her first victory of the season. Cross touched the wall in a time of 1:00.61. She was followed by freshman and Arizona native Lindsay Palbykin and Andrea Nigh. Nigh had earlier won the 50 freestyle.
NATIONALLY RANKED TIGERS:
The 2001-02 swimming campaign is proving to be a good around the nation. The top times in the nation are seemingly faster towards the top than they were last season. Yet, the Missouri Tigers continue to show up in a number of events in the latest College Quick 50 compiled by Taper & Shave. Junior Matt Ferrarelli, an NCAA qualifer in 2001, is ranked up with the best swimmers in the country in the individual medley events. Ferrarelli is ranked 10th in the 200 individual medley with a best time of 1:49.31. He currently is ranked No. 13 in the nation in the 400 IM with a time of 3:53.81. Junior Radu Miclaus is currently ranked 44th in the nation in the 200 butterfly. The Mizzou women have five individuals ranked among the nation's top 50 in their respective events. Freshman Mariona Costa is currently ranked 25th in the country in the 100 breaststroke with a best time of 1:03.20. She is also ranked No. 34 in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:17.56. The highest ranking Tiger is Rebecca Wolfe in the 200 butterfly. Wolfe is ranked 18th with a time of 2:00.66. Sophomore Sarah Lo is ranked 32nd in the 100 backstroke (56.23) while fellow sophomores Lizza Igoe (48th, 500 freestyle) and Andrea Nigh (49th, 50 freestyle) are also ranked among the nation's top 50.
COAST-TO-COSTA:
It took freshman Mariona Costa less than three months to earn the title fastest breaststroke swimmer in Missouri swimming history. Costa broke school records in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the Pittsburgh Invite in November, and there is no reason to believe that she won't keep getting faster. She eclipsed the school record in the 200 breaststroke by over a second-and-a-half and broke the 100 breaststroke record by nearly a second. The Barcelona, Spain native also was part of the record-breaking 400 medley relay team at Pittsburgh. Before the Tigers departed for Tempe, Ariz. for Christmas Training, Costa returned to her home in Spain to compete in the Spanish Winter Nationals. She was the winner in the 100 breaststroke and took second place in the 50 breaststroke.
STUDENTS 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.