Gopher Men Win Own Minnesota Challenge

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, January 28. THE No. 10 Minnesota men's swimming dominated the Minnesota Challenge this weekend at University Aquatic Center, winning 13 events, including nine during the two sessions on Saturday. Junior Russ Payne led the way for the Golden Gophers, winning the 400 indvidual medley and the 200 backstroke today. The meet served as the final tuneup for the Big Ten Championships, held in three weeks at Ohio State.

Payne posted a perfect weekend, winning all three of his events. After taking the 200 IM on Friday, he won the 400 IM in 3:56.87 and the 200 backstroke in 1:47.96. In the 400 IM, Alex Wold also finished second (3:59.28) and Jon Menozzi was third (4:06.09). In the 200 backstroke, David Plummer placed second (1:49.97), followed by Dan Berve (1:51.21) and Kevin Ewald (1:52.14).

Minnesota's most dominant event of the afternoon session was the 200 freestyle where the Gophers occupied 12 of the 13 positions, led by Ray Betuzzi, who picked up his second victory of the meet. He touched first in a time of 1:39.53, followed by Igor Cerensek in third (1:39.63), Mike Woodson in fourth (1:39.82) and Jimmer Dorweiler in fifth (1:40.40).

In the 100 butterfly, Evan Bernier finished first in a time of 49.40, followed by Dan Berve in 49.62. The Gophers had six of the top seven in the 100 fly. Colin Lee-To touched the wall first in the 100 breaststroke, clocking a winning time of 55.31, followed by Drew Knoechel in second with a time of 56.62. Rob Schaefer was fourth in 57.38. The only event Minnesota did not win during the afternoon was the 100 backstroke, where North Dakota's Rodrigo Ferreira touched out the Gophers' David Plummer. Plummer finished in 49.05, followed by Berve in 49.56, Peter Mullee in fourth (50.75) and Woodson in fifth (50.76).

Minnesota elected to compete in just one of the two relay events on Saturday and won the 200 medley relay. Minnesota's team of Plummer, Lee-To, Berve and Cerensek won in 1:29.07.

Mike Holmes kicked off the evening session with a strong performance for the Gophers in winning the 1650 freestyle. He clocked an NCAA B-cut time of 15:26.69 while Nico Zebley was second in 15:42.14 and Fabian Toth was third in 15:42.95. Also in the evening, Cerensek won the 100 freestyle easily in 44.53, while Tyler Schmidt was second in 45.45, Woodson was third in 45.78 and Matt Engel was fourth in 45.86.

In the 200 butterfly, Hiro Sugimoto touched the wall first in 1:50.37, leading a pack of Gophers that took the top eight finishing spots. Alex Wold was second (1:50.93), followed by Mike Natali (1:51.44) and Adam Weis (1:52.92).

The Gophers will rest prior to the Big Ten Championships, Feb. 15-17 at Ohio State. The Gophers will host the NCAA Championships at University Aquatic Center, March 15-17. Tickets are available at the Gopher Ticket Office or by calling 612-624-8080 or 1-800-U-GOPHER.

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