Northwestern vs. Michigan

EVANSTON, Illinois, January 17. NO. 20 Northwestern dominated No. 22 Michigan, 173-122, Saturday during Senior Day at the Norris Aquatics Center, knocking off its second-consecutive ranked dual-meet opponent.

Northwestern (9-2, 2-2) won all but four swimming events and swept the top-three spots in three different races to aid in its commanding victory. NU also knocked off then-No. 24 Notre Dame on January 10.

Northwestern got the meet started in a big way by sweeping the top two positions in the 400 medley relay. The team of Liza Engstrom (Reno, Nev./Robert McQueen), Jenny Wilson (Bethesda, Md./Sidwell Friends School), Stacy Congdon (Windermere, Fla./Lake Highland Prep) and Emily Wong (Nepean, Ontario/St. Joseph's) pulled away from the field to win with a time of 3:46.57. Following in second was the group comprised of Katie Eschenburg (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead), Hayley Fry (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar), Meghan Cavanaugh (Anchorage, Alaska/Anchorage) and Shelby Johnson (Wayzata, Minn./Wayzata), which turned in a time of 3:49.47. The Wildcats' `B' squad trailed Michigan's `A' relay until Johnson put the hammer down and passed U-M's anchor during the second 50 yards of the freestyle leg.

Northwestern then built on its big lead early in the meet by winning the top three spots in the 1,000 free. Jenn Kocsis (Omaha, Neb./Marian) won the race with a 10:10.40, Ellen Grigg (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin School) was second in a season-best effort of 10:18.65 and Beth Loe (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) earned third-place points with a 10:26.98.

Kassia Shishkoff (Raleigh, N.C./St. David's School) came out on top of the 200 free with a 1:48.40, while Cavanaugh (1:53.97) in third and Jacquie Godbe (Rapid City, S.D./Stevens) (1:54.09) in fourth also earned points for the 'Cats.

Michigan then won its first event of the meet with a top finish in the 100 back, but Northwestern took places two-through-four. Engstrom was second with a 56.86, Eschenburg took third in 57.05 and Genny Szymanski (Haines, Alaska/Haines) was fourth in 57.79.

The Wildcats got back to their winning ways when Wilson and Fry went 1-2 in the 100 breast. Wilson swam a 1:03.51 and Fry clocked a 1:05.17 in the event. Michigan took back the winner's spot in the 200 fly, but again Northwestern went two-through-four in the race. Rachel Rys (Goleta, Calif./Dos Pueblos), who has battled injury all year long, had a breakout swim with a season-best 2:01.15 to finish second. Hannah Points (Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin) was third in 2:02.40 and Shishkoff came back after her 200 free win to take points with a fourth-place time of 2:04.84 in the 200 fly.

Northwestern turned in its second top-three sweep of the meet in the 50 free. Wong won with a 23.39, Johnson was second with a 23.74 and Teisha Lightbourne (Nassau, Bahamas/Peddie School (N.J.)) took third in 23.39.

In diving action during the first half of the meet, Tania Lyerly (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) braved a field of six Michigan divers to take second place on the 3-meter board with a score of 272.40. Lyerly was NU's lone diver in Saturday's meet.

Following the mid-meet break, Wong won her second-straight event with a 51.28 in the 100 free. Johnson (52.49) and Lightbourne (53.06) were second and third, respectively, for Northwestern.

Szymanski swam her second sub-2:00 time of the season in the 200 back to win the event with a 1:59.79. Engstrom followed Szymanski in third with a 2:04.51.

In the 200 breast, Northwestern won top-three points for the third time in the meet. Wilson won with a 2:19.00, Points had a 2:21.10 to take second and Kathleen Patterson (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) was third with a 2:22.41. Senior Jill Forster (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) actually finished fourth in the event by out-touching Michigan's top swimmer by .03 of a second with a time of 2:25.34, but only the top three can score points for a team in any one event.

In the 500 free, Kocsis won her second event of the meet with a time of 4:58.05. Michigan then notched its third swimming event victory in the 100 fly, with Rys (56.33) and Eschenburg (56.72) coming in third and fourth for NU, respectively.

On the 3-meter diving board, Lyerly again earned some points for the 'Cats, this time with a fourth-place score of 255.45.

In the final individual event, Michigan notched the victory in the 400 IM with Shishkoff (4:22.83), Points (4:23.18) and Patterson (4:27.70) earning second, third and fourth, respectively, for NU.

NU's 200 free relay team of Lightbourne, Wong, Johnson and Shishkoff concluded the meet with a victory, swimming a time of 1:33.76 to win by more than a second.

Prior to the meet, Northwestern seniors Forster, Fry and Sara White-Delehoy (Kent, Wash./Kentlake) were honored. The Wildcats' men's team seniors — Adam Beckman (Kearney, Neb./Kearney), John Franklin (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./North Broward Prep), Alex Kiaie (Milwaukee, Wis./Nicolet) and Eric Nilsson (Weston, Mass./Weston) — also were honored during this time. The meet was NU's Chipotle BIG MEET for the 2008-09 season and the spectator portion of the Norris Aquatics Center was packed.

Special thanks to Northwestern for contributing this report.

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