NCAA Div. I Men: Northwestern Beats Nebraska, Falls to Georgia -- February 3, 2001

LINCOLN, Neb., Feb. 3. THE NORTHWESTERN men’s swimming and diving squad split a pair of dual meets against Nebraska and Georgia over the weekend. The Wildcats defeated Nebraska, 190-161, while falling to Georgia, 221.5-121.5.

Taking first place finishes for the Wildcats were Aaron McCracken (Naperville, Ill./Central) in the 100 breaststroke (56.39), Steve Steketee (Golden, Colo./Golden) in the 100 freestyle (45.81), Kellan O’Connor (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Preparatory) in the 200 butterfly (1:47.81), Adam Barker (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) in the 3-meter diving event (492.60 points) and the 200 freestyle relay (1:23.29), consisting of Steketee, Adam Kennedy (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor), Jason Merchant (Pearl City, Hawaii/Punahou) and Nick Barnes (Frankfort, Ind./Frankfort).

Second-place finishes for the Wildcats included Tony Swanson in the 200 backstroke (1:49.15), McCracken in the 200 breaststroke (2:02.83), Kennedy in the 50 freestyle (21.11) and Mike Shue (Ft. Myers, Fla./Ft. Myers) in the 1000 freestyle (9:28.74) and 500 freestyle (4:34.40).

Barker and teammate Elliot Massuda (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) each qualified for the NCAA diving zones with their scores on the 3-meter diving board. Barker finished first with 492.60 points while Massuda finished third with 487.80 points. To qualify they needed 480 points each.

Northwestern’s record moves to 5-4 overall, 3-3 Big Ten. They have a three week break before competing at the Big Ten Championships at the University of Minnesota on Feb. 22-24.