EVANSTON, Illinois, November 20. BEHIND a pair of pool-record performances, Northwestern built a huge advantage after the first day of the three-day TYR Invitational at the Norris Aquatics Center.
The Wildcats have 414 points to lead the six-time field, 198 points better than second-place Iowa State (216). Michigan State is third with 208 points, Cleveland State is fourth with 116, Kenyon College is fifth with 98 and Illinois-Chicago is sixth with 66.
Northwestern got Friday's finals session off to a record-breaking start when the 200 free relay team of Emily Wong (Nepean, Ontario/St. Joseph's), Teisha Lightbourne (Nassau, Bahamas/Peddie School (N.J.), Alex Kraus (Birmingham, Ala./Vestavia Hills) and Taylor Reynolds (St. Louis, Mo./Webster Groves) won the event with a pool-record and NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time of 1:31.92. The result bested the old mark of 1:32.66 set by the Wildcats in the year 2000.
Jenny Wilson (Bethesda, Md./Sidwell Friends School) finished in a dead-heat for second place in the championship final of the 50 breast to earn 16.5 points for the Wildcats. Her time of 29.41 matched Kerry Sodonis from Michigan State. Also in the `A' final for NU were Kathleen Patterson (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) in fifth, Lightbourne in sixth and Marybeth Hall (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) in seventh.
Katherine McCullough (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) and Jacquie Godbe (Rapid City, S.D./Stevens) took 1-2 in the consolation final of the 50 breast.
Senior Kassia Shishkoff (Raleigh, N.C./St. David's School) nearly took down the pool record in the 500 free, breaking away from the field at the end to win the event with an NCAA `B' cut of 4:48.97, just .33 of a second away from the 12-year-old pool mark. Freshman Meredith King (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) was second with a 4:52.69, while Ellen Grigg (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin School) took fourth for the 'Cats in 4:56.25.
In the 500 free consolation final, Beth Loe (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington), Sheila O'Neill (Dunwoody, Ga./Marist School) and Jenn Kocsis (Omaha, Neb./Marian) swept the top three positions to give NU a 90.5 point cushion over second-place Iowa State after just three events. Loe's time of 4:53.24 beat the field by 7.59 seconds and would have placed her third in the championship heat.
Patterson took second to lead the NU charge in the 200 IM, coming in with a time of 2:04.13 to out-touch teammate Godbe by the slimmest of margins, .01 of a second. Hannah Points (Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin) in seventh and Hall in eighth also swam in the championship final for NU.
In the 200 IM consolation heat, Meaghan Fenn (New Rochelle, N.Y./The Ursuline School) topped the field in 2:07.08.
Wong won the 50 free in 22.79, .02 of a second off her pool-record performance of 22.77 in the morning's preliminary heats. Earlier while leading off the evening's 200 free relay Wong showed she's nothing if not consistent by splitting a 22.78. All three of those efforts are NCAA `B' standards. Reynolds came in fourth, Lightbourne fifth and Kraus tied for sixth in the championship final of the 50 free for NU.
Wong then put an exclamation point on a fantastic day of swimming by anchoring the 400 medley relay to a win with a time of 3:43.28. With Northwestern trailing entering the final leg, Wong split a 49.15, 2.45 seconds faster than Iowa State's anchor leg to reel in the Cyclones and win the event. Wong was joined on the relay by Liza Engstrom (Reno, Nev./Robert McQueen), Wilson and Meghan Cavanaugh (Anchorage, Alaska/East Anchorage).
In day one diving action, reigning Big Ten Diver of the Week Felicitas Lenz (Altadena, Calif./Polytechnic School) won the 3-meter springboard with a 301.10, more than 18 points better than her nearest competitor. Carlin Dacey (West Roxbury, Mass./Choate Rosemary Hall) and Tania Lyerly (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) earned fourth- and fifth-place points, respectively.
Day two of the TYR Invitational continues tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 21, with preliminary heats at 10 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m.
The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.
Results: TYR Invitational, Day One
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