Gopher Women Prevail at Minnesota Invitational -- November 30, 2004

MINNEAPOLIS, MN, November 30. THE Golden Gopher women¹s swimming and diving team finished the Minnesota Invitational on top last week, scoring 913 points for the three-day invite.

Wisconsin, who only competed in the preliminaries on Sunday, finished second overall with a score of 880.

Minnesota started the first event of the final day with the 1,650 free. Kate Hardt led the Gophers with a time of 17:08.10 for sixth place. Valerie Tukey finished right behind Hardt with a time of 17:12.08 for seventh overall. Amy Killpatrick chipped in a time of 17:33.83, good enough for ninth.

Freshman Emma Sinkler added a time of 2:12.36 to finish eighth overall in the 200 backstroke A Final. Jaclyn Gazvoda finished 10th overall and second in the B Final with a time of 2:10.40, while Lindsey St. Martin added an 11th- place showing in 2:13.18.

Minnesota's strongest event of the day came in the 100 free, placing five swimmers in the top eight. Sarah Perrott added a top time of 51.60, while Katy Coombe chipped in a second-place finish of 51.93. Jennifer Hasling added a fifth-place finish with a time of 52.88, while Kate Hardt was sixth in 52.95. Sara Vine added a time of 53.14, good enough for seventh place.

Sarah Solfelt finished the 200 fly in 2:09.64 for fifth place, while Michelle Omdahl clocked a 2:10.59 for seventh overall.

The Minnesota 400 free relay placed second behind Wisconsin. Coombe, Krista Kezbers, Perrott and Hardt added a time of 3:27.57 to finish the invite.

Minnesota takes next weekend off to train for the Georgia Invite, Dec. 3-5, where prelims will begin at 9 a.m. and finals are slated for 3 p.m..