Illinois-Chicago, North Dakota vs. Northwestern

EVANSTON, Illinois, November 12. NORTHWESTERN remained perfect at home on the young 2011-12 season by sweeping a double-dual meet Saturday morning at the Norris Aquatics Center. NU defeated UIC, 157-130, and North Dakota, 173-115.
Northwestern's 400 medley relay team of Mark Ferguson (Perth, Australia/John XXIII), Uula Auren (Helsinki, Finland/Mäkelänrinteen Lukio), Jake Grosser (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles) and Alexander Ratajczyk (Parlin, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) powered its way to a win in the opening event, swimming a 3:26.29. The squad finished 1.06 seconds ahead of NU's second-place `B' relay comprised of Varun Shivakumar (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Fremd), Toni Valcic (Ribnica, Slovenia/Gimnazija Ledina), Dominik Cubelic (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) and Matthew Margritier (Leawood, Kan./Rockhurst), whose closing 100 free split of 44.81 made for a much tighter race at the end.

Senior John Frutiger (Alma, Mich./Alma) got out in front of the pack early in the 1,000 free, cruising home in 9:44.88. Brien Gerber (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) was third overall with a time of 10:07.26.

Junior Jan Hanulik (Cavisov, Czech Republic/Sportovni Gymnazium), who just the day before earned the first dual-meet victory of his career in a win over Wisconsin, captured his second win with a 1:41.26 in the 200 free. He was 2.27 seconds faster than Margritier in second overall (1:43.53) and 2.32 quicker than Tony Mattar (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) in third (1:43.58).

Shivakumar took first-place points in the 100 back with a 51.73 to beat the field by 1.57 seconds. Grosser placed second overall with a 53.25 in his backstroke debut on the year.

In the 100 breast, Auren continued his mastery of the event early in his collegiate career, busting out a 56.52 to win by over three full seconds in the four-lap race. Freshman John Kim (Newport Coast, Calif./Corona del Mar) then got a win in the 200 fly, outlasting Hanulik in the outside lane for a 1-2 finish with a 1:54.38 that topped Hanulik's season-best 1:54.87.

Cubelic led a top-four Northwestern sweep of the 50 free, swimming a season-best 21.26 to out-touch teammate Chase Stephens' (Madison, Wis./Edgewood) 21.29. Ross McCauliffe (Shapwick, United Kingdom/Millfield School) was third in 21.58 and Ratajczyk took fourth in 21.59.

In diving action during the first half of the meet, Tanner Nemkov (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) was third on the 3-meter board with a 255.70 while teammate Nick Pinkerton (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) was just .2 of a point behind in fourth overall with a 255.50. Both divers finished behind a pair of UIC competitors but in front of all North Dakota entries. On the 1-meter board, Pinkerton was sixth overall and Nemkov was seventh.

Freshman Matt Wilcox (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) (46.71) and Valcic (46.94) finished 1-2 for Northwestern from the first heat of the two-heat 100 freestyle event. They were followed in the Nos. 3-4 positions by Grosser (46.97) and Frutiger (46.98) to give NU four sub-47.00 times.

Shivakumar was in the pool by himself seemingly in the 200 back, swimming a 1:51.97 to win by nearly six full seconds over his teammate Ferguson's 1:57.59. In the 200 breast, Auren tried to close a big gap in the final 50 yards with a 32.56 split against his UIC opponent's 33.92, but he fell .05 of a second short in coming in with a runner-up time of 2:08.81. Kim followed Auren in third with a season-best 2:12.62.

Following the 200 breast, Northwestern elected to exhibition its scores in the remaining events, meaning its times counted but it accrued no points in the team tallies.

In the 500 freestyle race, Mattar battered the field to win in a season-best 4:41.15, topping his second-place teammate Stephens' season-best time of 4:45.99. UIC had the fastest time in the 100 fly followed by Hanulik (52.07) in second and Margritier (52.36) in third.

Shivakumar ended up second in the 200 IM with a 1:59.42 to lead Northwestern, then the team of Margritier, Cubelic, Grosser and Valcic swam an NU-season-best 1:21.86 to finish first in the 200 free relay.

Northwestern returns to action November 18-20 in its home TYR Invitational at the Norris Aquatics Center. Preliminary sessions will begin at 9 a.m. CT with finals getting underway at 5 p.m. CT.

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Competing in its second meet in less than 24 hours, Northwestern dominated a pair of opponents in a double-dual Saturday morning at the Norris Aquatics Center. NU defeated UIC, 174-114, and North Dakota, 187-104.

To start the morning, Northwestern's 400 yard medley relay team of Jackie Powell (Madison, Wis./James Madison Memorial), Jenny Wilson (Bethesda, Md./Sidwell Friends School), Marybeth Hall (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) and Valerie Nubbe (Huntsville, Ala./Huntsville) broke away from the pack between the breaststroke and butterfly legs, turning in a winning time of 3:54.71.

Madeleine Klichowski (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy), Katie McCullough (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central), Lauren Clifford (Pollock Pines, Calif./El Dorado) and Shelby Johnson (Wayzata, Minn./Wayzata) finished in third behind a UIC team with a time of 3:58.63.

In the 1,000 free, senior Jacquie Godbe (Rapid City, S.D./Stevens) swam a season-best 10:25.60 to lead a 1-2 finish with classmate Beth Loe (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington), who turned in a season-best 10:30.33.

Meredith King (Louisville, Ky./duPont Manual) and Erin Sosdian (The Woodlands, Texas/Woodlands College Park) took the top two spots in the 200 free. King went out in 26.64 to take a big early lead and never looked back en route to a season-best 1:53.07, followed by Sosdian's season-best 1:53.98.

North Dakota captured the 100 backstroke followed by Godbe's season-best 59.46 in second and Klichowski's 59.93 in third place overall. UIC then won its first event of the meet with a 1-2 finish atop a tight race in the 100 breast. The top three swimmers all were bunched within just .69 of a second of each other with Wilson's 1:06.93 ending up third among that group.

Kathleen Patterson (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) got Northwestern back on track with a winning season-best time of 2:07.35 in the 200 fly, leading her second-place teammate Clifford's effort of 2:08.47.

Freshman Tori Larsen (Elmhurst, Ill./York Community) won the 50 free by a huge .64 of a second margin to lead a 1-2-3 Northwestern overall finish. Larsen swam a 23.73 followed by McCullough's 24.37 and Sheila O'Neill's (Dunwoody, Ga./Marist School) 24.44.

In diving action during the meet's first half, Northwestern earned a 1-2-3 sweep of both springboard events. On the 3-meter board, Felicitas Lenz (Altadena, Calif./Polytechnic School) won with a 331.40 followed by Cosima Lenz (Altadena, Calif./Polytechnic School) with a 305.10 and Mary Kate Campbell (Burr Ridge, Ill./Fenwick) in third with a 266.35. The same order played out in the 1-meter event, with Felicitas Lenz winning with a 277.95, Cosima Lenz coming in second with a 265.45 and Campbell posting a 242.20.

Hall provided an exclamation point victory for Northwestern in the 100 free, winning by 1.54 seconds in a season-best 51.98. Senior Meghan Cavanaugh (Anchorage, Alaska/East Anchorage) finished behind a pair of UIC swimmers, but gave NU a 1-2 finish in its score versus North Dakota with a fourth-place overall time of 53.70.

North Dakota won the 200 backstroke followed by Sosdian (2:07.31) and King (2:08.20) in second and third overall, then UIC claimed the 200 breast in front of Megan Goss (Brentwood, Tenn./Ravenwood) and her season best of 2:24.66. Wilson (2:25.91) and Meaghan Fenn (New Rochelle, N.Y./The Ursuline School) (2:26.10) followed Goss for a 2-3-4 overall NU finish.

Powell blitzed the field in the 500 free with a season-best 5:01.54 to lead a 1-2-3 NU finish. Clifford came in second with a season-best 5:06.26 and Loe was third in 5:11.19.

Following the 500 free, Northwestern elected to exhibition its scores in the remaining events, meaning its times counted but it accrued no points in the team tallies.

Cavanaugh got a win in the 100 fly with a 57.87, then Patterson (2:08.60) and Soderholm (2:09.86) took first and second in the 200 IM.

In the final 200 free relay, Hall, Larsen, Nubbe and Powell combined for a first-place 1:35.31.

Northwestern returns to action November 18-20 in its home TYR Invitational at the Norris Aquatics Center. Preliminary sessions will begin at 9 a.m. CT with finals getting underway at 5 p.m. CT.

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.

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