Minnesota Men Complete Two-Day Dominance of #17 Purdue and #20 Wisconsin

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN, January 29, IN its final dual meet action of the season, the seventh-ranked Minnesota men's swimming and diving team completed a two-day dominating performance over No. 17 Purdue and No. 20 Wisconsin at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Ind.

Minnesota beat the Boilermakers 218-135 and the Badgers 268-95 to improve to 5-1 on the year. Minnesota won six events on Saturday, bringing its total in the two- day triple dual to 11 event wins.

Leading the way was senior Justin Mortimer. After winning three events in the first day of action, he won two more on Saturday and was unbeaten on the weekend. Mortimer cruised to a win in the 400 individual medley, touching the wall in 3:54.83, besting Purdue's Romain Maire by over two seconds. Russ Payne and David Moulder finished fifth and sixth respectively for the Gophers in the event.

Mortimer continued his fine meet in the 500 freestyle, winning in a time of 4:25.38, under the NCAA provisional cut standard. He won the event by over seven seconds. The Gophers' Sean McCaffrey was second in 4:32.47 while Travis Beckerle was third in 4:33.25.

The Gophers also showed their dominance in the sprint free events for the second straight day. After going 1-2-3-4 in the 50 freestyle on Friday night, Minnesota took the top two slots in the 100 free. Mario Delac was the winner in 44.66, followed by Terry Silkaitis in 45.06. Igor Cerensek finished fourth in 45.36.

The freestyle dominance carried over in the relays. In the day's first event, Minnesota touched first in the 200 free relay. The team of Delac, Neil Osten, Ales Volcansek and Cerensek swam a time of 1:20.83. The 400 free relay team of Delac, Silkaitis, Osten and Cerensek also won the meet's final event in a time of 2:57.83, an NCAA provisional time cut. Minnesota easily beat second place Wisconsin, who swam a 3:01.17.

The Gophers other individual winner was Lucas Petersen, who won the 100
butterfly in a time of 49.57, barely touching out Osten, who was second in 49.58. Dan Berve was third in 49.71. In the one-meter diving competition, John Schmidt had a solid showing, finishing third with a score of 289.00.

In the 200 backstroke, Minnesota finished 2-3-4, led by Michael Woodson in a time of 1:49.30. David Plummer was third in 1:49.75 and Payne was fourth in 1:49.91. Jason Timmer led the Gopher contingent in the 200 breaststroke, placing third in 2:05.20. Nate Bernier was fourth in 2:06.20.

Minnesota hosts the Minnesota Challenge next weekend, Feb. 5-6, at the University Aquatic Center.

TEAM RESULTS
Minnesota, 218, Purdue135
Minnesota 268, Wisconsin 85
Purdue 212, Wisconsin 141

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