Wisconsin Swimming Knocks Off Northwestern

Wisconsin Generic Team

Photo Credit: Wisconsin Athletics

MADISON – The University of Wisconsin swimming and diving team swam past Big Ten Conference rival Wisconsin on Thursday night, with the Badger women posting a 166.5-125.5 win and the men picking up a 186.5-110.5 victory.

Northwestern Women’s Press Release

No. 19 Wisconsin lived up to its billing Thursday in a Big Ten dual meet at its home Natatorium, defeating Northwestern, 166.5-125.5.

The Wildcats fall to 4-3 on the season, 1-1 in the Big Ten with their loss while the 19th-ranked Badgers improve to 2-4 on the year, 1-1 in the conference. NU was just the second squad Wisconsin has faced this year that is not ranked in the current top-13 in the nation.

Wisconsin began the meet with a 1-2 sweep of the 200 medley relay with Northwestern’s team of Lacey Locke (Carmel, Ind./Carmel), Julianne Kurke (Atlanta, Ga./Parkview), Aja Malone (Acworth, Ga./Allatoona) and Julia Pratt (Vincennes, Ind./Vincennes Rivet) taking third in 1:45.63.

In the 1,000 free, Lauren Abruzzo (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) and freshman Sydney Modeas (East Amherst, N.Y./Clarence) went 2-3 for the Wildcats. Abruzzo swam a 10:05.24 while Modeas cut more than two seconds from her previous season-best in the event to finish right on her NCAA qualifier teammate’s heels at 10:06.09.

A pair of Wisconsin freestyle All-Americans swam sub 1:50 200 free races to go 1-2, but sophomore Annika Winsnes (Singapore/United World College) did not make it easy for the duo, cutting more than 1.5 seconds from her season-best to record a career-best 1:50.55 for third place, seven-tenths of a second away from the runner-up spot.

Locke raced her way to a win in the 100 back to give the Wildcats their first event victory in the meet. She touched in 55.74 after opening a half-second lead at the 50-yard mark and cruising in from there. A trio of Badgers finished behind her.

Wisconsin swept the top two spots in the 100 breast in front of Kurke for NU, then Ellen Stello (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood) continued her stellar early season with a 2:01.77 in the 200 fly to win by more than a full second. Emily Launer (DeKalb, Ill./Rosary) lowered her season-best in the event by nearly two seconds to earn third-place points.

Freshman Mary Warren (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) out-touched a Wisconsin opponent by two one-hundredths of a second at the wall to win the 50 free for Northwestern in a strong 23.40 time.

During the first diving event of the meet, freshmen Monique Demaisip (Norwalk, Calif./Gahr) and Mashal Hashem (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) placed second and third, respectively on the 1-meter springboard.

Coming out of the break, Winsnes again pushed the All-American Martin, this time finishing as runner-up in the 100 free with a 50.92 to lead the Wildcats.

Locke made it 2-for-2 for herself in the backstroke events with her first sub-2:00 swim in the 200 this season, picking up a victory in the race with a 1:59.52. Kurke then mounted a furious charge at the end of the 200 breast, nearly erasing a .64 of a second deficit in the final 50 yards. She would end up as the runner-up in the race by nine one-hundredths with a season-best 2:19.89.

Abruzzo staged a similar comeback in the 500 free but also fell just short at the wall, touching in a time of 4:54.97 after gaining .84 of a second on the Wisconsin winner in the final 100. Modeas (4:59.68) and Purdy (5:00.60) followed in third and fourth for NU.

Malone, Locke and Maddy Sims (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove) finished 2-3-4 for NU in the 100 fly before Demaisip and Hashem again took second and third in the diving competition. Stello then led a caravan of Wildcats in second through fifth in the 400 IM to close out the individual races.

In the final 200 free relay, Warren, Pratt, Anna Keane (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale) and Winsnes swam to a second-place time of 1:34.79.

Northwestern returns to action at its home TYR Invitational Friday through Sunday, Nov. 21-23 at the Norris Aquatics Center.

Northwestern Men’s Press Release

No. 19 Wisconsin proved to be a strong early-season foe for Northwestern Thursday at the Badgers’ home Natatorium with the Wildcats falling in the meet, 186.5-110.5.

Northwestern falls to 5-2 on the year with its loss and is 0-1 against conference opponents. Wisconsin is 4-2 on the season, 2-0 in the Big Ten with its victory.

The two teams battled through a close opening 200 medley relay that Wisconsin pulled out in the end by .28 of a second. The NU team of Alex Snarski (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville), Uula Auren (Helsinki, Finland/Mäkelänrinteen Lukio), Mark Ferguson (Perth, Australia/John XXIII) and Almog Olshtein (Haifa, Israel/Haifa) touched in 1:30.95 with Olshtein in particular trying to close the gap via a 19.94 final 50 free anchor leg.

Junior Jordan Wilimovsky (Malibu, Calif./Malibu) cruised to a win in the 1,000 free with a 9:25.58, opening a large lead early on and then smoothly sailing in for winning points via a time that was 17 seconds off the pace of his season-best so far this year.

Wisconsin then won the 200 free with NU sophomore Charlie Cole (Bernardsville, N.J./Bernards) taking second-place points in 1:41.09 followed by a sweep of the top spots in the 100 back in favor the Badgers.

In the 100 breast, Auren came in second with a 56.96 before Grant Halsall (Laxey, Isle of Man, GBR) took third as Northwestern’s top finisher in the 200 fly via a season-best 1:54.13.

Heading into the first break of the meet, Olshtein challenged for the victory in the 50 free but ended up second in 20.95.

During that first part of the meet, NU completed a 1-2 sweep of the 3-meter springboard when John Andrade (Avon, Conn./Notre Dame) scored a 323.48 and Andrew Cramer (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) followed in 304.65 for solid points on the boards.

Andy Jovanovic (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) and Olshtein went 2-3 in the 100 free coming out of the first break for NU. Jovanovic swam a 46.38 while Olshtein had a 46.80 to finish in a dead heat with a Wisconsin entry. The Badgers’ strong backstrokers then again performed a top-three sweep in the 200 back.

Van Donkersgoed (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnehaha Academy) led NU’s swimmers in the 200 breast with a third-place time of 2:07.09 before Wilimovsky ended up second in the 500 free with a 4:26.23, Snarski led NU with a second-place 50.86 in the 100 fly and Wilimovsky returned to grab second-place points in the 400 IM as well with a 4:02.17.

In second-half diving, Cramer (276.30), Andrade (263.85) and Reed Dillon (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) went second through fourth on the 1-meter board.

Jovanovic, Nick Petersen (Thiensville, Wis./Homestead), Olshtein and Gage Kohner (Boca Raton, Fla./Boca Raton Community) closed out the meet with a second-place 1:24.79 in the 200 free relay.

Northwestern returns to action at its home TYR Invitational Friday through Sunday, Nov. 21-23 at the Norris Aquatics Center.

Results: Northwestern vs. Wisconsin

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