Purdue, Northwestern Trade Wins

EVANSTON, Illinois, November 4. AT the end of the day, Northwestern and Purdue traded wins in meets held in Evanston, Ill. In a meet that came down to a winner-take-all 200 free relay, the No. 7 Northwestern men captured first place in the final event to take a 153-147 victory over No. 18 Purdue Saturday afternoon at the Norris Aquatics Center. Meanwhile, fielding a short roster against Purdue, Northwestern's women turned in an amazing effort in a 153.5-146.5 loss, coming close to pulling off an upset in the final event of the meet.

With Northwestern entering the last relay holding a slim 142-141 lead, the Wildcats got a strong performance from Bruno Barbic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gimnazija), Kyle Bubolz (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North), Jon Ehret (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy College Prep) and Eric Nilsson (Weston, Mass./Weston) to win the 200 free relay with a time of 1:22.63. NU led the entire way, with Barbic turning in a 20.79 leadoff split before Bubolz left no doubt with a 20.13 second leg.

Northwestern won 11-of-16 events, but Purdue's performance on the boards and its ability to grab points when not finishing first kept the meet close.

The Wildcats opened the meet in similar dominating fashion, swimming to a 5.2 second win in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:20.44. Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest), John Franklin (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./North Broward Prep), Bubolz and Barbic comprised the relay.

In the first individual event of the day, Nilsson won the 1000 free by nearly a full 16 seconds with a time of 9:20.18. Grevers then locked up the 200 free by swimming a 1:38.99. Jimmy Sourbeer (Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic) was third in the 200 free with a 1:41.97.

With Northwestern showcasing its depth and juggling its lineup a bit, Big Ten 100 fly champion Bubolz was the Wildcats' top finisher in the 100 back, posting a second-place time of 50.79. Freshman Jake Vogel (Canton, Ill./Canton) took third with a 51.67.
Purdue took the top two spots in the 100 breast, then Nilsson came back to win the 200 fly with a 1:49.35. Andy Long (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) was third with a 1:52.73.

Barbic then went back-to-back with wins in the 50 free (20.56) and the 100 free (45.46) for the 'Cats. Grevers followed with an NCAA 'B' cut in his first 200 back swim of the year, winning the event with a 1:45.01.

Nilsson took his third event of the meet with a 4:35.07 to win the 500 free. Daniel Walls (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) was third in the event with a 4:40.32.

Bubolz then won the 100 fly with a 49.54 before Grevers crushed the field in the 200 IM with a 'B' time of 1:46.65.

Purdue swept the top two spots on both diving boards, with NU's Ryan McIntosh (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) claiming third on the 1-meter board.

On the women's side, the Wildcats' top butterflier, Katie Braun (Edina, Minn./Edina), missed the meet due to illness, but NU still entered the final 400 free relay with a shot at upsetting a Boilermaker team that began the year ranked No. 25 in the nation.

Needing a 1-2 finish in the relay to win the meet, the team of Emily Wong (Nepean, Ontario/St. Joseph's), Hayley Fry (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar), Kassia Shishkoff (Raleigh, N.C./St. David's School) and Andrea Hupman (Lawrenceville, Ga./Brookwood) captured the event with a time of 3:25.90.

Northwestern's 'B' relay gave a good effort, but finished in fourth place.

The Wildcats began the meet with a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay, with Genny Szymanski (Haines, Alaska/Haines), Jessie Bailis (Omaha, Neb./Millard North), Stacy Congdon (Windermere, Fla./Lake Highland Prep) and Hupman comprising a team that swam a 3:50.06.

Freshmen Shishkoff and Mary Beth Francis (San Diego, Calif./Mission Viejo) swept the top two spots in the 1000 free, with Shishkoff swimming a 9:54.08 and Francis turning in a 10:12.48.

Hupman then won the 200 free with an NCAA 'B' time of 1:49.57. Wong was third with a 1:50.76 and Jenn Kocsis (Omaha, Neb./Marion) was fourth with a 1:52.94 to earn points for the 'Cats.

Szymanski nearly won the 100 back, finishing just .1 seconds back of first-place Katharine Telfer with a 57.93.

Bailis and Fry followed by sweeping the top-two positions in the 100 breast, swimming times of 1:04.39 and 1:04.67, respectively. In the 200 fly, freshman Rachel Rys (Goleta, Calif./Dos Pueblos) stepped up in the absence of Braun to take second with a 2:02.69.

Wong then won the first dual-meet event of her career with a 23.72 in the 50 free before she and Hupman swept the 100 free. Hupman swam a 'B' cut of 50.70 to win and Wong offered up a swim of 51.12 to finish second.

Szymanski also picked up the first win of her collegiate career with a 3-second victory in the 200 back, swimming a 2:03.92. Fry then battled for first in the 200 breast, being out-touched at the pad by just .05 seconds to earn second-place points with a 2:20.39.

In the 500 free, Kocsis continued the trend by winning her first collegiate event, swimming a 5:01.24. Francis was second to complete the sweep with a 5:02.59.

In the 100 fly, Rys continued her strong performance with a 56.35 second-place finish before Shishkoff rocked the field with a 5-second victory in the 400 IM, swimming a 4:22.56 to earn an NCAA 'B' cut.

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