TYR/Northwestern Invite, Day Three

EVANSTON, Illinois, November 20. NORTHWESTERN ran away with the team title Sunday at its own eight-team TYR Invitational at the Norris Aquatics Center, earning yet another NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time on the final day of competition.

Northwestern compiled 866 total points to win the meet, while the race for second place was a real barn-burner. Iowa State and Illinois entered the final relay separated by just a single point, and Illinois' third-place finish in the race to Iowa State's fourth reversed the pairing to give Illinois (694) second over ISU (693).

Nebraska took fourth with 517 points followed by another close battled for fifth place. Cleveland State held a nine-point edge on Missouri State prior to the 400 free relay and was able to extend that cushion to finish fifth with 465 points to Missouri State's 450.

UIC entered the last event with a six-point cushion on Kenyon for seventh place, and, despite finishing behind the Ladies, was able to hold on by two, 207-205.

For the second-straight year, Cleveland State's Alice Sommerville was the TYR Invitational individual high scorer, this year compiling 108 points.

Northwestern did not place any Wildcats in scoring heats of the 50 fly during Sunday morning preliminary action, though both Meredith King (Louisville, Ky./duPont Manual) and Valerie Nubbe (Huntsville, Ala./Huntsville) picked up bonus final lanes with King tying for 19th overall in 26.55 and Nubbe placing 21st in 26.58. NU's Fallon Fitzpatrick (Delray Beach, Fla./Boca Raton Community) earned the first alternate spot for the 50 fly bonus final with a time of 26.70.

Two Wildcats qualified for the championship final of the 200 back. Continuing her strong swimming from Saturday's TYR action, sophomore Erin Sosdian (The Woodlands, Texas/Woodlands College Park) finished fourth overall in the morning heats with a season-best 2:03.88 while junior Meaghan Fenn (New Rochelle, N.Y./The Ursuline School) was eighth in 2:04.69.

Senior Jacquie Godbe (Rapid City, S.D./Stevens), who was scratched from Saturday evening's finals due to illness, came back Sunday morning to qualify for the 200 back consolation final in 15th overall with a time of 2:07.00. Freshman Madeleine Klichowski (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) captured a lane in the bonus final with a 23rd-place overall time of 2:08.61.

Sophomore Jackie Powell (Madison, Wis./James Madison Memorial) qualified fourth overall for the championship final of the 100 free Sunday morning with a 51.41. Marybeth Hall (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) and Godbe won consolation finals berths as well for NU. Hall qualified 12th overall in 52.20 while Godbe was 15th with a 52.33.

Four Wildcats qualified for the top four lanes in the 100 free bonus final, in the order of Sheila O'Neill (Dunwoody, Ga./Marist School) (52.40), Katie McCullough (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) (52.43), Nubbe (52.68) and Tori Larsen (Elmhurst, Ill./York Community) (52.70).

Jenny Wilson (Bethesda, Md./Sidwell Friends School), who notched an NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time in the 100 breast on Saturday, qualified fourth overall for the 200 breast championship final with a time of 2:20.44. Fenn also made her way into the `A' final by .15 of a second, finishing eighth overall Sunday morning with a time of 2:22.08.

Kathleen Patterson (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) will headline the consolation final of the 200 breast after a prelim swim of 2:22.23. Megan Goss (Brentwood, Tenn./Ravenwood) also earned a consolation heat lane with an 11th-place overall 2:23.15.

In the 50 back, senior Meghan Cavanaugh (Anchorage, Alaska/East Anchorage) finished 11th in 27.66 and Klichowski took 15th in 28.23 to give NU two swimmers in the consolation final of the event.

One event later, Cavanaugh was back in the pool earning a fifth-place seed in the championship final of the 200 fly with a time of 2:05.62. Finishing ahead of Cavanaugh and headlining the `A' final for the Northwestern contingent is King, who turned in a 2:04.23.

Hall's 10th-place 2:06.64 gave her the best Northwestern time among the 200 fly consolation final qualifiers for Sunday afternoon. Becca Soderholm (Madison, Wis./Madison East) took 14th in 2:08.02 and Patterson was 16th overall in 2:08.61 to join Hall in the `B' race. O'Neill is the second alternate for the 200 fly bonus final after a morning time of 2:10.58.

During the morning preliminary session, the divers competed on the 5-meter platform. Sophomore Cosima Lenz (Altadena, Calif./Polytechnic School) won the event with a score of 234.20 while junior Felicitas Lenz (Altadena, Calif./Polytechnic School) earned third-place points for Northwestern with a 223.60.

Sunday afternoon began with the last timed final heat of the 1,650 freestyle, and Northwestern stormed out of the gate with some tremendous performances. Sosdian went out strong from the start and finished with a collegiate-best and first-place time of 16:43.79 with her teammate Goss in second place with a 16:47.07. Senior Beth Loe (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) won ninth-place points in the event with a time of 17:24.62.

Fitzpatrick won the bonus final of the 50 fly for Northwestern with a time of 26.14 while King was 19th overall in 26.33, Nubbe took 21st in 26.38 and Johnson placed 22nd with a 26.85.

Literally minutes after winning the mile in career-best fashion, Sosdian was back in the pool as Northwestern's top finisher in the 200 back. Her time of 2:04.01 was just .13 of a second off of her preliminary time in the event and gave her a fifth-place finish. Fenn followed Sosdian in sixth with a 2:04.26 while Godbe raced to a 2:04.09 to win the consolation final for the Wildcats. Klichowski contributed a 2:08.97 in the bonus race to come in 24th overall.

Powell went wire-to-wire to win the 100 free title in a time of 50.70 while Godbe and Hall finished 1-2 in the consolation final. Godbe swam a time of 51.53 to out-touch her teammate by .10 of a second. O'Neill picked up a point with a 16th-place time of 52.91.

In the 100 free bonus final, Larsen led a 1-2-3 Northwestern convoy with a winning time of 51.87. McCullough followed in 17th overall with a 52.30 while Nubbe swam a 52.59.

Wilson notched her second NCAA `B' breaststroke provisional qualifying time of the weekend Sunday when she out-raced the competition for a first-place 2:15.18 in the 200 breast. Fenn took eighth overall with a 2:22.69.

In the 200 breast consolation final, Patterson worked out a victory in 2:20.24 while Goss garnered a point with a time of 2:24.06.

Cavanaugh won seven points with a 10th-place time of 27.03 in the 50 back consolation final while Klichowski added two points with a 15th-place overall time of 28.12.

King conquered the competition in the 200 fly after chasing down Kenyon's Hannah Saiz in the final 50 yards. Saiz went out like a bolt of lightning to try and tame the Division I invitational field before King tracked her down with a 2:01.66. Cavanaugh won fifth-place points for NU with a 2:04.43 in the heat.

Soderholm and Hall finished 1-2 in the 200 fly consolation final for NU. Soderholm swam a 2:02.90 to win by nearly 2.5 seconds over Hall's 2:05.46. Patterson swam a 2:07.28 to finish 13th overall while, in the bonus final, O'Neill put up a 2:10.06 to take 22nd position.

In the final 400 free relay, the Northwestern team of Hall, Sosdian, Godbe and Powell swam an NCAA `B' cut time of 3:23.71 to win in an incredibly loud atmosphere. With so much movement in the team standings dependent on the outcome of the final heat, the roof on the Norris Aquatics Center blew off at several different points during the race.

Northwestern now is off from competition until its winter training trip to the USA Swimming Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, Colo., where it will take on Colorado College at 6 p.m. CT on Dec. 16.

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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