Big Ten Weekly Recap: Beata Nelson Strong For Wisconsin; Purdue sweeps

Beata Nelson Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

By Dan D’Addona.

Beata Nelson the 200-yard individual medley and 200-yard backstroke to lead Wisconsin in a double dual against Auburn and Tennessee. Nelson’s finish of 1 minute, 59.24 seconds in the 200 IM was good for the 10th-fastest time in school history, and she finished the 200 back in 1:55.51, a full 3.31 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.

Friday’s performance at Auburn’s Martin Aquatic Center came in the season-opening competition for the 12th-ranked Badgers women and 25th-ranked men, a double dual meet with Auburn and Tennessee.

The two-day meet concludes Saturday.

Purdue sweeps Miami

The Purdue women beat Miami (Ohio) 194-105 and the men won 233-67 on Friday.

Olympian Steele Johnson won men’s 1-meter diving with 321.30 points and 3-meter with 344.78.

Kaersten Meitz won the 500 freestyle (4:45.30) and the 200 freestyle (1:47.95). Taite Kitchel won the 100 butterfly (55.21), the 200 IM (2:05.87) and the 200 butterfly (2:00.39).

Eastern Michigan tops Northwestern

Northwestern claimed eight first-place finishes in a dual meet against Eastern Michigan, but it was not enough as the Wildcats fell, 153-141, in their season opener Wednesday afternoon.

Will Hofstadter led the way for Northwestern by placing first in a pair of individual events (100 breast, 200 breast) and swimming a leg in two relays (200 medley, 200 free) where the Wildcats took the top spot.

Illinois tops Illinois State

The Illinois women defeated Illinois State 180-111 to open the season.

Two Illini swimmers won multiple events on the night, including senior Samantha Stratford and sophomore Monica Guyett. Stratford earned top times in the 50 freestyle (:23.95) and 1000 freestyle (10:18.98), while Guyett paced all swimmers in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, touching the wall with times of 1:54.44 and 5:09.97, respectively.

Freshman Michelle McCord made an immediate impact for the Illini, as the Canton, Georgia, native came away with the top 100 breaststroke time of 1:06.23. In addition to being part of the 400 medley relay team, McCord also swam the opening leg of the top 200 freestyle relay team that finished with a time of 1:35.55.

MSU falls to A&M and Notre Dame

Michigan State fell to Notre Dame and Texas A&M in a tri-meet in South Bend, Ind. The women fell to the No. 25 ranked Fighting Irish 139.5-27.5 and to the No. 5 ranked Aggies 141-26. The men fell 136-30 to No. 17 Notre Dame, and 142-24 to No. 15 Texas A&M.

The Spartans did not win an event.

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