Minnesota Women, Northwestern Men Win Twice Each in Big 10 Tri-Dual

Lindsey Kozelsky Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The Minnesota swimming & diving program put a bow on their Big Ten Conference triple dual on Saturday, with the women claiming a pair of victories over Purdue (233-129) and Northwestern (188-165). The Northwestern men also won two events in the two-day meet.

Women’s Scores

Minnesota 233, Purdue 129
Minnesota 188, Northwestern 165
Northwestern 207, Purdue 155

Men’s Scores

Northwestern 200, Minnesota 153
Purdue 184, Minnesota 169
Northwestern 184, Purdue 169

From Minnesota:

With two conference wins added to their resume, the Minnesota women conclude dual season having won their final four meets. Jordan McGinty, Tevyn Waddell, Kate Sullivan and Lindsey Kozelsky all notched individual victories on day two to secure the wins.

Entering with a lead over both opponents, the Gopher women began day two with a second place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. The team of Kozelsky, Grace Bennin, Maggie Summit and Katherine Wagner completed the event in 1:34.46 to score points for the U.

McGinty provided the Gophers with their first victory of the day, winning the 100 free with a time of 50.96. Waddell also chipped in a key first place finish, taking the top spot in the 100 butterfly by touching the wall in 54.53.

On the heels of Waddell’s win, Minnesota finished one-two-five in the 500 free. Sullivan placed first (4:54.28), with Abbey Kilgallon finishing second (4:56.83) and Maggie Erwin in fifth.

The Gophers’ final first place finish of the triple dual came from Kozelsky, one of nine Gophers participating in their last-ever dual for the Maroon and Gold. Kozelsky swam the 200 breaststroke in 2:12.87 to walk away with the win and end her dual meet career on a high note.

Other key moments in Minnesota’s big day in the pool include a two-three-five finish in the 400 individual medley. Rachel Butler placed second (4:21.97) to lead the charge, while Patricia Van Law (4:24.48) and Kelli McCarthy (4:25.32) finished third and fifth, respectively.

In the 200 backstroke, Emily Cook led the Gophers to a two-three finish. Cook’s 2:00.57 mark was good for second, with Waddell touching third with a time of 2:01.28.

Minnesota topped off the two-day tri-dual with a second place result in the 400 free relay, completing the event in 3:25.94. McGinty, Waddell, Bennin and Sullivan represented the U with the runner-up finish.

Sophomore Jae Sarkis was the top performer for the Gophers in the diving well on Saturday. Sarkis placed sixth in the platform diving competition with a score of 197.55.

Although the Gopher men were unable to depart West Lafayette with a victory, there were several positive takeaways from the triple dual. Maxim Royzen posted an NCAA Diving Zones Qualifying Score in the platform (322.35) en route to placing second overall in the event. Royzen is the first Gopher to qualify for NCAA Diving Zones in the platform this season.

Minnesota also placed second in the 200 free relay (1:22.15) on the men’s side, thanks to the team of Matthew Thomas, Tim Sates, Tuomas Pokkinen and Kyle Van Niekerk. Thomas and Pokkinen also scored points in the 100 fly, finishing in second (48.52) and fourth (48.87), respectively.

Also for the Maroon and Gold, Gavin Olson swam the 200 back in 1:46.59 to place second. Cameron Kelley added in a second place finish as well, doing so in the 500 free with a time of 4:29.78.

In the 200 breast, Max McHugh and Eitan Yudashkin scored points for Minnesota. McHugh finished second (2:01.94) in the event, while Yudashkin placed fourth.

The team of Sates, Thomas, Pokkinen and Nick Saulnier ended the triple dual with a third place finish in the 400 free relay (3:00.96).

From Purdue:

Ben Bramley (platform diving), Brett Riley (400 IM) and Nick McDowell (500 free) were also victorious. Riley and McDowell were both event winners for the second day in a row. Bramley was victorious on the tower for the second consecutive weekend, posting a team season-best score of 404.30 in the process.

Sylvia Kobylak posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time (B Cut) in the 200 breaststroke for the second weekend in a row. The freshman was out touched by just .05 hundredths of a second by Minnesota’s senior standout Lindsey Kozelsky.

Emily Bretscher also posted a runner-up finish Saturday, taking second with a personal season-best score of 266.45 on the platforms. The junior finished top two in all three diving events at the Big Ten Triple Duals.

Nikola Aćin and Nikola Bjelajac contributed to both freestyle relay victories. For the weekend, the Boilermakers won three of the four men’s relays (200 and 400 free, 200 medley). Aćin was part of all three winning teams, once again proving his value in relays. Ryan Hrosik (200 medley, 200 free) and Trent Pellini (200 medley, 400 free) joined Bjelajac (200 and 400 free) as Boilermakers to swim on two of the three teams. Ryan Lawrence (200) and Nick Sherman (400) also contributed to a relay winner Saturday.

McDowell was among the 13 seniors recognized prior to the meet during the annual Senior Day ceremony. He posted his fifth career win at the Big Ten Triple Duals while sweeping the distance freestyle events for the second time at the annual meet. His nine individual event victories this season are tops among the Purdue swimmers.

Riley completed a sweep of the individual medley events and has now won six individual events dating back to the FIU Sprint Invitational on Jan. 4.

Along with his relay success, Aćin also posted a personal season-best time of 44.55 as the runner-up in the 100 freestyle. That ranks as the fourth best on the team during the 2019-20 campaign.

Nathan Barsanti (100 fly), Keelan Hart (100 free) and Megan Johnson (100 free) were all heat 1 winners Saturday. Claire Abbasse and Johnson finished tied for third in the 100 free. Gretta DeCoursey and Johnson contributed to both of the Purdue women’s top relay finishers Saturday. They teamed with Natalie Mudd and Maizie Seidl to post a personal season best in the 200 free relay.

In Friday’s competition, Greg Duncan swept the springboard events.

For Northwestern:

calypso-sheridan-womens-200-im-2019-usa-nationals-prelims-day-5-46

Calypso Sheridan Photo Courtesy: Connor Trimble

Federico Burdisso kept up his recent streak of strong swims by winning the 100 fly, 100 free and 50 free. He also anchored the winning 800 free relay of Aleksa Bobar, Ben Forbes and Ryan Gridley as the Wildcats won two duals.

Bobar won the 200 free. Manuel Martos Bacarizo swept the backstroke events, Ben Miller was first in the 200 fly and Marcus Mok was the only one under two minutes in the 200 breast.

The Northwestern women won three relays, with Calypso Sheridan anchoring all three. That made it six wins over the two-day meet for Sheridan: She also took home the 100 back, 200 back and 200 IM. She was at the end of the victorious 200 medley, 200 free and 400 free relays.

Maddie Smith, the winner of the 50 free, and Malorie Han were on all three relays. Ally Larson won the 400 IM, Miriam Guevara took the 200 fly and Markie Hopkins was the top scorer in platform diving.

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