Northwestern Swimming Sweeps Milwaukee on Senior Night

Northwestern superstar Jordan Wilimovsky dominates in a heavily stacked Michigan State A-final in the 400 IM, winning with a 3:53.82.

Photo Courtesy: Katie Branch

EVANSTON – The Northwestern swimming and diving teams sent their senior class out in style Friday night, sweeping Milwaukee at the Norris Aquatics Center. The Wildcat women posted a 153-81 win, while the men came out ahead 137-98. The Northwestern women’s 200 free relay team set a new pool record to close out the final home meet of the season.

Northwestern Women’s Press Release

Northwestern honored its two seniors, Madeleine Klichowski (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) and Valerie Nubbe (Huntsville, Ala./Huntsville), Friday prior to its meet against Milwaukee at the Norris Aquatics Center, then went out and earned a decisive 153-81 win over the Panthers that featured a pool record swim in the 200 free relay to close the afternoon.

NU now is 6-4 on the dual-meet season after the victory. The two teams competed in a less-common 13-event order instead of the more familiar 16-event order, with the 100 yard backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke cut from the program. NU won all 11 of the swimming events in the dominating victory.

Northwestern’s 400 medley relays set an early tone for the meet, getting a 1-2 sweep of the event and a winning margin for the `A’ squad of nearly nine full seconds. Lacey Locke (Carmel, Ind./Carmel), Julianne Kurke (Atlanta, Ga./Parkview), Maddy Sims (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove) and Annika Winsnes (Singapore/United World College) touched in a winning time of 3:44.98, while Anna Keane (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale), Mary Warren (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead), Julia Pratt (Vincennes, Ind./Vincennes Rivet) and Aja Malone (Acworth, Ga./Allatoona) followed in 3:53.75 to own a four-second cushion on Milwaukee’s top team, which was third.

Ellen Anderson (Montgomery Village, Md./Gaithersburg) steadily pulled away in the 1,000 free with high 30.00 splits to win her first dual-meet race of the year with a season-best 10:15.05, 10.15 seconds ahead of Emily Launer (DeKalb, Ill./Rosary) in second.

Lauren Abruzzo (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) led a convoy of four Wildcats to victory in the 200 freestyle. Malone, Megan Purdy (Boulder City, Nev./Boulder City) and Danielle Elliott (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) followed in second through fourth, respectively.

Warren sprinted to a comfortable 23.22 and a victory in the 50 free while the senior Nubbe was a season-best second place with a 24.00. Then, prior to the meet’s first break, Locke topped Abruzzo and Melissa Postoll (Acworth, Ga./Kennesaw Mountain) by nearly four full seconds in the 200 IM for a 1-2-3 NU victory.

Ellen Stello (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood) continued her season-long dominance of the 200 fly with a 2:00.87 to win the race over teammate Georgie Pettibone (Santa Rosa, Calif./Analy) by 7.37 seconds. In the 100 free, Winsnes’ 50.75 led Sims and Pratt to the wall in 1-2-3 order for the Wildcats.

Locke’s 2:01.73 in the 200 back gave her another resounding event victory over second-place Postoll’s 2:05.12. Postoll held off a hard charge from Milwaukee’s Sara Bentley to give NU the top two sweep.

Stello cruised to her second individual win with a 4:53.79 in the 500 free to top Purdy’s second-place 5:01.05 entering the second break of the meet. After that break, Kurke won the 200 breast by 6.5 seconds with a 2:18.98.

Freshman Mashal Hashem (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) was Northwestern’s lone diver competing in this meet; she placed second in the 3-meter event with a season-best 245.10 and second in the 1-meter with a 219.98.

The entire meet set the stage for NU’s team of Warren, Keane, Pratt and Winsnes in the 200 free relay, who entered the event with designs of taking Missouri’s Norris Aquatics Center record of 1:31.67 set in 2012 off the board. Warren went out in a career-best-matching NCAA `B’ provisional qualification 50 free cut of 22.87 with Keane, Pratt and Winsnes roaring the rest of the way for a 1:31.07, lowering that record by a full six tenths of a second.

Northwestern returns to action at 11 a.m. CT Saturday, Jan. 24, at Iowa.

Northwestern Men’s Press Release

After honoring its six-member senior class prior to the final home meet of the season Friday against Milwaukee, Northwestern went out and won every single event to roll to a 137-98 victory against the Panthers.

Northwestern improves to 7-3 on the dual-meet season with its win. The two teams competed in a less-common 13-event order instead of the more familiar 16-event order, with the 100 yard backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke cut from the program.

On Senior Day, Northwestern put an all-senior relay in the `A’ position of the opening 400 medley relay and saw it win handily. Mark Ferguson (Perth, Australia/John XXIII) led off with the backstroke leg before Aaron Sears (Neenah, Minn./Neenah) swam an inspired 100 breast split that was one of the best of his career. William Rosler (Bexley, Ohio/Columbus Academy) handled butterfly duties before Uula Auren (Helsinki, Finland/Mäkelänrinteen Lukio) brought it home for the victory.

NU also claimed second in the race courtesy of Andy Jovanovic (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy), Van Donkersgoed (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnehaha Academy), senior Andrew Seitz (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley) and Joao Steiner (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/The Bolles School).

Of all the competitors, NU diving enjoyed perhaps the best afternoon. Sophomore Andrew Cramer (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) swept both boards, securing NCAA Zone Diving cuts on both. He achieved a 314.78 in the 1-meter event and a season-best 358.80 on the 3-meter to claim those victories. Senior John Andrade (Avon, Conn./Notre Dame) took third on both boards — picking up a season-best and Zone cut of 325.05 in the 3-meter event — and sophomore Reed Dillon (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) grabbed fourth on the 1-meter and fifth on the 3-meter.

In the 1,000 free to begin Friday’s individual action, Charlie Cole’s (Bernardsville, N.J./Bernards) season-best time of 9:28.25 was good enough to break a late dead heat with Milwaukee’s Max Gatzke for the win in the first individual race.

Jordan Wilimovsky (Malibu, Calif./Malibu) topped Milwaukee’s Tim Halverson by over a second to win the 200 free for the Wildcats while Alex Snarski (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) and Jack Morris (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) each grabbed points with third- and fourth-place finishes, each.

Freshman Almog Olshtein (Haifa, Israel/Haifa) swam to a four-tenths of a second victory in the 50 free with a 20.52, then Grant Halsall (Laxey, Isle of Man, Great Britain) and Jonathan Lieberman (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) won the 200 IM with a 1-2 result for the Wildcats.

Following the meet’s first break, Jovanovic and Cole finished 1-2 in the 200 butterfly before Olshtein picked up his second win of the meet with a 45.82 in the 100 free. Gage Kohner (Boca Raton, Fla./Boca Raton Community) took third for the Wildcats in that race.

Ferguson swam a season-best 1:51.77 to win the 200 back, leading second-place Wilimovsky and third-place Nick Petersen (Thiensville, Wis./Homestead).

In the 500 free, the sophomore Lieberman nearly matched his AT&T U.S. Winter Nationals time of 4:33.52 with a 4:33.78 to win by nearly six full seconds. Donkersgoed then completed the individual events with a 2:05.85 win in the 200 breast while Sears continued his great day with a season-best 2:08.76 to place second.

Olshtein, Jovanovic, Petersen and Seitz then completed the sweep of every event by touching first in 1:23.30.

Northwestern returns to action at 11 a.m. CT Saturday, Jan. 24, at Iowa.

Milwaukee Women’s Press Release

Junior Rachel Margis won a pair of events to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women’s swimming & diving team in a hard-fought, 153-81 loss to Big Ten power Northwestern from the Norris Aquatics Center Friday night.

“It was great to get back out there and compete after about six weeks without a meet,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. “The women started a little slow and had to shake a little bit of the rust off but they finished very strong and there were plenty of strong times that we put forward today.”

Rachel Margis grabbed the win in the women’s three-meter diving. The junior took the top spot with a score of 270.15. Sophomore Anna Percival was right behind in third at 192.60.

Margis claimed her second win of the day in the one-meter competition with a score of 239.70. Percival again placed third, this time with a mark of 191.03.

Freshman Charli Wike collected the first win of her collegiate career, taking the top spot in the 200 breaststroke in 2:25.29. Classmate Natalie O’Connell was second overall at 2:25.39 and Adrienne DiFoggio was third at 2:27.15.

O’Connell also did well in the 200 fly, taking third in 2:10.14.

Natalie Johnson had a pair of strong showings at the meet. The sophomore first came in third in the 1000 free in 10:29.72. Freshman teammate Alena Bodnaruk was right behind at 10:41.72 for fourth – just shy of a season-best time. Johnson also came in third in the 500 free, touching the wall at 5:05.98.

Senior Anna Yontz had a strong showing in the 50 free, taking third in 24.06, less than one tenth of a second shy of second place.

The Panthers are right back at it tomorrow, taking on Chicago at the Klotsche Natatorium at 1 p.m. Prior to the meet; UWM will honor its nine seniors as it is the final home meet of the year.

Milwaukee Men’s Press Release

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s swimming & diving team won three events in a narrow 137-98 loss to Big Ten power Northwestern at the Norris Aquatics Center Friday night.

“It was great to get back out there and compete after about six weeks without a meet,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. “The men started fast and finished even faster. It was great to finally be able to add Max Gatzke to our official roster. He’s a great addition. He’ll add some great depth in our distance events and we’ll be a faster team with him on our roster, which was evident today.”

Tim Halverson started the winning ways by taking the top spot in the 500 freestyle. The junior touched the wall at 4:39.64, just edging out teammate Kenny Stelpflug in second at 4:39.89.

Next up was J.J. Melville, taking the top spot in the 200 breaststroke in 2:09.81. Taylor Wisdorf came in second overall at 2:10.53 with Joe Chokran third at 2:11.72.

UWM also claimed the top spot in the 200 free relay. Mike Lucchesi, Tanner Nimke, Erik Wahlgren and Nick Menninga teamed up to touch the wall first in 1:23.72.

Milwaukee showed off its depth in the 1000 free. Newcomer Max Gatzke took second in 9:30.88 – the fastest time in the Horizon League this season by nearly a full seven seconds. Stelpflug was third at 9:38.10 and Nic Halverson was fourth in 9:42.11 – both are season-best times.

In the 200 free, T. Halverson nearly topped Northwestern’s elite swimmer Jordan Wilimovsky. The two were neck-and-neck much of the race with Halverson eventually settling for second at 1:42.84 – just shy of his season best and the win.

UWM continued to show off its freestyle speed, going 2-3 in the 50 free. Lucchesi came in second with a season-best time of 20.92. Menninga touched the wall in 21.18 for third.

Lucchesi also had a second-place finish in the 100 free with a time of 46.38, just half a second shy of the win. Menninga was fourth in the event at 46.64.

In diving, senior K.J. Heger posted a pair of runner-up finishes on the day. Heger posted an outstanding score of 351.98 on the three meter. Freshman Marcel Harris was fourth at 292.65. On the one-meter competition, Heger again came in second with a very strong score, tallying 307.58 points in all.

The Panthers are right back at it tomorrow, taking on Chicago at the Klotsche Natatorium at 1 p.m. Prior to the meet; UWM will honor its nine seniors as it is the final home meet of the year.

Results: Milwaukee vs. Northwestern (Women)

Results: Milwaukee vs. Northwestern (Men)

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Swimterp

9 years ago

OK, as a geographer, I just can’t let this pass without comment. I met Aaron Sears when he was a freshman swimmer at Maryland – one of the nicest young men you could ever want to know. He said he was from Wisconsin, and I asked what part of the state. He said a town in the Fox River Valley, and he was surprised that not only had I heard of Neenah, I had actually been there a few years before. A few weeks later, I noticed the UM Athletic Dept. listed his home town as “Neenah, Minn.” I contacted the dept., asking them to correct this, but they never did – too busy plotting the sad demise of the swim team which came a few months later, I suppose. Now I see Northwestern – located in Illinois, a state that BORDERS Wisconsin, just copied Maryland’s mistake and lists his home town as “Neenah, Minn.” Seriously? Anybody at these schools know how to read an atlas?