Photo Credit: Wisconsin Athletics<\/p>\n
MADISON – The University of Wisconsin swimming and diving team swam past Big Ten Conference rival Wisconsin on Thursday night, with the Badger women posting a 166.5-125.5 win and the men picking up a 186.5-110.5 victory.<\/p>\n
No. 19 Wisconsin lived up to its billing Thursday in a Big Ten dual meet at its home Natatorium, defeating Northwestern, 166.5-125.5.<\/p>\n
The Wildcats fall to 4-3 on the season, 1-1 in the Big Ten with their loss while the 19th-ranked Badgers improve to 2-4 on the year, 1-1 in the conference. NU was just the second squad Wisconsin has faced this year that is not ranked in the current top-13 in the nation.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin began the meet with a 1-2 sweep of the 200 medley relay with Northwestern’s team of Lacey Locke (Carmel, Ind.\/Carmel), Julianne Kurke (Atlanta, Ga.\/Parkview), Aja Malone (Acworth, Ga.\/Allatoona) and Julia Pratt (Vincennes, Ind.\/Vincennes Rivet) taking third in 1:45.63.<\/p>\n
In the 1,000 free, Lauren Abruzzo (Denver, Colo.\/Kent Denver) and freshman Sydney Modeas (East Amherst, N.Y.\/Clarence) went 2-3 for the Wildcats. Abruzzo swam a 10:05.24 while Modeas cut more than two seconds from her previous season-best in the event to finish right on her NCAA qualifier teammate’s heels at 10:06.09.<\/p>\n
A pair of Wisconsin freestyle All-Americans swam sub 1:50 200 free races to go 1-2, but sophomore Annika Winsnes (Singapore\/United World College) did not make it easy for the duo, cutting more than 1.5 seconds from her season-best to record a career-best 1:50.55 for third place, seven-tenths of a second away from the runner-up spot.<\/p>\n
Locke raced her way to a win in the 100 back to give the Wildcats their first event victory in the meet. She touched in 55.74 after opening a half-second lead at the 50-yard mark and cruising in from there. A trio of Badgers finished behind her.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin swept the top two spots in the 100 breast in front of Kurke for NU, then Ellen Stello (Shorewood, Wis.\/Shorewood) continued her stellar early season with a 2:01.77 in the 200 fly to win by more than a full second. Emily Launer (DeKalb, Ill.\/Rosary) lowered her season-best in the event by nearly two seconds to earn third-place points.<\/p>\n
Freshman Mary Warren (Hartland, Wis.\/Arrowhead) out-touched a Wisconsin opponent by two one-hundredths of a second at the wall to win the 50 free for Northwestern in a strong 23.40 time.<\/p>\n
During the first diving event of the meet, freshmen Monique Demaisip (Norwalk, Calif.\/Gahr) and Mashal Hashem (Potomac, Md.\/Winston Churchill) placed second and third, respectively on the 1-meter springboard.<\/p>\n
Coming out of the break, Winsnes again pushed the All-American Martin, this time finishing as runner-up in the 100 free with a 50.92 to lead the Wildcats.<\/p>\n
Locke made it 2-for-2 for herself in the backstroke events with her first sub-2:00 swim in the 200 this season, picking up a victory in the race with a 1:59.52. Kurke then mounted a furious charge at the end of the 200 breast, nearly erasing a .64 of a second deficit in the final 50 yards. She would end up as the runner-up in the race by nine one-hundredths with a season-best 2:19.89.<\/p>\n
Abruzzo staged a similar comeback in the 500 free but also fell just short at the wall, touching in a time of 4:54.97 after gaining .84 of a second on the Wisconsin winner in the final 100. Modeas (4:59.68) and Purdy (5:00.60) followed in third and fourth for NU.<\/p>\n
Malone, Locke and Maddy Sims (Downers Grove, Ill.\/Downers Grove) finished 2-3-4 for NU in the 100 fly before Demaisip and Hashem again took second and third in the diving competition. Stello then led a caravan of Wildcats in second through fifth in the 400 IM to close out the individual races.<\/p>\n
In the final 200 free relay, Warren, Pratt, Anna Keane (Edmonds, Wash.\/Meadowdale) and Winsnes swam to a second-place time of 1:34.79.<\/p>\n
Northwestern returns to action at its home TYR Invitational Friday through Sunday, Nov. 21-23 at the Norris Aquatics Center.<\/p>\n
No. 19 Wisconsin proved to be a strong early-season foe for Northwestern Thursday at the Badgers’ home Natatorium with the Wildcats falling in the meet, 186.5-110.5.<\/p>\n
Northwestern falls to 5-2 on the year with its loss and is 0-1 against conference opponents. Wisconsin is 4-2 on the season, 2-0 in the Big Ten with its victory.<\/p>\n
The two teams battled through a close opening 200 medley relay that Wisconsin pulled out in the end by .28 of a second. The NU team of Alex Snarski (Libertyville, Ill.\/Libertyville), Uula Auren (Helsinki, Finland\/M\u00e4kel\u00e4nrinteen Lukio), Mark Ferguson (Perth, Australia\/John XXIII) and Almog Olshtein (Haifa, Israel\/Haifa) touched in 1:30.95 with Olshtein in particular trying to close the gap via a 19.94 final 50 free anchor leg.<\/p>\n
Junior Jordan Wilimovsky (Malibu, Calif.\/Malibu) cruised to a win in the 1,000 free with a 9:25.58, opening a large lead early on and then smoothly sailing in for winning points via a time that was 17 seconds off the pace of his season-best so far this year.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin then won the 200 free with NU sophomore Charlie Cole (Bernardsville, N.J.\/Bernards) taking second-place points in 1:41.09 followed by a sweep of the top spots in the 100 back in favor the Badgers.<\/p>\n
In the 100 breast, Auren came in second with a 56.96 before Grant Halsall (Laxey, Isle of Man, GBR) took third as Northwestern’s top finisher in the 200 fly via a season-best 1:54.13.<\/p>\n
Heading into the first break of the meet, Olshtein challenged for the victory in the 50 free but ended up second in 20.95.<\/p>\n
During that first part of the meet, NU completed a 1-2 sweep of the 3-meter springboard when John Andrade (Avon, Conn.\/Notre Dame) scored a 323.48 and Andrew Cramer (Indianapolis, Ind.\/Cathedral) followed in 304.65 for solid points on the boards.<\/p>\n
Andy Jovanovic (Chicago, Ill.\/Loyola Academy) and Olshtein went 2-3 in the 100 free coming out of the first break for NU. Jovanovic swam a 46.38 while Olshtein had a 46.80 to finish in a dead heat with a Wisconsin entry. The Badgers’ strong backstrokers then again performed a top-three sweep in the 200 back.<\/p>\n
Van Donkersgoed (Eden Prairie, Minn.\/Minnehaha Academy) led NU’s swimmers in the 200 breast with a third-place time of 2:07.09 before Wilimovsky ended up second in the 500 free with a 4:26.23, Snarski led NU with a second-place 50.86 in the 100 fly and Wilimovsky returned to grab second-place points in the 400 IM as well with a 4:02.17.<\/p>\n
In second-half diving, Cramer (276.30), Andrade (263.85) and Reed Dillon (Indianapolis, Ind.\/Lawrence Central) went second through fourth on the 1-meter board.<\/p>\n
Jovanovic, Nick Petersen (Thiensville, Wis.\/Homestead), Olshtein and Gage Kohner (Boca Raton, Fla.\/Boca Raton Community) closed out the meet with a second-place 1:24.79 in the 200 free relay.<\/p>\n
Northwestern returns to action at its home TYR Invitational Friday through Sunday, Nov. 21-23 at the Norris Aquatics Center.<\/p>\n