The second day of competition at the 2013 TYR Invitational in Evanston, Illinois brought more exciting and fast performances to the table in both the men’s and women’s sides. The finals session began with the 200 medley relay, where Michigan State’s quartet of Brooke Telander (26.74), Shelby Lacy (28.25), Sarah Love (24.80), Summer Strickler (23.01) combined to win in a time of 1:42.80. They were about one-and-a-half seconds ahead of Bowling Green (1:44.30), and third placed Northwestern (1:44.46)
In the men’s race, the Norris Aquatic Center saw yet another pool record go down as Mark Ferguson (22.37), Uula Auren (24.35), Andrew Jovanovic (21.50), and Chase Stephens (19.42) clipped a 5 year old record set by Michigan State (1:27.85) to win in a time of 1:27.64. Missouri State Kept the race close throughout though as the Bears finished less than a half-second behind at 1:28.09. Michigan State finished third in 1:28.63.
Fresh off setting a new pool record yesterday in the 500 freestyle, Northwestern freshman Lauren Abruzzo came back to win the 400 yard IM in a strong time of 4:18.56. She was pushed by teammate Becca Soderholm (4:20.00) for most of the race, and Michigan State’s Elizabeth Brown rounded out the top 3 with a 4:23.86. The consolation final was won by Northwestern’s Ellen Stello who dropped nearly 7 seconds off her prelims time to go 4:22.00.
In what was almost another pool record-breaking effort, Missouri State sophomore Uvis Kalnins captured the men’s 400 IM race title with a winning time of 3:50.51. This was just under three tenths off the time that Olympian Mike Alexandrov went 8 years ago when he set the record at 3:50.23. Finishing second was Northwestern’s Jordan Wilimovsky (3:56.70), who used a very strong 51.30 freestyle leg to overtake Kenyon’s Harrison Curley (3:57.31) over the last 50. In the consolation final, Missouri State’s Miguel Davila chopped over 3.5 seconds from his prelim race to win the heat in 4:00.56.
The women’s 100 fly saw Michigan State’s Sarah Love cruise to a win with a 55.36 effort. This was a half second better than UIC’s Danel Voorhees (55.89) who took 2nd while Northwestern’s Lacey Locke snagged third with a 56.00. For the men, Michigan State captured it’s first individual event on the men’s side with senior Bryan Williams’ 47.37 winning effort. In second was NU’s Andrew Jovanovic (48.15) while his teammate Ferguson took 3rd in 48.59. Michigan State’s Jacob Moore took the B-final in 49.46.
The Northwestern women went 1-2-3 in the 200 freestyle as Jackie Powell (1:50.03), Abruzzo (1:50.30), and Lacey Smith (1:50.49) outpaced the rest of the field. Truman State senior Casey Jepsen took the consolation final in 1:52.16. In the men’s race, Chase Stephens came off his strong relay performance to convincingly win the men’s race in a lifetime best time of 1:37.06, which was two seconds ahead of Missouri State’s Vitalii Baryshok (1:39.13) and Northwestern’s own Charlie Cole (1:39.34).
In the only breaststroke event of the day, Missouri State’s Renata Sander captured the 100 breast by going a 1:02.10. In second was Michigan State’s Lacy (1:02.90) and UIC’s Monica Pinkus rounded out the top 3. The consolation final was won by Kenyon’s Katie Kaestner who won her heat with a 1:03.95. The men’s race saw a particularly thrilling finish as Missouri State’s Isaac Springer, NU’s Auren, and Michigan State’s Alexc Kandt all stayed close throughout the race, but Springer would ultimately triumph in a 54.61 while Auren took 2nd in 54.70 and Kandt finished third in 54.91. Northwestern’s Aaron Sears won the B-final with a 56.38 effort.
NU’s Lackey Locke won the women’s 100 back in 54.58 which was good enough to edge Missouri State’s Anna Ahlin (54.83) while Northwestern’s Karen Turner took third in 56.48. Northwestern’s Melissa Postoll won the B-final with a 56.60. For the men, Missouri State’s Paul Le rattled a 7 year old record set by Matt Grevers (46.85) with a 47.09 of his own, and this swim moves him to third in the country behind David Nolan and Joseph Patching who have both been sub-47. Finishing second was NU’s Ferguson (48.84) who just outtouched his own teammate Jovanovic (48.85). The B-final went to Michigan State freshman Adam Marsh who dipped under 50 seconds with a 49.82.
The final relay of the session saw Northwestern’s foursome of Powell (1:50.35), Erin Sodian (1:51.06), Smith (1:51.20), and Abruzzo (1:50.05) dominate in a time of 7:22.66. Bowling Green was over 10 seconds back at 7:33.25 while Northwestern’s B team took 3rd in 7:33.35. The men’s race provided some fast splits as Charlie Cole (1:37.91), Chase Stephens (1:37.75), Jordan Wilimovsky (1:40.80), and Andrew Jovanovic (1:36.97), combined to go a 6:33.43. Notably, Jovanovic took out his first 100 in a blazing fast 45.46 before settling down the last two legs, but this was more than good enough to outpace Missouri State (6:37.30) and Michigan State (6:39.08).
Women – Team Rankings – Through Event 29
1. Northwestern University 651
2. Michigan State University 442
3. Missouri State 404
4. Bowling Green State Univ. 366
5. University of Illinois- Chicag 269
6. University of North Dakota 194
7. Truman State University 138
7. Kenyon College 138
9. University of Northern Iowa 29
Men – Team Rankings – Through Event 30
1. Northwestern University 694.5
2. Michigan State University 563.5
3. Missouri State 532.5
4. University of Illinois- Chicag 251
5. Kenyon College 214
6. University of North Dakota 177.5
7. Truman State University 97
Full Results can be found here.