The Michigan State men established a commanding lead through day 2 of the Northwestern TYR Invitational, while the Northwestern women hold a narrow lead over Michigan State. Northwestern held 716.5 points to Michigan State’s 694.5 going into the final day. Full results for the men can be found here and for the women here.
Northwestern:
Men-
EVANSTON, Ill. — Junior diver Andrew Cramer earned a top finish on the 3-meter diving board to lead the Northwestern men’s swimming and diving team on the second day of competition Saturday at the TYR Invitational at Norris Aquatics Center.
Cramer posted a score of 354.50 to run away from the competition and earn the Wildcats’ lone top finish of the day. His score was nearly 50 points higher than the second-place finisher.
Sophomore Alex Snarski earned a runner-up finish for the ‘Cats on Saturday as he finished second in the 100 yard backstroke in 49:22 to lead a 2-3-4 finish for Northwestern in the event. Andy Jovanovic came in third and Grant Halsall was fourth, while Nick Petersenadded an eighth-place finish in the Wildcats’ top event of the day.
Anthony Marcantonio contributed a third-place finish in the 400 IM (3:59.19) while teammate Tyler Lis came in fifth (4:00.90). In addition to his third-place finish in the 100 back, Jovanovic earned a fourth-place standing in the 100 butterfly (49.08).
Carter Page added to Northwestern’s efforts by placing fifth in the 200 freestyle (1:41.60).
Northwestern remained in third place as a team in the event following the second day of competition, trailing Michigan State and Grand Canyon University.
Sunday marks the final day of competition at the Invitational. Preliminary rounds begin at 9 a.m. while finals get started at 3 p.m.
Women-
PRELIMINARIES RESULTS (PDF) | FINALS RESULTS (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. — Two Wildcat swimmers earned NCAA ‘B’ cuts, a horde swam season-best times, and Northwestern remained in first place after day two of the TYR Invitational on Saturday.
Annika Winsnes (Singapore/United World College) and Lacey Locke (Carmel, Ind./Carmel), two of Northwestern’s best sprinters, swam times faster than the NCAA ‘B’ qualifications, earning them automatic consideration for the NCAA tournament. The two swimmers joinMary Warren (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) as Wildcat swimmers to reach the distinction during the TYR Invitational.
At the end of the second day of competition, Northwestern remained in the lead with a score of 716.5. Behind them, the order remained unchanged from day one: Michigan State (694.5), Grand Canyon (482), UIC (326), St. Louis (201) and Truman State (200).
The last day of the TYR Invitational is Sunday as preliminaries begin at 9 a.m. and the finals session begins at 3 p.m. at the Norris Aquatics Center.
Saturday’s Preliminaries
Kicking off the day’s events, a trio of NU swimmers earned their way into the ‘A’ heat of the 400 IM. Melissa Postoll (Acworth, Ga./Kennesaw Mountain) swam a third-place time of 4:28.11, Ellen Stello (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood) came in fourth with a time of 4:29.03 and Sydney Modeas (East Amherst, N.Y./Clarence) finished in 4:31.47, a sixth-place finish.Lauren Abruzzo (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) and Emily Launer (DeKalb, Ill./Rosary) joined the squad with entries into the bonus final with finishes in 10th and 11th, respectively.
Another day, another number-one preliminary performance for freshman Olivia Rosendahl(Los Angeles, Calif./Immaculate Heart), scoring 281.90 points from the 1-meter springboard. Eryn Scannell (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) and Monique Demaisip(Norwalk, Calif./Gahr) both qualified for the championship final with scores of 234.75 and 233.40, respectively. Mashel Hashem (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) received a score of 225.60, earning a spot in the consolation final.
The 100 fly saw a duo of Northwestern sprinters swim times fast enough to qualify for the championship final later in the day. Alex Grimes (Los Gatos, Calif./Los Gatos) and Maddy Sims (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove) swam the event in 56.62 (5th) and 56.76 (7th), respectively. Stello, participating in back-to-back preliminaries, narrowly missed the cut-off for the championship final, but still ensured that she would receieve points for the ‘Cats in the finals sessions. Aja Malone (Acworth, Ga./Allatoona) joined Stello in qualifying for the bonus final.
Winsnes finished second in the 200 free prelims with a time of 1:51.02. Ellen Anderson(Montgomery Village, Md./Gaithersburg) also picked up a qualifying spot for the ‘A’ heat, swimming an eighth-place time of 1:53.21. Modeas joined in the fun, swimming an 11th-place time of 1:54.57, making her way into the ‘B’ heat group later on in the day. Abruzzo, swimming a time of 1:56.52, qualified for the consolation final and Megan Purdy (Boulder City, Nev./Boulder City) earned the first alternate position for the finals sessions.
Five Wildcats earned point-earning spots in the 100 breast. Julianne Kurke (Atlanta, Ga./Parkview) was the lone ‘Cat to make her way to the championship final, swimming a fifth-place time of 1:04.83. Katie Branch (Phoenix, Ariz./Horizon Honors), Peyton Greenberg(Louisville, Ky./duPont Manual), Lindsay Adamski (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) and Warren all moved onto the bonus final. With her 22nd-place finish, Georgie Pettibone (Santa Rosa, Calif./Analy) qualifed for a second swim as a part of the ‘C’ heat later in the day.
Both Locke and Postoll earned top-eight championship final qualifications in the 100 back, turning in times of 55.43 and 57.41, respectively. Grimes’s performance in the event (59.20) earned her a spot in the consolation final in the evening.
Friday’s Finals
Rosendahl continued her prolific trend with a first-place score of 285.90 from the 1-meter springboard, her second-best score of the season. Scannell was the third-place finisher in the event, scoring 251.20 points. Demaisip and Hashem finsihed in seventh and tenth, respectively, grabbing even more points for the Wildcats.
In the 200 medley relay, Northwestern’s ‘A’ team of Locke, Adamski, Sims and Warren swam a season-best 1:42.26 to come in second place in the event and gobble up 34 points. Northwestern’s previous best performance in the 200 medley relay was last week versus No. 18 Wisconsin with a time of 1:43.62.
Stello, Northwestern’s best participant in the 400 IM this season, bettered her season-best by more than six seconds. Her time of 4:19.72 won her first place in the event and she was followed closely by Postoll and Modeas, who both improved their season-best marks in the event with third- and fourth-place finishes, respectively. Abruzzo, despite participating in the consolation final, also swam a season-best time of 4:28.51. Launer was right on her coattails with an 11th-place time of 4:31.16.
Sims and Michigan State’s Sarah Love split the number-one spot in the 100 fly, as they both swam times of 55.15. That mark was Sims’s best so far this year, imrpoving her previous time by a second and a half. Grimes also swam a season-best 55.49, finishing in fourth. Stello and Malone finished 1-2 in the consolation final in the 100 fly, truning in times of 55.67 and 56.40, respectively.
Winsnes earned an NCAA ‘B’ cut in the 200 free as she swam the event in a first-place time of 1:47.50 — her best performance this year in the event by two and a half seconds. Anderson, swimming a season-best time of 1:50.38, took home third place.
For the third event in a row, Northwestern finished in first place. This time, in the 100 breast, Julianne Kurke swam a season-best 1:03.00 to claim the lion’s share of the points for the ‘Cats. Branch, Greenberg and Adamski all finished in the top three of the consolation final.
In the 100 back, the ‘Cats were unable to turn in another first place performance. But the point was moot: Locke swam the event in a season-high 54.45, faster than the NCAA ‘B’ cut, the second Wildcat to reach the feat in the day. Postoll also swam the event at a season-high mark of 56.07 and she finished in fourth place.
Wrapping up the day, Northwestern’s ‘A’ entry in the 800 free relay finished in first place by about 12 seconds, swimming a time of 7:21.56 in the Wildcats’ first foray into the long distance relay event this season.
Michigan State:
EVANSTON, Ill. – Michigan State’s swimming & diving men’s program holds a strong lead with 789 points through two days of competition at the TYR Northwestern Invite at the Norris Aquatics Center in Evanston, Illinois. The women’s team currently sits in second behind the host Wildcats with 694.5 points.
“We are doing really well,” said head coach Matt Gianiodis. “We stumbled a little bit in this afternoon’s swim, but overall we have been competing well and swimming strong.”
The Spartans had a strong showing on the 1-meter board with junior Madeline Sewell and freshmen Julia Oppedisano and Morgan Wellenzohn finishing in second, fourth and sixth, respectively. Sewell posted a mark of 281.60, while Oppedisano and Wellenzohn recorded scores of 241.80 and 227.65.
On the men’s side, junior Brennan LaBar finished in third on the 1-meter with an effort of 307.15. Senior Charlie Maurer also earned points for MSU, taking sixth with a score of 250.55.
In the pool, the 200 yard medley relay team of sophomore Madison Nowak, junior Kennedy Cutler, junior Sarah Love and sophomore Racheal Bukowski finished third in the finals with a time of 1:42.82. The men’s team of sophomores Alex Trompke andNick Leshok, senior Nathaniel Weeks and freshman Gabe Whitaker also took third in the 200 yard medley, turning in a 1:29.73, finishing behind a pair of teams from Grand Canyon University.
Senior Elizabeth Brown paced the Spartans in the 400 IM, finishing in second place. Her time of 4:19.99 was just tapped out by Northwestern’s Ellen Stello, who touched in 4:19.77, while third place was nearly a full two second behind. Senior Chelsea Abbotttook seventh with a 4:29.43.
Sophomore Mitch Strahlman swam to a second-place finish in the 400 IM as well, clocking a 3:57.43. Sophomore Connor Lambwas in close pursuit, tapping the wall in fourth in 4:00.13.
“Sarah Love won an event tonight and Nick Leshok has been swimming really well,” Gianiodis said. “The divers also have been performing well as usual. By in large, we have been really steady across the board. I would say there have been 10, even 20 positive things to one negative.”
Love had Michigan State’s best finish of the day, winning the 100 fly. She paced a finals that featured a trio of Spartans with a time of 55.15. Brown took seventh in 57.02, as Kennedy was eighth in 58.30. Kennedy followed the performance with a third-place effort in the 100 yard breaststroke, finishing in 1:04.10.
MSU impressed in the men’s 100 breaststroke, utilizing its depth to take second, third and fourth. Junior Alec Kandt challenged for the lead with a 55.37, as Leshok was third in 55.80. Sophomore Evan Holzgen’s 56.02 earned him fourth.
The day closed with a second-place performance by the men’s 800 free relay team. Leshok, junior Jon Burke, junior Sam Hiller and sophomore Lachlan McLeish beat out Saint Louis’ combination for second with a time of 6:42.05.
“There was a lot to be happy about in Spartan Nation today,” Gianiodis said. “Congratulations to the women’s soccer program for Sarah Kovan with the Rhodes Scholarship. After going through the process last year with David Zoltowski, I know what an unbelievable feat it is. Also, congratulations to coach Mark Dantonio and the football team on a great game. All of our parents were getting updates and erupted in cheer.”
The TYR Northwestern Invite concludes on Sunday, Nov. 22, beginning at 9 a.m.
Truman State:
EVANSTON, Ill. – – The Truman men’s and women’s swimming teams added five B-cuts on the second day of competition at the TYR Cup, including posting the fastest time this season so far by any NCAA Div. II women’s program in the 800 free relay to close out the night.
The Bulldog women’s quartet of Emma Barnett, Kortney Betz, Nikki Sisson, and Jasmine Roghair logged a time of 7:41.02 in the evening’s final event, finishing seventh overall and locking a B-cut time in the 800 free relay. Earlier in the night, the ‘Dogs also captured a B-cut time in the 200 medley relay, as Hannah Nicks, Ally Neumann, Libby Opfer, and Sisson punched a time of 1:45.64 and a seventh-place finish.
Three individuals also notched NCAA Div. II B-cuts, including Nicks’ preliminary time of 56.94 in the 100 back (finishing seventh overall), Sisson’s fourth-place finishing time of 1:50.72 in the 200 free finals, andWill Shanel‘s 14th-place time of 4:01.60 in the 400 IM.
The Bulldogs will return to action for the final day of competition on Sunday for the 50 fly, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 100 IM, 200 fly, 1650 free, and 400 free relay events.
Night 1 Recap – Friday, Nov. 20, 2015
EVANSTON, Ill. – – A frenzy in the 500 free, resulting in four NCAA B-cuts, highlighted day one at the Northwestern (Ill.) University TYR Cup, as the Truman men’s and women’s swimming teams combined for eight B-cuts in NU’s Norris Aquatic Center.
In the six-team competition featuring Truman and five NCAA Div. I programs, the Bulldog women accumulated 102 points to tie St. Louis University for fifth-place, while the men picked up 67 points and sit sixth through day one action.
Highlights on the day included the Bulldog women’s 200 free relay squad that posted the current No. 1 time in NCAA Div. II this season with a B-cut mark of 1:34.66. Nikki Sisson, Alison Strickler, Jamie Fitzpatrick, and Hannah Nicks combined to finish just 1.4 seconds back of first-place Northwestern and less than seven-tenths of a second back of both Michigan State and Grand Canyon (Ariz.).
The other top event for the Bulldog women was the 500 free, which included improved or first-time B-cuts for Emma Barnett (5:00.27; 6th place), Kortney Betz (5:02.19; 13th place), Sisson (5:02.61), andJasmine Roghair (5:05.04). Sisson added a third B-cut of the day with a fifth-place finish in the 50 free (23.81) and was joined by Strickler’s B-cut mark of 23.95 as well in the event.
On the men’s side, JT Thayer recorded the Bulldogs’ first B-cut of the season in the 500 free, touching with the seventh-fastest time in Div. II at the moment with a mark of 4:36.81. Neil Girmus was part of two sixth-place finishes on the night – doing so as an individual in the 50 Breast (26.13) as well as swimming anchor in the 200 free relay along with Sam Heveroh, George Dowdy, and Austin Baker with a time of 1:24.75.
On Saturday, preliminaries begin at 9 a.m. and finals commence at 5 p.m. for the events of the 200 medley relay, the 400 IM, the 100 fly, the 200 free, the 100 breast, the 100 back, and the 800 free relay.
Event Preview – Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015
KIRKSVILLE – – The biggest event of the fall 2015 schedule is on tap for the nationally-ranked Truman State University men’s and women’s swimming teams this weekend, as a three-day meet against five NCAA Div. I programs will kick off on Friday at the TYR Cup in Evanston, Ill.
This season marks the third straight year that head coach Ed Pretre has taken his two squads to the Northwestern University campus for the TYR Cup, which will feature the Bulldogs, host Wildcats, fellow Big Ten member Michigan State University, the University of Illinois-Chicago, St. Louis University, and Grand Canyon (Ariz.) University. Action begins at 9 a.m. each day with preliminary competition, with the finals each night set for a 5 p.m. first event.
The Bulldogs, who are ranked No. 12 (women) and No. 24 (men) in the first set of CSCAA top-25 Div. II national rankings, bring 13 top-10 seedings into the weekend’s festivities. Both squads used the TYR Cup a season ago as a great chance to earn NCAA qualifying standards, as, a season ago, the teams combined for 20 NCAA-B cuts during the three-day meet. This season, the Bulldog women already have three NCAA-B cuts, as sophomore Nikki Sisson holds one in both the 50 free (24.01; 9th-fastest in NCAA Div. II) and 200 free (1:52.10; 5th-fastest in NCAA Div. II), as does freshman Emma Barnett in the 1000 free (10:23.57; 9th-fastest in NCAA Div. II).
A reminder for fans that an NCAA A-cut time guarantees a place in a heat at the 2016 NCAA Div. II Swimming & Diving Championships, while an NCAA B-cut time makes a swimmer eligible, however does not guarantee a spot in a preliminary heat at the Championships.
This page will be continually updated throughout the weekend with recaps and results. For more information, please visit one of the links at the top of the story which include the full schedule of events, top 2015-16 times by Bulldog swimmers this season, and NCAA Div. II A- and B-cut standard times per event.
Grand Canyon:
EVANSTON, Ill. – The Grand Canyon University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams completed the second day of competition at the Northwestern TYR Invitational with strong placement. The men’s team remains in second place, while the women are in third.
“We had another very good day. Our men set another four pool records, for a total of eight so far,” said head coach Steve Schaffer. “Our women got off to a great start tonight by winning the 200 Medley Relay and battled in every event in finals. I am very impressed with how much our racing skills have improved since the beginning of the season.”
For the men’s team, Michigan State leads the standing with 789 points, while GCU has 653, and Northwestern rounds out the top-three at 544. For the women’s team, Northwestern is in first with 716.5, followed by Michigan State at 694.5, and Grand Canyon at 482.
Continuing on their success from the opening day, the men’s squad broke four more pool records. Mark Nikolaev, Youssef Elkamash, Daniil Antipov, and Mazen Elkamash earned the new record in the 200-medley relay with their time of 1:27.10. Iegor Lytvenok had the fastest time in the 200-IM (3:48.16) which was also an NCAA B time.
The Lopes broke two records formerly held by Olympian Matt Grevers at the pool. Antipov finished with a time of 46.79 in the 100-fly and Nikolaev finished 46.65 in the 100-back. Both times were also new team records and NCAA B cuts.
Jacob Lambros also had a NCAA B time in the 200-free (1:37.93) in his win, while Youssef Elkamash had a time of 53.80 in the preliminaries for 100-breast, which is also an NCAA B time. He went on to win the event in the finals.
The men also won the 800-free relay with a time of 6:31.57. Lambros, Lytvenok, Mazen Elkamash, and Antipov swam in the event.
For the women’s team, they picked up two first place finishes. Iryna Glavnyk had a NCAA B time in the 100-back (53.87). She was also a member of the team that led the 200-medley relay alongside teammates Vangelina Draganova, Rebecca Coan, and Jovanna Koens with a time of 1:41.33.
Draganova also had a second place finish in the 100-breast (1:03.62).
In diving, the men were led by Michael Bidak‘s second place finish in the three-meter with 307.15.
“The great thing is that as fast as we are swimming we know that we will be even better when it comes time to peak for the WAC Championships,” explained Schaffer. “We have great feedback on how everyone is adapting to the training, so we can fine tune things for the rest of the competition year.”
“We came to this meet on short rest and we will stretch that out through U.S. Nationals after Thanksgiving,” concluded Schaffer. “After that we focus on the WAC Championships and then the Olympic Selection meets our kids will be going to.”
The Lopes will conclude the competition tomorrow in Evanston at 8 a.m. Links to live stats as well as a full recap will be available at www.gculopes.com.
Swimming news courtesy of Northwestern, Truman State, Grand Canyon, and Michigan State Swimming & Diving.