Brien Gerber

Class: Junior Hometown: Naperville, Ill. High School: Neuqua Valley

Height / Weight: 5-8 / 160 Event: Breast/IM

2012-13:Stepped right in as an important member of Northwestern's breaststroke and individual medley groups ... Ranked on NU's top times list in five different events, owning the Wildcats' best time in the 200 breast while ranking second in the 400 IM and 100 breast, third in the 200 IM and fourth in the 200 fly ... Earned second swims in all three of his Big Ten Championships events with NCAA `B' consideration times ... Dropped 4.79 seconds from his seed in the prelims of the 200 breast to swim a `B' effort of 1:57.91 and qualify for the scoring consolation final, where he further lowered that time to 1:57.30 to score three points for NU in 14th place ... His 1:57.30 made him the third-fastest Wildcat in the 200 breast in program history ... Dropped 2.04 seconds from his seed in the 100 breast to pick up a `B' cut of 55.05 before finishing 21st overall after a 55.25 in the bonus final ... Made a massive 8.5 second improvement from his seed in the 400 IM to make the bonus final of that event in a `B' time of 3:53.07 before going even faster at night to take 19th place with a 3:52.29 ... Won the 200 breast at Northwestern's own four-team TYR Invitational (11/16-11/18) with a 2:03.16, dropping 3.16 seconds from his prelim time ... Made five total championship finals at the TYR, also earning runner-up status in the 400 IM, third-place points in the 100 breast and 200 IM and sixth-place points in the 50 breast ... After entering the 400 IM field at the TYR with a seed time of 4:10.03, lowered that to 4:07.11 in the prelims and 4:01.57 in the finals ... Chopped 3.74 seconds off his prelim time in the 200 IM with a 1:53.81 in the finals ... Dominant in the 200 breast during the year, finishing in the top three in the race every time he swam it, including wins or top-two finishes in every meet after the TYR ... Scored dual-meet points with 15 top-five finishes ... Won the 200 breast at Milwaukee (1/16) ... Was second in both the 100 and 200 breast events against Purdue (11/3) ... Swam a then-season-best 2:02.12 to finish second in the 200 breast and a then-season-best 57.09 in the 100 breast at Iowa (1/26).

2011-12:Ranked on Northwestern's top times list in three different events ... Was second in the 100 breast, third in the 200 breast and fifth in the 200 IM ... Academic All-Big Ten ... Swam career-best times in both breast events at the Big Ten Championships ... Placed 30th in the 100 with a 58.22 and 35th in the 200 with a 2:07.69 ... Also competed in the 200 IM (50th) at the Big Ten meet ... Had a pair of top-three dual meet event finishes on the season, taking third in the 100 breast against Wisconsin (11/11) and in the 1,000 free versus UIC and North Dakota (11/12) ... Qualified for three consolation and three bonus finals at Northwestern's own five-team TYR Invitational (11/18- 11/20) ... Finished 10th in the 100 breast, 11th in the 200 breast and 13th in the 50 breast while placing 18th in the 100 fly, 20th in the 200 IM and 23rd in the 50 fly.

2010-11:Member of Northwestern's breast and fly stroke groups ... Swam season-best times in four different events at the Big Ten Championships ... Swam his first-collegiate sub-1:00 100 breast race to place 32nd with a 58.65 ... Sliced more than five seconds off his seed time in the 200 breast to finish 36th with a 2:08.43 ... Cut nearly six full seconds from his seed in the 200 IM to take 46th with a 1:53.79 ... Also swam a 100 fly time trial at the conference meet, swimming a 50.67 that was 1.99 seconds faster than his previous season-best ... Earned a championship final appearance in the 200 breast at NU's own five-team TYR Invitational (11/19-11/21), finishing eighth overall ... Made three consolation final appearances at the TYR, coming in 11th in the 100 breast, 12th in the 200 IM and 15th in the 50 breast ... Also earned a pair of 19th-place TYR results after bonus final swims in the 50 fly and 100 fly ... Had a terrific meet in a quad dual against Carthage, Lewis and North Central (01/08), winning the 100 breast and placing second in the 200 breast ... Also scored dual meet points with fifth-place finishes in the 100 breast against Purdue (11/5) and at Iowa (01/22).

High School: Six-time Illinois state qualifier and three-time state finalist ... Four-year varsity athlete ... Ranked as the 16th-best recruit in the state of Illinois by Collegeswimming.com... Conference champion in the 200 IM in 2008 ... State champion in the 200 medley relay in 2010 ... High school finished third in the state in 2007, second in 2009 and 2010, and won the state title in 2008 ... All-state and all-American in the 200 medley relay in 2010 after earning second-team all-state honors in the event in 2009 ... Honorable mention all-state in the 200 IM (2009-10) and 100 butterfly (2010) ... Sectional champion in the 100 butterfly in 2010 ... All-America academic honor in 2009 and 2010 ... First Neuqua Valley varsity athlete to be on four state trophy teams (top-three finishers) ... Swam three years with Fox Valley Swim Club ... 2010 Boys Senior State champions ... State recorder holder in the 400 medley relay ... Club records in the 200 and 400 medley relay as well as in the 200 free relay ... Three-year academic all-conference ... High honor roll.

Personal:Born Brien Patrick Gerber ... Son of Brien and Mary Pat Gerber ... Chose Northwestern over Purdue and Miami (Ohio) ... Major is mechanical engineering.

GERBER'S PERSONAL BESTS