March 17, 2007

Day Three Photo Gallery 

MINNEAPOLIS -- In the last individual event of his storied collegiate career, senior Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) left one final exclamation mark on the Northwestern record books, winning the 200 back by over two seconds on the final day of the NCAA Championships at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

Grevers swam the fifth-fastest time in the event's history during Saturday night's final, clocking a new school-record time of 1:38.71. After a strong opening 50 yards put him in front, the title was never in doubt as Grevers lengthened his lead even further with every length of the pool he swam. By the end of the race the senior's closest competitor was Stanford's Hongzhe Sun, who touched the final wall 2.07 seconds after Grevers.

"I was looking for an individual title at these Championships and I am glad I could get one on the last day," Grevers said.

With the win, Grevers earned the third individual NCAA championship of his career, making him Northwestern's first three-time NCAA champion since Al Schwartz accomplished the feat in 1930. The Wildcat senior, who won the 100 back the previous two years at the Championships, gave Northwestern its first title in the 200 back since Dave Pemberton brought the title back to Evanston in 1958.

The senior's impressive victory provided a fitting end to two of the most significant periods in Northwestern swimming history. The 2007 edition of the Championships will go down as Northwestern's best Championships since the NCAA officially recognized men's swimming in 1937. The Wildcats' earned three titles (400 medley relay, 100 breast and 200 back) for the first time in the modern era, with only the 1924 and 1930 Wildcat squads, both before NCAA recognition, matching the feat.

Not only did the 'Cats claim three titles, but they also broke the 200-point barrier for the first time in the modern era, earning 221 points to earn a sixth-place finish -- NU's highest team finish in the modern era. The 'Cats were the top Big Ten team at the Championships as they edged out Michigan, who finished 14 points behind the 'Cats. Auburn won the 2007 Championships with 566 points.

The end of this year's Championships also signals the end of Northwestern's best four-year period in the modern era. Behind the swimming of Grevers and Mike Alexandrov (Champaign, Ill./Centennial), who joined his fellow senior as an NCAA individual champion by winning the title in the 100 breast Friday evening, Northwestern finished in the top 11 in each of the past four Championships even though they never entered more than seven swimmers in any of the Championships.

Between the two of them, Grevers (27) and Alexandrov (24) amassed an astounding 51 All-America honors in their collegiate careers. The duo earned four individual NCAA championships (Grevers 3, Alexandrov 1) -- Northwestern's first titles since 1958 -- and combined with juniors Kyle Bubolz (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North) and Bruno Barbic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gymnazija) to win a NCAA relay championship in this year's 400 medley relay.

"Northwestern was everything that I thought it was going to be," Grevers said. "Mike and I had a bond from the very first day. It's a sad day, but I am proud knowing that we started a program that is nationally recognized and have left the program in good hands with the underclassmen."

After Grevers started the Wildcats' night off with his victory, the 'Cats had two other opportunities to add some much needed points to their team score in order to stave off Michigan. The last individual participant of the Championships for Northwestern was Barbic, who entered the championship final of the 100 free as the eighth and final seed.

Barbic, swimming in the first individual championship final of his collegiate career, gave the Wildcats 12 big points when he earned a seventh-place finish with his time of 42.86.

Who would take sixth place in the team race was in doubt up until the very end. The 'Cats trailed Michigan by four points heading into the final event of the Championships, the 400 free relay. However, thanks to their place in the championship final and Michigan only making the consolation final, all the 'Cats had to do was finish seventh or higher to take sixth place in the team race.

The 'Cats did much more than that. Led by Grevers for one final time, the Northwestern relay quartet of Grevers, Barbic, Eric Nilsson (Weston, Mass./Weston) and Bubolz broke the Northwestern school record when they finished with a time of 2:51.14. The new record propelled the 'Cats to a third-place finish, their final 32 points of the Championships and guaranteed their sixth-place finish as a team.

Grevers' last time in the pool as a collegiate swimmer was a blistering 42.33-second leadoff leg, which broke his own Northwestern record in the 100 free.

The ESPN2 broadcast of the 2007 NCAA Championships can be seen on tape delay Tuesday, March 20 beginning at 1 p.m. CT.

Final results for this year's Championships can be found at NCAA Championships.

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