Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Big Ten Championships
Northwestern in Seventh at Big Ten Championships
2/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 25, 2010
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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Northwestern is in seventh place following the first full day of action at the 2010 Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio. NU received points from its 400 medley relay and a fourth-place effort in the 200 IM from junior Alex Tyler (Birmingham, Mich./Birmingham Groves).
The Wildcats have 94 points, two points better than eighth place Michigan State and four points clear of ninth-place Penn State. NU trails sixth-place Iowa by seven points. Following is a complete recap of Thursday's action at the Big Ten Championships.
THURSDAY PRELIMINARY SESSION RECAP:
Tyler swam a career-best time in the 200 IM during Thursday morning preliminary heats at the 2010 Big Ten Championships, earning a spot in the `A' final to lead Northwestern's effort.
For more information on the 2010 Big Ten Championships including live results, link to the Championships page at OhioSateBuckeyes.com.
Sophomore Tony Mattar (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) got Northwestern off to a great start by swimming a personal-best and NCAA `B' consideration time of 4:26.99 in the 500 free. Mattar chopped nearly nine full seconds off his seed, a great swim to place 26th in the prelims.
Freshman Charlie Rimkus (Tustin, Calif./Beckman) opened his first Big Ten Championships with an NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time of 4:27.16 in the 500 free, slicing 3.54 seconds from his seed time. The effort put him in 28th position during the prelims.
John Frutiger (Alma, Mich./Alma) dropped more than five full seconds from his seed to turn in a 4:30.94 while Jan Hanulik (Cavisov, Czech Republic/Sportovni Gymnazium) cut a whopping 10.17 seconds from his seed to swim a 4:32.29. Frutiger ended up 43rd while Hanulik was 46th overall.
Tyler qualified third overall during preliminary action in Thursday's second event, the 200 IM. Tyler went three seconds faster than his seed time and knocked a full second off his personal best in the race with an NCAA `B' cut of 1:45.03 to earn a spot in the championship final.
Cal Staben (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay) and Jay Calhoun (Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) also competed in the event, with Staben (1:55.78) dropping almost seven seconds and Calhoun (2:01.42) eliminating more than 2.5 seconds from their seeds.
Brian Kerr (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) was NU's top finisher in the 50 free prelims, swimming a season-best 20.76 to come in 31st. All other Wildcats in the event also swam season-best times, averaging nearly a half-second drop from their seeds among them.
On the 1-meter diving board, senior Kalister Harmon (Olympia, Wash./Capital) scored a 272.60, his career-best score at an Invitational meet. He placed 18th overall.
THURSDAY FINALS SESSION RECAP:
Both Mattar and Rimkus picked up bonus final positions in the 500 free after folks ahead of them pulled out of the heat. Rimkus further lowered his time another 2.16 seconds with a `B' time of 4:25.00 to come in 19th overall. Mattar's time of 4:29.95 was good for 23rd place overall following the bonus heat.
Tyler broke the 1:45 barrier during the championship final of the 200 IM, earning an NCAA `B' cut and another career-best time of 1:44.93 to end up fourth in the event, his best placing at the Big Ten Championships in his career.
Northwestern's 400 medley relay squad of Tyler, Nathan Butler (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin), Sean Mathews (St. Louis, Mo./Lafayette) and Kerr swam an NCAA `B' time of 3:13.96 to finish seventh. Butler's 53.8 split in the 100 breast was a tremendous effort, as was Kerr's 43.8 anchor leg in the free, helping NU to come in more than 6.5 seconds faster that its previous season-best time.
Players Mentioned
