Nov. 18, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. -
With day two of the Northwestern Swimming Invitational complete, the Northwestern men added to its three-point lead from Friday, with a 580-538 advantage over Southern Illinois. The NU women's squad is in a solid second with 627 points behind No. 1 UCLA's 735 points.
Senior Steve Steketee highlighted the Wildcat men's day with a win in the 200 freestyle (1:40.80) and a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly (50.06). He also anchored the winning 800 freestyle relay. Tony Swanson, Mike Shue, Shelby Clark and Steketee swam the relay in a time of 6:48.61.
Freshman Aaron McCracken led a strong contigent in the 100 breaststroke, finishing first (57.16) while Eugene Kim and Chris Meyer placed third and fifth, respectively. The 200 freestyle was also a solid effort by the Wildcats, as Steketee's win was followed by Swanson in third, Clark in fourth, Shue in sixth and Nick Barnes in seventh. In the 400 IM, Todd Capen finished third and Mark Hamming touched in at fifth. Kellan O'Connor rounded out a strong showing for the Wildcats with a fourth-place finish in the 100 backstroke and a fifth in the 100 butterfly. The 200 medley relay (O'Connor, Kim, Adam Kennedy and Steketee) finished second, while Adam Barker and Elliot Massuda opened their diving competition on the 3-meter board with fourth and fifth places, respectively.
On the women's side, the Wildcats still trail the No. 1 ranked Bruins. The Wildcats swept places one through three in the 400 IM, with Rachel Johnson in first (4:23.59), Erica Rose in second (4:25.56) and Katie Simmons in third (4:25.78). Simmons also picked up a win in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.59), while Ashley Wagner took fourth and Kaisa Greenberg fifth.
Second-place finishes came from Tashy Bohm in the 100 backstroke (57.67), Erin Swenson in the 200 freestyle (1:53.73), the 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay. Merritt Adams finished fourth in the 100 butterfly and Nicole Bernard took fourth in the 200 freestyle. Christy Michalak was the top diver for the Wildcat women, with a fifth place on the 1-meter board.
The meet concludes Sunday as prelims get underway at 9 a.m. The 1,650 freestyle final will be held at 10:30 a.m with men's 1-meter and women's 3-meter diving to follow. Finals of the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and 400 freestyle relays will begin at 3 p.m.