Feb. 23, 2001
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -
The Northwestern men's swimming and diving squad qualified five swimmers for tonight's finals at the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. In five events, 20 season best time's were posted by the Wildcats, including two school records.
Aaron McCracken (Naperville, Ill./Central) swam a 54.49 in the 100 breaststroke to break the school record of 54.79 set by Rob Rausch in 1997. His time also met the NCAA qualifiying A standard, and seeded him fifth for tonight's finals.
Tony Swanson (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) set his second school record of the competiton in Friday's prelims. His time of 3:51.38 in the 400 individual medley betterd Todd Capen's record of 3:52.99 set in 1999 and seeds him seventh for tonight's finals. Mark Hamming (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) will also swim in the 400 individual medley tonight for the `Cats. His prelim time of 3:56.00 seeds him 11th. Both Swanson and Hamming swam the NCAA qualifying B standard in their races this afternoon.
Kellan O'Connor (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Preparatory) and Steve Steketee (Golden, Colo./Golden) will continue their competitions tonight as they swim for team points in their respective events. O'Connor finished ninth in the 100 butterfly prelims and Steketee finished ninth in the 200 freestyle prelims to swim in tonight's consolation finals. Each of them also swam the NCAA qualifying B standard in their respective events.
Tonight's order of events are as follows: 200 medley relay, 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 3-meter diving, 800 freestyle relay.
Wildcat Finishes in Prelims:
400 individual medley - Tony Swanson 3:51.48 (7th), Mark Hamming 3:56.00 (11th), Chris Meyer 4:06.74 (33rd).
100 butterfly - Kellan O'Connor 48.57 (9th), Jason Merchant 49.65 (22nd), Adam Kennedy 50.58 (33rd).
200 freestyle - Steve Steketee 1:37.28 (9th), Shelby Clark 1:39.53 (20th), Mike Shue 1:39.84 (23rd), Nick Barnes 1:40.35 (27th), David Hersh 1:41.09 (32nd), Dan Williams 1:41.34 (36th), Tommy Lockman 1:42.14 (41st), Trevor Fort 1:44.46 (47th), Geoff Urquhart 1:44.56 (48th), Steve Henry 1:46.94 (52nd).
100 breaststroke - Aaron McCracken 54.49 (5th), Chris Meyer 59.62 (30th), Arturo Sosa 1:01.23 (31st).
100 backstroke - Jeff Blatnik 52.31 (25th).