Feb. 24, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern men's swimming and diving squad qualified six swimmers to Saturday evening's finals this afternoon in prelims at the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. After two days of competition, the Wildcats are tied for seventh place with Purdue. In Saturday's prelims, 14 Wildcats swam season-best times in their respective events.
Kellan O'Connor (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Preparatory) highlighted Saturday's prelim session for NU, breaking his own school record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:45.54. That bettered his own school record of 1:46.59, set last month in a meet against Ohio State and Iowa. He is seeded second for tonight's final.
Tony Swanson (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) qualified for his third final of the championships. He will swim the 200 backstroke tonight and is seeded fourth after charting an NCAA qualifying B standard of 1:45.70 in prelims.
Steve Steketee (Golden, Colo./Golden) swam a 44.20 in the 100 freestyle to seed him sixth going into tonight's finals. His time also met the NCAA qualifying B standard.
Also looking to gain points for the Wildcats tonight are Mark Hamming (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Jason Merchant (Pearl City, Hawaii/Punahou) in the 200 butterfly, and Aaron McCracken (Naperville, Ill./Central) in the 200 breaststroke. Hamming and Merchant's times met the NCAA qualifying B standard.
TONIGHT'S EVENT SCHEDULE
1650 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, platform diving, 400 freestyle relay.
WILDCAT FINISHES IN PRELIMS
200 backstroke - Tony Swanson 1:45.70 (4th), Jeff Blatnik 1:52.88 (34th), Steve Henry 1:56.23 (37th).
100 freestyle - Steve Steketee 44.20 (6th), Nick Barnes 45.40 (25th), Adam Kennedy 45.58 (30th), Geoff Urquhart 47.37 (50th), Chris Carey 47.77 (52nd), Trevor Fort 48.30 (56th).
200 breaststroke - Aaron McCracken 2:02.51 (13th), Chris Meyer 2:07.81 (26th), Arturo Sosa 2:14.59 (28th).
200 butterfly - Kellan O'Connor 1:45.54 (2nd), Mark Hamming 1:48.44 (10th), Jason Merchant 1:48.83 (12th), Shelby Clark 1:53.72 (33rd).