Jan. 11, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's men's swimming and diving team improved its record to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten with a 131-111 victory over Michigan State Friday evening.
NU won every swimming event and split the diving competition with only one diver, senior Elliot Massuda (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso), facing Michigan State's three.
The most exciting event of the meet was the 1000 freestyle, where junior David Hersh (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) beat out MSU's Joe Brennan by seven-hundredths of a second. Hersh finished in 9:25.30.
Junior captain Mike Shue (Ft. Myers, Fla./Ft. Myers) kept the spectators on their toes in the 500 free, where he recorded a season-best time of 4:27.72. He was just four-hundredths of a second off the Norris Aquatic Center pool record of 4:27.68, set in 1991. Shue also recorded a team-leading time in the 200 free (1:40.77).
A season-best time of 1:32.98 was recorded by the 200 medley relay team of Nick Eggen (Phoenix, Ariz./Arcadia), Aaron McCracken (Naperville, Ill./Naperville), Kellan O'Connor (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Prep) and Nick Barnes (Frankfort, Ind./Frankfort).
McCracken took seven-tenths of a second off his own season-best time in a decisive 200 breaststroke victory. At 2:04.21, the sophomore finished nine seconds ahead of the competition.
NU took a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 butterfly. O'Connor paced the group with a 1:48.17, while Mark Hamming (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Phil Mercier (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe) followed suit.
The meet marked the final home event for Wildcat seniors Barnes, Jeff Blatnik (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Brookfield Academy), Adam Kennedy (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor), Massuda and Chris Meyer (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy). Barnes took a victory in the 50 free (21.16) and swam two relays, while Massuda placed first in the 1-meter dive (282.43).
The next event for NU is next weekend, when they travel to neighboring Illinois-Chicago on Jan. 18.