Nov. 22, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's men's swimming and diving team sits in third place after the opening day of the Northwestern Invitational Friday. Southern Illinois is first after the first day, amassing 277 points for a narrow one-point lead over Southern Methodist. Northwestern is currently third with 242 points.
Mark Hamming (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) picked up NU's lone first-place finish, winning the 200 IM in a time of 1:50.03, edging out teammates Tony Swanson (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) and Kellan O'Connor (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Preparatory).
Northwestern received a second-place finish from the 200 free relay squad of Hamming, Swanson, Dan Williams (Hinsdale, Ill./Central) and Ben Dexter (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) in a time of 1:23.82. The 400 medley relay team of Hamming, Swanson, O'Connor and Louis Torres (Morton Grove, Ill./Niles West) was also second (3:23.19).
Mike Shue (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) added a third-place finish in the 500 freestyle (4:33.91).
Northwestern's women's swimming and diving team holds down a commanding first-place lead after the inaugural day. The Wildcats totaled 332 team points Friday, well ahead of second-place Illinois (229.50). Southern Illinois is third with 191.50 and SMU's two divers totaled 31 points.
NU's women got a first-place finish out of freshman Katie Paglini (Chicago, Ill./Latin School) in the 200 individual medley. Paglini posted a winning time of 2:03.16 to outdistance teammate Rachel Johnson (Champaign, Ill./Centennial) by two seconds.
Freshman Sara Petric (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) recorded another individual title, taking the 50 freestyle in 24.28 to win by three-hundreths of a second. Ashley Carter (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) contributed a first in the 3-meter diving competition with a score of 434.20.
Northwestern also posted victories in the 200 free relay in a winning time of 1:36.78 and the 400 medley relay in 3:50.72.
In addition to Johnson's second place in the 200 IM, the Wildcats got a runner-up finish by Erica Rose (Cleveland, Ohio/Hawken School) in the 500 freestyle (4:58.37).
The NU Invitational resumes Saturday with preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m. and finals starting at 5 p.m.