Jan. 17, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. - It seems like every time Matt Grevers jumps into the pool, Wildcat records fall and Northwestern team success rolls on. NU swept its tri-dual meet against Eastern Michigan and Illinois-Chicago, beating the Eagles 138.5-105.5 and downing the Flames by a score of 156-82 Saturday afternoon at the Norris Aquatics Center.
Northwestern claimed first place finishes in both relay events as well as every individual event and the freshman phenom Grevers shattered a Norris Aquatics Center pool record.
"I'm really happy with the way our guys raced today," said head coach Bob Groseth. "We struggled a bit more today than we did (against Michigan State), but the guys were able to maintain their intensity."
NU opened the meet in dominant fashion, winning the 400 medley relay, clocking in at 3:20.69, almost 10 full seconds faster than second place UIC, which finished with a time of 3:30.55.
Brian Davis followed the Wildcats' medley victory with a first-place finish in the 1000 freestyle event with a time of 9:26.39. Dan Williams, who posted two first-place finishes the night before against Michigan State, took second with a time of 9:31.42.
Northwestern's Matt Wever gave the 'Cats their third consecutive first-place finish, winning the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:42.03. Steve Petric's time of 1:44.72 gave the 'Cats their second straight one/two finish.
Matt Grevers gave the Wildcats their fourth straight first-place finish, winning the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.66. NU's Shelby Clark took fourth, clocking in at 21.86.
Tony Swanson, who swam the lead leg of the Wildcats' 400 medley relay, won the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:49.91.
Mark Hamming won the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:50.76. Clark claimed his second first-place finish of the meet, tying Eastern Michigan's Doug Flemming with a time of 47.04 in the 100 freestyle.
Grevers record-breaking performance came in the 200 backstroke as he clocking in with a school-best time of 1:46.98, besting the old mark of 1:47.49 which was set last year.
"Matt continues to have outstanding swims," said Groseth. "For a freshman to break a pool record in the middle of training, it's pretty impressive."
Louis Torres closed out the 'Cats' stellar performance, winning the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:05.16 in the meet's final individual event. Teammate Kevin Donahue finished slightly behind Torres, taking second with a time of 2:05.29.
Diver Mike Oxman enjoyed almost as much success as his swimmer teammates. He won the three-meter diving event with a score of 303.05 and claimed second in the one-meter with a score of 273.15.
The Wildcats are back in action Sat., January 24th when they take on Notre Dame at home.