Jan. 12, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 17 Northwestern returns to action after almost six weeks off from competition at the six-team Dallas Morning News Swimming & Diving Classic Friday and Saturday in Dallas.
The Wildcats are one four ranked squads in the meet, which also features host SMU, No. 7 Florida, No. 14 Florida State, No. 19 Notre Dame and Washington. The Classic begins at 7:30 p.m. CT Friday night before concluding with a 7:30 p.m. CT session Saturday evening.
The meet features a faceoff between the top two backstrokers in the nation. Northwestern junior Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) won the 2005 NCAA title in the 100 backstroke, out-touching Florida's Ryan Lochte for the title.
This season, Lochte has the top times in the nation in the 100 back (46.20) and the 200 back (1:40.73), while Grevers rates third in the 100 back (47.22) and fifth in the 200 (1:43.78) according to the latest College Quick 100 from Taper & Shave.
Grevers also holds top-10 times in the 100 fly, 50 free and 100 free. He rates third in the 100 fly with a time of 46.89, and is eighth in both freestyles with a 19.98 time in the 50 and a 43.91 in the 100.
Classmate Mike Alexandrov (Champaign, Ill./Centennial) also is ranked in a number of events, including the 200 breast, where his 1:55.43 is the best time in the nation. Alexandrov is second in the 400 IM (3:44.87), fourth in the 100 breast (53.65), 10th in the 200 IM (1:48.04) and 14th in the 200 free (1:37.04).
Sophomore Kyle Bubolz (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North) is ranked in four events, with his best rating coming in the 100 fly where he is 12th with a time of 48.10.
Senior Brian Davis (Issaquah, Wash./Issaquah) and freshman Eric Nilsson (Weston, Mass./Weston) also have rankings in the Quick 100.
All five of NU's relays are ranked in the top 11 in the nation.
Live results, standings and other Classic information can be found by linking to the Dallas Morning News Swimming & Diving Classic Web site.