Nov. 20, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Following a one year hiatus, Northwestern's TYR Invitational returns to the Norris Aquatics Center this Friday-Sunday, Nov. 21-23. The three-team invite features men's and women's entries from Big Ten foes NU and Michigan State as well as Division III swimming powerhouse, Kenyon College.
Preliminary sessions will begin at 10 a.m. both Friday and Saturday, and at 9 a.m. Sunday. Finals start at 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and at 3 p.m. Sunday. Events for each day are as follows:
Friday: 50 breast, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 1-meter diving, 200 free relay, 400 medley relay
Saturday: 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 3-meter diving, 200 medley relay, 800 free relay
Sunday: 50 fly, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 50 back, 200 fly, 5-meter platform diving, 1,650 free, 400 free relay
Finals competition will be split into three heats, with four swimmers contesting for the championship in a Super Final, the next eight qualifiers competing in a Consolation Final and the last four finalists swimming in a Bonus Final.
Northwestern's women's squad enters the weekend with a 3-2 record and a No. 21 ranking in the latest CSCAA dual-meet coaches poll. The Wildcats' men's team is 2-3 thus far on the season. Both teams already have combined for three Big Ten Swimmer of the Week honors (Kassia Shishkoff and Emily Wong for the women, Eric Nilsson for the men) through just three weeks of competition for the Wildcats.
Michigan State's women's club enters the TYR Invitational with a 2-3 record, while the Michigan State men are 1-2 in dual meets on the year.
Kenyon College, a traditional participant in the TYR Invitational, already has competed against Division I foes this year. The men's team has a 3-1 overall record, 1-1 against DI opponents, while the women are 2-2, 0-2 versus Division I.
The Lords are the 29-time defending Division III national champions, and still own a bit of TYR Invitational history. At the 2004 event, Elliot Rushton broke both the DIII and Norris Aquatics Center records in the 1,650 free, with Rushton's pool mark still standing as one of only two facility marks not held by the Wildcats. The Ladies have won 22 of the last 25 NCAA Division III national championships, including the last two in a row.