Feb. 25, 2011
Results
2011 Big Ten Championships Website
MINNEAPOLIS -- Senior Alex Tyler (Birmingham, Mich./Birmingham Groves) earned a second-place finish in the 400 individual medley Friday at the 2011 Big Ten Championships, the best finish of his career and the best for Northwestern since Eric Nilsson was second in the 500 free in 2009.
As a team, Northwestern in is ninth position with 149.5 points, a mere point behind eighth-place Iowa's 150.5. NU is 9.5 points behind seventh-place Wisconsin.
The 2011 Big Ten Championships conclude tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 26, with a preliminary session at 11 a.m. CT and the finals session at 6:30 p.m. CT. Live results and more Championships information are available at the 2011 Big Ten Championships website.
Friday Preliminary Session Recap:
Northwestern placed a pair of swimmers in the 400 IM championship final following preliminary action Friday morning at the 2011 Big Ten Championships while also notching two other consolation final slots during the session.
Northwestern got off to a fantastic start Friday morning when both Charlie Rimkus (Tustin, Calif./Beckman) and Tyler swam identical NCAA `B' and career-best times of 3:47.51 in the 400 IM to tie for third place and qualify for the championship final of the event.
Senior Peter Park (Princeton, N.J./Peddie School) made his way into the bonus final with a swim of 3:57.99, qualifying 23rd overall to put all of the Wildcats entered in the event into an evening heat.
In the 100 fly, senior Sean Mathews (St. Louis, Mo./Lafayette) recorded a `B' provisional qualifying time of 48.15 to place 14th overall after the morning and earn a point-scoring spot in the consolation final. After not swimming the race all season for the Wildcats, junior Jake Grosser (St. Charles, Ill./Saint Charles East) was the first alternate for the bonus final with a career-best and 25th-place time of 49.08.
One day after cutting 10 seconds off his previous career-best in the 500 free, sophomore Jan Hanulik (Cavisov, Czech Republic/Sportovnia Gymnazium) dropped more than three from his seed in the 200 free to be the first alternate for the bonus final after a `B' time of 1:38.11. Right behind him in 26th position as the second alternate was Tony Mattar (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion), who shattered his previous career-best in the event to swim a `B' cut of 1:38.16.
Junior John Frutiger (Alma, Mich./Alma) also shaved some time off his career-best in the 200 free with a 29th place and NCAA `B' preliminary heat time of 1:38.26.
Northwestern entered a trio of freshmen in the 100 breast, and while none of them earned a second swim in an evening final, all three swam collegiate-best times. Mac Anthony (Richmond, Va./Collegiate School) was 30th with a 58.00, Brien Gerber (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) took 32nd in 58.65 and Tim Smith (Oakland, Calif./De La Salle) claimed 34th with a 59.89.
Freshman Dominik Cubelic (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) earned a point-scoring consolation final berth in the 100 back Friday morning with an NCAA `B' time of 48.21, good for 11th overall. Sophomore Varun Shivakumar (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Fremd) earned the 24th and final spot in the bonus heat with a career-best 49.26.
Friday Night Finals Session Recap:
Friday night began with a seventh-place finish in the 200 free relay from the team of Cubelic, Grosser, Alexander Ratajczyk (Parlin, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) and Mathews. The squad swam an NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time of 1:20.04.
In the 400 IM, Michigan's Kyle Whitaker swam away from the field to win by nearly six full seconds, but Tyler led the rest of the pack to claim second place -- his best-career finish at the Big Ten Championships. Tyler swam a `B' cut of 3:47.00 to earn those second-place points, reeling in both Scott Marino of Penn State and Sam Rowan of Wisconsin to pass them during the final 100 yards.
Rimkus picked up his second sixth-place finish of the Big Ten Championships with a `B' time of 3:49.63 in the `A' final. In the bonus heat, Park moved up to finish 19th with a 3:58.37.
Mathews won two points in the consolation final of the 100 fly, swimming a `B' time of 48.34 in his evening swim. Grosser turned in a 49.21 in the bonus heat of the event to place 22nd overall.
After finishing outside of the bonus heat of the 200 free in preliminary qualifying, Mattar earned a lane after two swimmers scratched -- making the most of the opportunity. He swam a `B' time of 1:38.07 to further lower his career-best in the event while winning the entire heat to take 17th overall. Hanulik also made his way into the bonus final after a scratch, moving all the way up to 19th overall after a night-swim of 1:38.27. Frutiger placed 22nd overall in the 200 free with a bonus final time of 1:39.12.
Cubelic moved up a spot during the consolation final of the 100 back, swimming a season-best and `B' time of 47.89 to place 10th overall and pick up seven points for the 'Cats. In the bonus final, Shivakumar's 49.85 placed him 23rd overall.
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!