RESULTS
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern racked up four NCAA `B' provisional qualifying times in three different events Saturday during the second day of action at the Wildcats' home TYR Invitational at the Norris Aquatics Center, helping to extend their lead over the seven-team field.
NU leads the meet with 775.5 points while Michigan State is second with 601, Air Force is third with 388.5, UIC is fourth with 249, Saint Louis is fifth with 193.5, Truman State is sixth with 174.5 and Northern Iowa -- competing with just divers -- is seventh with 71 points.
Sophomore Ellen Stello (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood) and freshman Sydney Modeas (East Amherst, N.Y./Clarence) in the 400 IM, Julianne Kurke (Atlanta, Ga./Parkview) in the 100 breast and Lacey Locke (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) in the 100 back notched the `B' cuts for NU on Saturday.
The third and final day of the 2014 TYR Invitational begins with a 9 a.m. preliminary session tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 23, with finals moved up two hours to 3 p.m. CT.
Saturday's Preliminary Session
Stello got Northwestern off to a great start Saturday morning by winning the 400 IM preliminary heats with a collegiate-best and NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time -- the very first of her career -- of 4:18.20. She lead a cadre of 'Cats into the championship final with her; Lauren Abruzzo (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) qualified third, Modeas fifth and Emily Launer (DeKalb, Ill./Rosary) eighth.
Two more Wildcats earned the right to score with 400 IM `B' final berths. Melissa Postoll (Acworth, Ga./Kennesaw Mountain) swam an 11th-place 4:29.70 in the morning while Georgie Pettibone (Santa Rosa, Calif./Analy) put up a 15th-place 4:34.05.
In the 100 fly, freshman Aja Malone (Acworth, Ga./Allatoona) and Stello qualified for the championship final. Malone swam a season-best 55.33 while Stello followed her 400 IM `B' cut with another solid swim, this time a season-best 55.52.
Three more Wildcats made the `B' scoring final led by freshman Maddy Sims (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove) in a 10th-place time of 56.33. Locke and Valerie Nubbe (Huntsville, Ala./Huntsville) followed directly behind in 11th and 12th overall. Julia Pratt (Vincennes, Ind./Vincennes Rivet) and Chelsea Soderholm (Madison, Wis./Madison East) earned second swims in the `C' final with 19th- and 23rd-place qualifying times, respectively.
Fully six #B1GCats made the championship final in the 200 free led by a career-best 1:48.65 from Annika Winsnes (Singapore/United World College) that put her first overall after qualification. Launer followed in third with a 1:50.72, Abruzzo finished fifth, Ellen Anderson (Montgomery Village, Md./Gaithersburg) sixth, Lacey Smith (Boulder, Colo./Fairview) seventh and Megan Purdy (Boulder City, Nev./Boulder City) eighth.
Modeas (10th) and Anna Keane (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale) (13th) made the scoring `B' final for NU while Katherine Senseman (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo) picked up a `C' final second swim with an 18th-place qualification.
In the 100 breast, Kurke and Katie Branch (Phoenix, Ariz./Horizon Honors) qualified second and third overall for NU. Kurke swam a season-best 1:02.89 to finish just behind an MSU NCAA `B' cut effort while Branch had a time of 1:03.88 to touch behind her teammate.
Über-sprinter Mary Warren (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) almost made the championship final in the 100 breast as well but ended up as the top seed in the consolation heat with a ninth-place 1:05.28. Pettibone joined her after a 15th-place 1:06.23.
Four Wildcats forced their way into the championship final of the 100 back. Locke qualified second overall and first among Wildcats with a season-best and NCAA `B' cut of 55.02 that was just one tenth of a second behind the Michigan State swimmer who qualified first. Jackie Doyle (Danville, Calif./San Ramon Valley) qualified third overall in 56.74 with a tremendous drop in time from her earlier season efforts, then Keane followed in fifth and Postoll in sixth.
Three more Wildcats made the 100 back consolation final led by top seed in that heat Senseman's ninth-place 58.10 in the morning. Karen Turner (Lake Oswego, Ore./Lakeridge) qualified 11th overall and Erika Elliott (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) was 12th.
Soderholm won her second second-swim opportunity of the day with a 22nd place time of 58.91 in the 100 back prelims.
In the morning diving event, both Mashal Hashem (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) and Monique Demaisip (Norwalk, Calif./Gahr) qualified through to Saturday night's championship final in the 1-meter springboard event, just as they did one day ago in the 3-meter. Hashem took fifth in the morning with a 217.40 while Demaisip was sixth via a 216.20.
Saturday's Finals Session
Northwestern began the evening finals with a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay despite the best efforts of Warren in the anchor leg. With MSU leading the team of Locke, Kurke, Malone and Warren by .85 of a second entering the final 50 freestyle, Warren swam a 22.48 split and brought the Wildcats all the way back within a final margin of three tenths of a second with a season-best time for NU of 1:42.01.
The championship final of the 400 IM lit up the pool. Air Force's Kim Davis held a full second and a half lead over Stello entering the freestyle leg, but Stello came all the way back to catch her coming off the wall and heading home for the final 25 yards. Then, with the pool screaming its lungs out, Stello's surge faded and Davis got her at the wall by five one-hundredths of a second. Though Stello finished second, she did so in a career-best NCAA `B' cut time of 4:16.25 that lowered her collegiate-best in the event another 1.95 seconds from Saturday morning.
Not to be overlooked, the freshman Modeas also touched in a `B' time of her own to take third, coming home in 4:17.61 to shave nearly 6.5 seconds from her preliminary time in the event. Abruzzo ended up fifth in the `A' final.
In the 400 IM `B' heat, Postoll cut 3.85 seconds from her preliminary time to finish 10th in 4:25.85 and Pettibone earned three points for 14th place. Launer scratched from the championship heat of the event to focus on the 200 free.
In the 100 fly, Malone finished third for NU in 55.15 while Stello valiantly came back from her race just one event earlier to finish fifth with a 55.76. The consolation final saw Sims 10th overall in 55.47, Locke 11th in 56.48 and Nubbe in 13th with a 57.08.
Pratt won the bonus final to take 17th overall with a 57.33 for the Wildcats while Soderholm came in 23rd overall with a 58.66.
Winsnes won the 200 free with a 1:48.36 for the Wildcats, holding off a late challenge from an Air Force competitor. Launer capitalized on the extra rest from her 400 IM scratch with a third-place finish, Anderson took fourth, Abruzzo was fifth and Smith seventh for Northwestern in the championship heat.
Keane swam a very impressive race in the consolation final, cutting 2.95 seconds from her seed to touch in 1:51.04 and win the heat by over a second. Modeas, who earlier had that `B' cut in the 400 IM, came back to drop nearly a second from her 200 free prelim time and finish 12th overall in 1:52.33. Both Purdy (8th) and Senseman (18th) scratched the finals of this event after their prelim qualifications.
Kurke nearly pulled off an incredible comeback to lead Northwestern in the 100 breast championship final. Down 1.1 seconds at the 50-yard mark, Kurke came all the way back to touch just .12 of a second behind the winner from Michigan State. Still, Kurke's season-best time of 1:02.40 was an NCAA `B' cut for the junior captain. Branch's championship final ended in a solid fourth-place time of 1:03.96.
Warren maintained her top seed in the 100 breast consolation final with a 1:04.08 that was 1.2 seconds faster than her morning swim. Pettibone ended in a dead head for 15th place with a 1:06.12.
Locke enjoyed a dominant 100 back championship final, going out slightly slower than her closest competition in the first 50 yards before exploding for a nearly one full second win in a season-best NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time of 54.67 that lightly flirted with her career-best in the event. Doyle (fourth), Keane (fifth) and Postoll (sixth) rounded out NU's `A' final competitors.
Senseman took 11th overall and Elliott 14th following the 100 back consolation final while Soderholm moved from 22nd overall after the prelims to 19th with a 58.37 in the 100 back bonus final.
Hashem and Demaisip maintained their positions from morning to evening in the 1-meter springboard diving event, though both significantly improved their scores. Hashem upped hers to 239.05 to take fifth while Demaisip improved to 228.45 for sixth-place points.
In the final 800 free relay that concluded Saturday's action, the Northwestern team of Launer, Anderson, Abruzzo and Winsnes swam a 7:20.55, holding and maintaining a slight lead over Air Force nearly the entire way to capture the win.