The No. 9 Minnesota men's swimming and diving team wrapped up the 2005 Minnesota Invitational in dominating fashion this afternoon, winning all seven events. The Gophers finished with 1762.5 points while Wisconsin was a distant second with 678.5 points with North Dakota (377), Carthage College (333), St. Olaf (162), St. Cloud (160), Gustavus Adolphus (148), South Dakota State (119) and Carleton rounding out the men's scores.

The Notre Dame women relied on depth to take the women's title over host Minnesota 722-707. The Washington State women, however, showed their strength in winning four of the final six events. Kansas 670.5, Wisconsin 664, Washington State 561.5, Nebraska 479, Iowa State 129, North Dakota 72, Saint Cloud State 11, and South Dakota State 4 completed the scoring.

Washington State's Erin McCleave, Afton Pickett and Jane Copland each earn individual wins. McCleave posted a time of 16:17.06 in the 1650 freestyle setting a WSU record and earning a NCAA automatic qualifying standard. McCleave shaved 25 seconds off her the previous mark of 16:42.06 McCleave also earned a NCAA automatic qualifying standard in the 100 freestyle besting the field with a lifetime best time of 50.69. The event marked McCleave’s fourth win of the meet with the Rutherglen, Australia native also earning wins and WSU records in the 200 freestyle (1:48.48) and 500 freestyle (4:43.82). Pickett finished first in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:01.17 earning a NCAA “B” consideration standard and the second fastest time on the Cougars’ all-time Top-10 list. Pickett added the win to her second place finish in the 100 backstroke (56.67) in the second day of competition. Copland earned the top spot in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:14.92. The swim marked Copland’s lifetime best time and earned her a NCAA “B” consideration standard.

Minnesota Senior Travis Beckerle began the final day of competition by winning the 1650 freestyle in a time of 15:28.71 while junior Fabian Toth was second in 15:6.15. Junior Zach Wood took third place by clocking a 15:53.49. Sophomore Mike Woodson picked up the victory in the 200 backstroke. He clocked a 1:50.17 while teammate Dan Berve was second in 1:53.08.

Junior Igor Cerensek completed a sweep of the short distance freestyle events by claiming the 100 free title in 44.70. He won the 50 and 200 freestyles earlier in the meet. Mario Delac was second in 44.82 and Matt Engel was third in 46.39.

Junior Drew Knoechel won the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:04.77 while Sean Kelly touched second in 2:05.18. Senior Adam Mitchell picked up his third event win of the Invitational, winning the 200 butterfly in 1:49.92. Freshman Evan Bernier posted a 1:52.24 to place second while junior Mike Natali was third in 1:52.72.

Senior John Schmidt claimed the title in platform diving with a tally of 298.65. Junior Shaun Kennedy, who won the 1-meter and 3- meter events earlier, took second in 286.75. The Gophers closed out the meet with a win in the 400 freestyle relay. The winning team consisted of Delac, Tyler Schmidt, Jason Timmer and Cerensek.

“Overall, it was good team effort over six sessions,” said WSU Head Swimming Coach Erica Quam. “There were key areas we wanted to improve on and we did. It was a strong performance that built a lot of confidence as we head into the U.S. Open and laid a solid foundation as we continue to prepare for Pac-10s.”