Minnesota Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota swimming and diving headed to West Lafayette, Indiana this weekend, where it swept both Purdue and Northwestern. The Gophers were able to secure an impressive six NCAA “B” cuts at the meet.
MEN
195, Purdue 156
265, Northwestern 85
After an impressive first day at the triple dual, Minnesota opened its second day of the meet with a win in the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay (1:19.54).
Poon continued the men’s success by completing his medley sweep with a first-place time of 3:54.65 in the 400-yard individual medley.
Bowe Becker got yet another “B” cut in the 100 free to finish a sprint sweep in 43.74. Paul Fair followed him in second place. During the 200-yard backstroke, Tyler Klatt posted a third place finish in 1:49.18.
Daryl Turner secured another “B” cut for the Gophers, finishing the 100-yard butterfly in 47.58. Conner McHugh found success in the 200-yard breaststroke, also earning a “B” standard time and a win in 1:58.75.
Nick Plachinski finished third in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:29.09. Logan Rendondo finished next with a time of 4:32.47.
Matt Barnard finished fourth on the platform with 343.25 in the exhibition event.
The Gophers closed out a successful meet with a win in the 400 free relay, as Minnesota ‘A’ (Becker, Fair, Noah Busch, Turner) earned a time of 2:56.94.
WOMEN
185, Purdue 167
231, Northwestern 122
The women’s team opened up the meet with similar success, finishing second place in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:33.07.
Breanne Siwicki got an impressive victory in the 400 IM with a time of 4:22.22. Zoe Avestruz clinched another Minnesota win with a time of 50.64 in the 100 free.
Chantal Nack posted another “B” cut with a 1:59.16 to win the 200 back.
Tevyn Waddell finished in first place with an impressive 54.69 in the 100 fly. Erin Emery secured a time of 5:00.70 in the 500 free, an in-season best.
Kierra Smith and Lindsey Horejsi both earned “B” standards in the 200 breast, Smith earning a 2:11.98, and Horejsi earning a 2:44.95. Smith finished in first place, while Horejsi finished in second place.
Lexi Tenenbaum posted a win in exhibition platform diving with a 289.85, followed by Yu Zhou in third place (268.50).
The Minnesota ‘A’ (Avestruz, Chantal Nack, Kaia Grobe, Waddell) relay earned a win in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:22.86 to end an impressive meet.
Purdue Press Release
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (www.purduesports.com) – The Purdue swimming & diving teams won five more events as they closed out both the two-day Big Ten Triple Duals and their dual meet schedules Saturday afternoon at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
In the team scoring, the Boilermakers finished off a pair of victories against Northwestern, but were unable to overcome the leads No. 16 Minnesota had built on day one of the meet Friday. The Purdue women finished their season with a 7-3 (4-2 B1G) dual meet record while the men posted a 4-4 (2-3 B1G) mark. Seventeen seniors were recognized Saturday at the final co-ed meet of the season at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
Marat Amaltdinov (200 breast), Steele Johnson (platform diving), Kaersten Meitz (500 free), Joe Young (200 back) and the women’s 200 free relay team accounted for the Boilermakers’ event victories Saturday. Johnson completed a weekend sweep of the men’s diving events, improving to 17-for-19 in event wins this season. Meitz also won three individual events this weekend, sweeping the women’s 200, 500 and 1,000 freestyle races. She’s won 16 individual events this season, including all eight in which she has raced this month.
Amaltdinov completed a weekend sweep of the breaststroke after also winning the 100 Friday. It was his 11th event victory of the season, tying Nick McDowell for most among the men’s swimmers. After winning his heat of the 100 backstroke while finishing third overall Friday, Young was victorious in the 200 back on this day. It was his third event victory of the season.
Meitz anchored the 200 free relay to victory to open Saturday’s action, teaming with Danielle Auckley, Jackie Smailis and Grace Hernandez for the win. The final event of the meet was the 400 free relay. A 1-2 finish in the event likely would have given the Purdue women the win vs. Minnesota in the team scoring. Meitz was moved from the A relay to the B relay in an effort to make both groups as fast as possible. But the Gophers were able to win the event to deny the Boilermakers a weekend sweep of the three freestyle relay events. Meitz led off with a race-best split of 49.85 that was just two hundredths of a second off her team season-best time (in the 100).
Collectively, the Boilermakers were at their best in men’s platform diving, the women’s 100 butterfly and men’s 200 backstroke. Johnson, Brandon Loschiavo and Max Showalter teamed up for a 1-2-3 finish on the platforms. The Purdue women had four of the top five finishers in the 100 fly. Young and Jake Thomas finished 1-2 in the 200 back. The Purdue women also had three of the top five finishers in both the 100 and 500 freestyle as well as the 200 back.
For the weekend, the Purdue men finished 1-2-3 in 1-meter and platform diving along with 1-2-4 on 3-meter. Meanwhile, Emily Meaney was the runner-up in the women’s platform competition Saturday with a team season-best score (288.5) that qualified her for the Zone C Championships in the event.
Heat one winners for the Boilermakers included Tim Barth (200 back), Emily Converse (500 free), Joe Gardner (100 fly), Hannah Manger (200 back), Kate May (100 fly), Adam Noens (200 breast) and Smailis (100 free). Gardner and May were heat winners in a butterfly event for the second day in a row. Noens posted a Purdue season-best time (3:55.44) in the 400 individual medley while finishing as the runner-up. Taite Kitchel (100 fly), Auckley (100 free) and McDowell (500 free) joined Loschiavo, Noens and Thomas as Boilermakers to finish second in an individual event.
