Northwestern boys placed 6th, girls placed 7th at Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships

Northwestern Swimming and Diving's postseason begins by competing in the Big Ten Championships, with the women's team traveling to Purdue for the meet from Feb. 21 to Feb. 24 and the men's team from Feb. 28 to March. He competed at Ohio State University until the 2nd. It was Northwestern's first conference championship under first-year head coach Rachel Stratton Mills.

The Wildcat girls finished seventh out of 12 teams with 463.5 points, their lowest score since 2019 and one spot lower than last year's sixth place. Meanwhile, the boys ranked 6th out of 8 teams with 725 points, moving up from 7th place last year.

women's summary

The competition in the Big Ten Women's Championship was fierce, with Indiana defeating the Buckeyes in the final game and defeating favorite Ohio State by half a point. Northwestern, on the other hand, fell far behind the top contenders, earning her just four top-eight finishes in 16 individual events.

Graduate student Ayla Spitz has been a bright spot for Northwestern, as she has been in previous seasons. She was the only athlete to finish in the top eight in an individual event, placing third in the 500m freestyle (4:40.28), fifth in the 200m freestyle (1:44.54) and placing in the 200m backstroke. He came in 2nd place (1 minute 52.37 seconds). Spitz set her personal best in the 200m back heats and finals, and she improved on her previous best record of 2021 of 1:53.21. She also broke Emma Repisova's 2020 program record at the event (1:52.80). But that swim was no good. Spitz's only program record at the meet came when she led the way in the 800-meter free relay, running a time of 1:43.80, bettering junior Ashley Strauss' mark of 1:44.64 last season. Overall, she earned a total of 80 points. This was the most on Northwestern's team and her ninth most among all competitors.

Spitz did not reach the automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Championships, but based on his performance in the Big Ten, he will almost certainly qualify for the meet (and likely be the only Northwestern swimmer to do so). Her times in all three events are significantly faster than the times it took to qualify for the NCAA in each event last season, so she should be safe this year.

Another top performer was graduate diver Marky Hopkins, who scored 43 points and was the only Wildcat other than Spitz to finish in the top eight in the event. She finished seventh in the 10 meter diving event (284.40 points), 11th in the 3 meter diving (304.80 points) and 21st in the 1 meter diving (238.60 points).

In addition to Spitz and Hopkins, swimmers such as junior Justin Murdock and sophomore Lindsey Irvin have stepped up in terms of scoring. The two earned 37 and 31 points, respectively, and both reached the “B” final twice. The Wildcats also finished fifth in the 200-meter medley, 200-meter free relay and 800-meter free relay, but were disqualified from the 400-meter medley relay, although they placed fifth in the 400-meter free relay.

Overall, this tournament result was expected during a “down year” for Northwestern, which missed all of last season's NCAA Championship qualifiers. However, the results of athletes like Spitz and Hopkins still give the Wildcats hope heading into the homestretch of the season.

Men's overview

The Wildcat men's team will be without some of its top performers, including graduate student Kevin Huisman (an NCAA qualifier last season) and freshman Cade Duncan (one of the team's top recruits heading into this season). However, they were still able to improve in both positions in the conference. And also in terms of points. Northwestern University's total score was 725 points, an increase of more than 100 points from last year's 618 points.

The team's leading scorer was graduate student Andrew Martin, who scored 64 points. He is one of two Northwestern athletes to reach multiple “A” finals, placing fourth in the 500 free (4:14.62) and fourth in the 1650 free (14:51). 13 seconds) and 15th in the 200 meters free (1 minute 14.13 seconds). :36.49). His times in the first two events were his best times, 4 seconds off last season's 500 free personal best of 4:18.88, and nearly 7 seconds off last November's 1650 free personal best of 14:58.19.

Martin could also qualify for the NCAA Championships with 1,650 minutes of free time, more than two seconds faster than the 14:53.84 it took to qualify last year.

Freshman Diego Nosak also had a strong performance with 59 points. She placed 17th in the 200m individual medley (1:44.85), third in the 400m IM (3:42.69), and seventh in the 200m butterfly (1:42.76). His 400 IM time beat his program record time of 3:44.52 last November by nearly two seconds and was several tenths of a second better than his NCAA Championship cutline of 3:42.99 last year. Fast and we got on this year's eligibility bubble. His 200 flight time was also his best time of nearly 2 seconds, bettering the 1 minute 44.56 seconds he also recorded in November last year.

Third on the team with 47 points was freshman David Gerczyk, who placed 34th in the 50 free (20.48 points), ninth in the 100 back (46.55) and third in the 200 back (1:41.75). . In both backstroke events, he recorded the best times by a few tenths of a second. Other swimmers who scored 40 or more points included freshman Aaron Baltaitis (44 points) and his junior year, Tyler Lue (43 points).

The Wildcats did poorly in the relays, finishing last in the 200/400 free relay and 400 medley relay, seventh in the 200 medley relay, and sixth in the 800 free relay. However, their overall performance among Big Ten men's teams has improved markedly from last season.

What's next?

Northwestern University plans to send its top swimmers and divers to the NCAA Championships later this month, with the women's championships being held March 20-23 and the men's championships March 27-30. Ru. The official list of eligible players will be announced the previous Wednesday. Women and men gather together. Meanwhile, diving qualifications for both men and women will be determined by the results of the NCAA Diving Zone, which will be held from March 14th to 16th.