While the Northwestern men’s swimming team has its focus fixated on the three squads it will entertain at this weekend’s NU Invitational, you can bet coach Bob Groseth has another goal in mind – crossing his T’s and dotting his I’s.
Groseth made a minor typo on his lineup card for the 200-yard medley relay, the first event of NU’s dual meet with Eastern Michigan on Saturday. But every mistake matters, and the Wildcats were disqualified, falling 11 points behind before the first swimmer hit the water.
“That was just a joke, a miscommunication,” NU junior Kellan O’Connor said of the incident. “We thought we were going to be able to take that relay or get a big boost.”
But instead of griping about the seemingly petty scenario, the No. 20 Cats (2-1, 0-1 Big Ten) rebounded to win all but two of the remaining events, pounding Eastern Michigan 172-120 at Norris Aquatic Center.
O’Connor led the charge by finishing first in the 100 backstroke, the 200 butterfly and the 400 individual medley. After winning the 200 fly in NU’s loss to No. 15 Wisconsin on Friday, he seems primed for a career year.
“Kellan has really matured from the end of last year until the summer,” Groseth said. “He sees himself in a different light now, and he feels like he’s stepped up to another level.
“Hopefully he sees himself as one of the best swimmers in the country in this event.”
The Cats received an added boost from senior diver Elliot Massuda, who notched top honors in the 1- and 3-meter diving events. Massuda tallied 18 points for NU all by himself, and he was the only Cats diver to place in the top four.
NU’s men’s team was not the only squad to reap the benefits from its divers. Freshman Ashley Carter claimed both the 1- and 3-meter competitions in Saturday’s dual meet with No. 24 Minnesota, fueling the NU women’s swimming team to a 184-114 home victory. The win helped the Cats forget about a poor performance at Wisconsin on Thursday.
While Carter’s contributions were greatly appreciated, the Cats (1-1-1, 1-1-1) quite frankly could have done without them. Facing a Minnesota team that in previous years has overwhelmed the Cats with depth, they were able to score well in nearly every event.
NU was led by junior Carmen Cosgrove, who maintained her undefeated record in the 100 fly by touching the wall in 56.44 seconds, a flicker ahead of teammate Merritt Adams. Cosgrove, an All-American who transferred to NU from Nebraska, has adjusted well to life in and out of the pool.
“She just never complains, she just does what you say and gets out there and races hard,” women’s coach Jimmy Tierney said of the Australian native. “In a professional sport you expect the person to come, work and perform, and that’s what she does. It’s a huge bonus for us.”
The Cats’ dominance in the butterfly continued when junior Rachel Johnson notched an NCAA ‘B’ standard time of 2:02.71 in the 100 fly. NU also stamped a monopoly on the sprints, as junior Megan Keefe won the 50 and the 100 freestyles.
Tierney was impressed with his team’s versatility and appeared confident that the Cats’ winning ways would continue into 2002, when they head to Big Tens and NCAAs.
“We’re trying to build some toughness in races, some resiliency so that over the course of a dual meet our third and fourth events are strong and our relays are strong,” Tierney said. “This is our deepest team, and I think it’s fun to be able to load up in some events and bring two, three, even up to four strong swimmers.”
Both the men and women look to continue their winning ways this weekend, when Louisville, Southern Illinois and Big Ten-rival Purdue invade Evanston.
