Before this weekend’s Northwestern Invitational, senior Kellan O’Connor promised a Wildcats win. As it turned out, it was O’Connor’s victory Sunday in the second-to-last event that put NU over the top.
The men’s swimming team wasn’t winning until the 200-yard butterfly event, when NU swimmers — led by O’Connor — finished first, second and third.
NU’s women’s team also won, easily beating Illinois and Southern Illinois with 1,002 team points.
The women were paced by Brielle Bovee, who won both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. The sophomore is undefeated in those events this year. Junior Erica Rose won the 1,650 freestyle and qualified for the NCAAs with a B-standard time of 16:56.07.
Two other women qualified for NCAAs: Bovee in the 200 breaststroke and freshman Katie Paglini in the 200 backstroke.
After the men’s squad fell to third place by 26 points heading into the final day of competition, it came back to edge second-place Southern Illinois and third-place Southern Methodist with a final score of 920 points.
NU’s margin of victory was less than a second-place finish in a single event.
“To be honest, we’re kind of embarrassed with our performance here,” O’Connor said. “More or less, we should have killed them.”
A senior captain, O’Connor led the team with additional wins in the 100 butterfly and the 400 individual medley.
Although he carried the Cats throughout the weekend, O’Connor didn’t think his performance was particularly noteworthy.
“I do feel that it’s my responsibility to bring in some major points,” he said. “I often feel as though I’m expected to win.”
But O’Connor wasn’t the only NU swimmer who performed well over the weekend. Sophomore Louis Torres won both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Torres also won the 100 breaststroke against Wisconsin last weekend.
O’Connor credited the sophomore class for making the difference over the weekend and providing depth to the team.
“They were the guys that came through,” he said.
Because swimmers earn points for all finishes — not just first or second place — depth is important.
Torres won 20 points with his victory in the 100 breaststroke, while sophomore Mike Gustafson also brought the team seven points for his 10th-place finish.
With the meet as close as it was, every point mattered. But while NU didn’t demolish its opponents, the men said they were pleased with the outcome.
“We really came together as a team, and it was great to see,” said Mark Hamming, who won the 200 IM.
Dave Hersh, a free style specialist, credited his teammates for keeping everyone excited about the meet.
“When you get in the middle of the season, you have to do anything you can to motivate yourself,” he said. “It’s basically a bunch of guys who feel like crap challenging each other to put (it all) on the line.”
Hersh also thanked the loud NU fans who cheered the team on for three days.
While it may seem the swimmers — underwater most of the time — can’t hear their fans, Hersh said they know when the crowd is behind them.
“(Your performance) is directly proportional to the number of people cheering for you,” he said.
While Hersh thanked the fans, O’Connor said he couldn’t understand why anyone would want to watch him swim.
“Coming to these meets is like watching paint dry,” he said.
