Thursday’s heavyweight Big Ten swim meet ended in a split decision.

The No. 13 Northwestern men’s swimming team defeated Wisconsin 125-99, while the women’s swimmers fell 148-75 to the No. 11 Badgers in Madison, Wis.

Exceptional personal achievements highlighted both team’s days. Mike Alexandrov, last week’s Big Ten Co-Swimmer of the Week, followed up his strong showing against Purdue and Michigan State with a record-setting performance Thursday. The junior set two pool records, winning the 400 individual medley in 3:52.79 and the 200 breast in 1:58.53, to lead the Wildcats. Also setting a pool record was sophomore Ryan McIntosh, whose score of 388.13 captured first place in the 3-meter dive. NU also was paced by junior Matt Grevers, who won the 50 free and the 200 back.

Coach Bob Groseth was happy with his team’s performance but said he was disappointed with some of the results from his second and third swimmers.

“With as many events as we won – the team score was still relatively close because in the events that we won, (the Badgers) were getting second and third and fourth,” Groseth said. “We still have to work on our depth, and when we get to Big Tens, we’re going to need those guys to step up.”

The women’s meet saw more pool records on the diving board. Freshman Chelsea Davis took first in both the 1-meter board and 3-meter dive events with scores of 339.00 and an astounding 413.55, respectively. While both were pool records, Davis’ 3-meter mark shattered the previous mark of 321 in what Coach Jimmy Tierney called “an outstanding performance.”

The Cats also were led by sophomore Andrea Hupman, who won the 100 free in 51.02 and the 200 free in 1:51.14.

Despite the lopsided score, Tierney was happy with his team’s performance. He said he had hoped to win six events but was satisfied with the four NU came away with.

“We went up against a highly ranked team and held pretty tough,” Tierney said.

Reach Ben Larrison at [email protected].