By Abe RakovThe Daily Northwestern
The winter sports season’s best squad may be the one you don’t see.
The Northwestern men’s swimming team, currently ranked eighth in the country, finished its home slate before winter break. The Wildcats have dominated their schedule so far, going 4-0 in dual meets and winning the TYR NU Invitational.
The men’s swimming team also has the best athlete at the school in Matt Grevers, a two-time NCAA champion.
Also receiving votes
Since most people probably don’t check out the women’s college basketball polls on a weekly basis, you probably missed the fact that NU actually received votes in the Associated Press Top 25 earlier this year. In the second week of the poll (mid-November), the Cats received a vote. The Cats earned two votes in the next poll (which would have put them at 44th if the rankings went that high), and one again in the fourth poll of the season.
NU got its record up to 6-1 before losing its last nine. Still, there is improvement. Now the Cats actually can compete in the Big Ten (they lost by just two to Iowa last weekend and had a shot for the tie), which is more than they could say when coach Beth Combs got here three years ago.
Early start
The winter sports season might be in full swing, but spring sports are starting as well. Men’s and women’s tennis begin Friday (the men’s team plays at home against DePaul), NU’s two-time defending National Champion lacrosse team plays Team USA at the end of the month and baseball, softball and both golfs start in February.
Athlete of the Week
Freshman swimmer Kassia Shishkoff. She should get an award just for swimming a mile, but she also broke the pool record with a time of 16:28.01 and earned an NCAA “B” cut after winning the 1650 free. Shishkoff won all four individual events she raced in the Cats’ loss to No. 16 Tennessee on Saturday.
Home game to watch
Men’s basketball vs. No. 3 Wisconsin on Saturday. It’s the chance to see a possible Final Four team and the amazing Alando Tucker, so it’s a must see. And it’s a pretty good rivalry game too, so there’s no excuse not to go to this one.
Deputy sports editor Abe Rakov is a Medill junior. His NU Notes column appears every Wednesday. He can be reached at [email protected].
