To the surprise of many in the Big Ten, Northwestern put on quite a solid performance this weekend at the Norris Aquatics Center by splitting their dual-meet with conference rivals, Michigan and Wisconsin. The team easily defeated the Badgers, 237-131, before falling to the Wolverines, 241-129. The split pushes the team’s record to 2-4. But more importantly, the win over Wisconsin showed that NU can indeed compete with top-tier teams in the conference.
“I thought that the intensity that we brought was much better than we’ve seen all year,” coach Bob Groseth said. “The time drops were good, so, all in all, it was a pretty successful meet.”
NU swam tough against the fourth-ranked Wolverines, keeping it close for most of the meet before succumbing to Michigan’s strong long-distance swimmers on Saturday.
“We didn’t think we’d be as competitive as we were against Michigan,” freshman Sean Mathews said. “We held them pretty close for most of the meet.”
On Friday, the Cats treated the home crowd to a slew of great individual and team performances. The relay team of Eric Nilsson, Bruno Barbic, Kyle Bubolz, and Jon Ehret won the 200-freestyle relay with a time of 1:21.55, while the team of Adam Beckman, John Franklin, Bubolz, and Barbic finished second in the 400 freestyle relay.
Individually, Barbic and Bubolz swept the top two spots in the 50 free while Eric Nilsson took a narrow second in the 500 free, losing by just .44 seconds.
“I thought the race between (Michigan’s Matt) Patten and Nilsson was really competitive” Groseth said. “That was a real drop for both of them.”
The strong first-day effort left the Wildcats trailing Michigan by only ten points while sprinting out to a commanding 72-38 lead on Wisconsin. The Badgers were unable to mount any serious challenge over the course of the weekend.
Yet, as the second day progressed, Michigan began to pull away by winning eleven of the thirteen races on Saturday including a couple of dominant performances in the 400 freestyle, individual medley and the 1650 freestyle. Despite the widening gap, the Cats continued to fight. Nilsson swam a NCAA “B” provisional time of 1:37.81 to win the 200 free, placing him in good position to reach the NCAA championships in Seattle, Wash. In addition, Barbic continued his short-distance dominance in winning the 100 free with a 44.59 time.
The most consistent performance of the weekend came from diver Alex Kiaie, who won the one-meter board on Friday. The next day, Kiaie won the three-meter board with a personal best time of 342.50, topping his previous best by over five points.
The meet provided a spark to a team still trying to develop an identity. Freshmen Peter Park and Sean Mathew swam very well – which should be a boost as the team heads out on a string of tough road meets.
“Definitely some encouraging signs from our freshman,” Groseth said.
The next test for the Wildcats will be the Georgia Invitational in Athens, Ga., on Nov. 30th. The meet will be an important test for NU as the team prepares for the beginning of what should be the most grueling part of its Big Ten schedule in January.
If this weekend is any indication, NU could just be warming up.
Reach James Graham at [email protected].
