When the final relay squad touches the wall Saturday against Iowa, the careers of some of the fastest swimmers in Northwestern history will be over. Mary Beth Francis, Jenn Kocsis, Rachel Rys, Kassia Shishkoff, Genny Szymanski, Emily Wong and diver Tania Lyerly will exit the pool to the echoing clammer of the home faithful, having graced the Norris Aquatics Center for their last dual meet.
‘I hope we can pull out a win, just for our seniors,’ sophomore Jenny Wilson said. ‘It’s our last home meet of the season.’
To entice the students to come support the seniors in their final home meet, the athletic department is offering two promotions. Chipotle will give away free burrito coupons to the first 50 students who arrive, and the first 100 fans will receive a T-shirt.
The No. 23 Wildcats will be concentrating on perfecting their strokes before the Big Ten Championships, which begin Feb. 17. Before losing to No. 16 Michigan, NU hadn’t dropped a dual meet since starting the season 0-2. Against the Hawkeyes (5-3, 1-2 Big Ten), the Cats (7-3, 1-3) will be looking for a final boost.
‘It will give us good momentum going into the Big Tens if we could win,’ Wilson said.
Wilson will try to replicate last week’s strong performance, which featured wins in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events. It won’t be easy, as she will have to race Katarina Tour, Iowa’s Most Valuable Player last year. Tour is the school record-holder in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly and 200-yard IM.
Another swimmer hoping to build on her recent success is Szymanski. She followed up on her season-best swim at Notre Dame with another first-place finish at Michigan.
‘Genny always rounds into shape as we get into the Championship meets,’ Tierney said. ‘This is kind of her time of the year, so I expect she’ll be ready.’
Like Szymanski, Hannah Points is peaking at the right time. The multi-talented swimmer, who holds the team’s season-best times in the 200-yard’ butterfly and 400-yard IM, recorded her personal season-best time in the 200-yard IM at Michigan.
‘Hannah’s been consistent all year long and key to our comebacks,’ Tierney said. ‘She’s just someone I count on every weekend.’
On the diving board, NU’s leading diver Felicitas Lenz and Iowa’s Big Ten Diver of the Week Veronica Rydze are both aiming for a repeat of last week. In Iowa’s 150.5-149.5 win over Illinois, Rydze recorded her collegiate-best score of 274.96 on the 1-meter dive. She also won the 3-meter dive with a 296.94 score.
Lenz earned NU’s season-best scores on both springboards with a 296.02 on the 1-meter dive and a 308.18 on the 3-meter dive.
‘I’m very looking forward to competition (this weekend),’ Lenz said. ‘I was happy to do so well (last week), and I’m looking forward to competing at Big Tens, hopefully NCAAs.’
Although Lenz’s scores were higher than Rydze’s, Tierney said diving scores are hard to compare because they are subjectively measured by judges, not by time.’
The Michigan meet produced a string of season-best performances. Shishkoff, Rys, Points, Jacquie Godbe and Katie Eschenburg all climbed the season’s top-times charts.
With his team’s strong individual efforts against the Wolverines, Tierney admitted to wondering what might have happened if NU’s relay squad had not been disqualified. Without the illegal exchange on the opening event, NU performed well enough during the rest of the meet to win by four points.
But Tierney said dwelling on the early blip wouldn’t accomplish.
‘It just happens in the competitive part of the sport,’ he said. ‘I don’t worry about that stuff. Once it happens, you move on from there.’
This weekend, Tierney said he wants a more disciplined performance from the Cats. Above all, the weekend should recognize the seniors in a fitting manner.
‘We talked about everything we do being in honor of the seniors to help them have a great experience in their last meet,’ he said. ‘That’s our focus this weekend.’
