Northwestern men’s and women’s swimming and diving opened their seasons with decisive victories in a dual meet against Miami (Ohio).
Both Wildcat programs took down the Redhawks with identical 203-97 scores.
On the men’s side, NU’s divers set the tone with two top-five sweeps. Sophomore Adam Cohen led the way in the three-meter event with a score of 354.05, winning the event. Cohen was followed by freshman Kyle Ly with 331.25 points and junior Jack White with 296 points. Sophomore Ryan Augustine and freshman Nolan Rooker rounded out the top five. In the one-meter dive, Cohen and Ly once again finished the top two scorers. Augustine, Rooker and White completed the sweep.
Graduate student Nikki Venema scored 40 of the ’Cats’ 203 points. She won both of her individual events, the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. Venema also swam in both of NU’s A relay wins, swimming the first leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay and the butterfly leg of the 200-yard medley relay.
Fresh off an Olympic appearance with team Israel, sophomore David Gerchik carried his summer momentum into the pool for the ’Cats Saturday. Gerchik took home a win in the 200-yard backstroke and a third-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle. Gerchik also led off the winning 200-yard medley relay and anchored the winning 400-yard freestyle relay, scoring 34 points for the ‘Cats overall.
The ’Cats also saw promising debuts from several freshmen. Sophie Martin, a key recruit from Australia, impressed in her first meet with individual wins in the 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard freestyle. Zoe Nordmann won the 400-yard freestyle and finished second in the 200-meter freestyle.
Twins Claire and Lilly Mehok started their Wildcat careers with a pair of splashes. Lilly Mehok won the 200-yard butterfly in 2:02.49, while Claire Mehok finished third in the 100-yard backstroke and first for the ’Cats with a time of 55.36 seconds.
NU prevailed in 27 of 32 events in the dual meet, including all relays and 14 of 16 men’s events. The dominant event performance against a nonconference opponent gives the ’Cats a strong foundation to build off of this season.
The ’Cats face another southwest Ohio visitor, the Cincinnati Bearcats, next Friday at Norris Aquatic Center.
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