Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan
Michigan Nips Wildcats, 155-142
1/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Jan. 25, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - Needing at least first- and third-place finishes in the final event of the meet, the Northwestern women's swimming and diving team fell just short of knocking off its second consecutive ranked opponent Saturday at the Norris Aquatics Center. A first-place finish by 19th-ranked Michigan in the 400 medley relay allowed the Wolverines to escape with a 155-142 victory over the Wildcats.
Trailing by eight points entering the final event, NU needed to finish first and second or first and third in order to win the meet. However, Michigan pulled away in the final 200 yards, forcing the 'Cats to finish second and third in the event.
The tight loss drops NU's overall dual meet record to 6-4, while falling to 1-4 in the Big Ten. The Wolverines improve to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
Michigan jumped out to an early 59-33 lead after the first five races, thanks to four top finishes. Only Erin Swenson's (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) title in the 200 freestyle (1:51.36) prevented the Wolverines from jumping out to an even bigger advantage.
Northwestern rallied back behind victories by Carmen Cosgrove (Perth, Australia) in the 200 butterfly (2:02.10), Sara Petric (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) in the 50 free (24.19) and Ashley Carter (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) on the 1-meter diving board (259.43).
Katie Paglini (Chicago, Ill./Latin School) and Katie Simmons (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) added top finishes in the 200 backstroke (2:03.69) and the 200 breaststroke (2:20.14), respectively, before Cosgrove added her second title of the day.
The senior held off Michigan's Anne Weilbacher by 23-hundreths of a second to finish first in the 100 fly in a time of 55.73. Carter then completed her sweep on the diving boards by taking the 3-meter with a score of 297.53.
Swenson then positioned the Wildcats to possibly complete the comeback by cruising to victory in the 400 individual medley in a time of 4:25.76 to win by over four seconds. However, the Wolverines squelched the 'Cats' comeback bid with the win in the final event.
Northwestern returns to action at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1 when it hosts Ohio State in its final dual meet of the season.
Players Mentioned
