Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Big Ten Championships
NU Remains in Fourth-Place at Big Ten Meet
2/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 28, 2003
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Kellan O'Connor (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Preparatory) finished third in the 100 butterfly and Mark Hamming (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) placed fourth as the Northwestern men's swimming and diving team continues to hold down fourth place after the second day of competition at the Big Ten Championships. The Wildcats have amassed 252 team points, four ahead of fifth-place Wisconsin. Host Michigan holds down first place with 473.5, an 11.5-point edge over Minnesota.
O'Connor, who entered the conference meet ranked second in the 100 fly, fell just 15-hundredths of a second short of capturing the title. His time of 47.56 was his top mark of the season. Hamming followed O'Connor in a time of 48.19. Penn State Eugene Botes won the event in 47.40, one-hundredth of a second ahead of Wisconsin's Matt Marshall.
Louis Torres earned Northwestern's next-highest individual finish on the evening, placing sixth in the 100 breaststroke. Torres' career-best mark of 55.30 provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championships.
Tony Swanson (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) was the only other Wildcat swimmer to reach the championship finals of an event, placing seventh in the 100 backstroke. His time of 48.83 earned an NCAA "B" cut. Nick Eggen (Phoenix, Ariz./Arcadia) added a 13th-place finish in the 100 back for NU (50.15).
A pair of individual scored points for Northwestern in the 400 individual medley, as Chris Biedrzycki (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park) and Brian Davis (Issaquah, Wash./Issaquah) finished 10th and 11th, respectively. Biedrzycki finished in a "B" cut time of 3:53.96, while Davis touched in at 3:54.59.
The Wildcats' 800 freestyle relay team of Swanson, Mike Shue (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers), O'Connor and Hamming placed an impressive fifth in 6:35.72. The mark shaved over 11 seconds off NU's previous top time of the season and earned a "B" cut.
The 200 medley relay squad of Eggen, Torres, O'Connor and Shelby Clark (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill) added a ninth-place mark, finishing in a time of 1:29.83.
The Big Ten Championships wrap up competition Saturday with preliminary rounds beginning at noon Eastern time, with finals scheduled for 7 p.m.
