Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
NCAA Championships
O'Connor Places 15th in 200 IM at NCAAs
3/27/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
March 27, 2003
AUSTIN, Texas - Kellan O'Connor (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Prepartatory) led three Northwestern qualifiers in the 200 individual medley with a 15th-place finish Thursday at the opening day of the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships hosted by the University of Texas. By virtue of advancing to finals competition, O'Connor earned his sixth career All-America honor. The two points he earned rank the Wildcats in 19th place after Day One competition.
Auburn is in first place with 160 points. Four other Big Ten schools scored points Thursday. Michigan and Minnesota are tied for ninth place with 33 points, Wisconsin is 14th with 16 and Purdue is 20th with one.
O'Connor was the final individual to qualify for the finals, placing 16th during the preliminary round in a time of 1:47.36 to advance him to the consolation final. He moved up one spot during the evening session to finish seventh in the consolation race and 15th overall in 1:47.29.
Mark Hamming (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Tony Swanson (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) also competed in the 200 IM, but failed to reach the finals. Hamming finished 20th in the prelims with a time of 1:47.90. Meanwhile, Swanson, who entered the Championships ranked 11th in the event, settled for a 30th-place finish in 1:49.02.
Competition continues Friday morning with the preliminary round slated for 11 a.m. O'Connor and Hamming will participate in the 100 butterfly, while Swanson will compete in the 100 backstroke. The top 16 finishers in the preliminary round will advance to the finals round which begins at 7 p.m.
