Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Begins Quest for NCAA Top 10 Friday
10/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Oct. 21, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. -- When Northwestern begins its season at 4:30 p.m. Friday at home against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, it will do so with high expectations and more than a few question marks.
Coming off last year's third-place finish in the Big Ten and 11th-place mark at the NCAA Championships, NU wants even more.
"Last year we were a half-point out of 10th," NU Head Coach Bob Groseth said. "This year we want to be in the top 10."
Thanks to six returning All-Americans and a strong freshmen class, the 'Cats have the ability to continue to move toward that goal.
The Wildcats are led by a pair of sophomores, Matt Grevers and Mike Alexandrov. Grevers is coming off a freshman campaign where he was named Co-Big Ten Swimmer of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He earned All-America honors in the 100 back, 50 free, 100 free and three freestyle relays.
Grevers also competed in the United States Olympic Swimming Trials, making the final in the 100 back and swimming to a seventh-place finish.
Alexandrov had a busy summer as well, swimming in three Olympic events for his native country of Bulgaria. He set the national record in the 200 IM and also earned 18th place, narrowly missing the finals. He also competed in the World Short Course Championships in October, recording top-seven finishes in four of his five events.
Alexandrov was a five-time All-American last year and earned All-Big Ten honors.
"We have got some good veteran guys coming back, obviously highlighted by Matt Grevers and Michael Alexandrov," Groseth said. "Those two key guys did very well as freshmen and we expect more of the same."
The other four All-Americans back for the 'Cats are seniors Matt Wever and Louis Torres plus juniors Ben Dexter and Brian Davis. All four earned their All-America honors on NU's relay squads. Wever specializes in the distance free events as an individual, while Torres is a pure breaststroke swimmer. Torres also competed in at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 200 breast, earning a 28th-place finish.
The juniors Dexter and Davis are both mainly freestylers, with Dexter swimming sprints and Davis swimming distance. Davis set the school-record time in the 500 free last year at the Big Ten Championships and is the Wildcats top distance swimmer.
Northwestern's top returning diver is Mike Oxman, who finished seventh in the platform event at the Big Ten Championships.
There is still plenty of depth in the 'Cats roster, as evident in the returning upperclassmen who look to contribute.
"The other seniors who can help us out are Mike Gustafson and Phil Mercier," Groseth said. "Another sophomore, the main guy that is going to help out is Kevin Donohue, who is a good breaststroker and IM'er."
For all of its experience, Northwestern is still a young team. Nearly half of the roster is made up of freshmen, led by Kyle Bubolz, who was last year's Swimming World High School Swimmer of the Year.
Bubolz is the second consecutive Northwestern swimmer to earn the honor, with Grevers earning the award the year before. The duo of Bubolz and Grevers lends strength to the NU's relays this season.
Other freshmen Groseth expects to contribute are David Kormushoff in the short relays, breaststroke, and butterfly; Daniel Walls in distance freestyle; Ryan McIntosh in diving; James Sourbeer in longer relays and John Ehret in the freestyle and butterfly.
Rounding out the freshman class are Eric Simpson, Eric Shin, Adam Lewno and Alec Hayden, who all have the ability to become point scorers for the Wildcats.
While exactly how far the 'Cats go depends on the progression of this freshmen class, Groseth believes that the Wildcats have what it takes to exceed their expectations yet again.
