Northwestern University Athletics
Season Recap: Wildcats Again Turn Small Squad into Big Success
5/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
May 1, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- In 2005, Northwestern skyrocketed into the top 10 in the nation with a record-breaking performance at the NCAA Championships. Although they had only six swimmers competing compared to the traditional powerhouses' averages of 10-15, the Wildcats used some strong individual performances to score 191 points -- the most per swimmer at the meet.
A repeat performance by another small group of swimmers in 2006 proves Northwestern's program still possesses the best of the best. In addition to junior Matt Grevers' (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) second-consecutive 100 back NCAA Championship, Northwestern again established itself as one of the top-10 programs in the country and impressed its opponents with the ability to take on the traditional powers with a small group of swimmers -- and succeed!
After a strong dual-match season, the 'Cats showed that they were ready to challenge again in 2006 by claiming seven Big Ten Championships at the conference meet held in Bloomington, Ind.
The Wildcats wasted no time showing they meant business, jumping out to an early lead by winning the opening 200 free relay in convincing fashion. The 'Cats' quartet of Grevers, Mike Alexandrov (Champaign, Ill./Centennial), Kyle Bubolz (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North), and Ben Dexter (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) won the event with an NCAA "A" time of 1:18.25, beating their nearest competitor by over a second and a half.
Northwestern was far from done on day one. Grevers crushed the field in the 50 free to claim his second Big Ten Championship, touching the wall with a time of 19.36, only .01 of a second off his own Big Ten record and over a half-second ahead of second place.
The 'Cats ended the day by claiming the 400 medley relay title and shattering some records in the process. The same quartet that claimed the 200 free relay title won the 400 medley relay, breaking the school, Big Ten, and pool records with an NCAA "A" time of 3:07.91.
Outside of the three victories there were some other impressive individual performances by Wildcats on day one. Freshman Eric Nilsson (Weston, Mass./Weston) continued his strong freshman campaign by earning a fourth-place finish in the 500 free, guaranteeing himself a place in the NCAA Championships.
Alexandrov earned a bronze medal in the 200 IM, finishing with an NCAA "A" time of 1:46.32. Bubolz finished sixth behind Grevers in the 50 free. Senior Mike Oxman (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) rounded out the first day by placing eleventh in the 1-meter diving competition with his second-best score of the year in that event.
The second day of the Big Ten Championships proved to be a little more difficult, but the 'Cats were up to the challenge. After narrowly losing in the 200 medley relay to Indiana even though they recorded an NCAA "A" time of 1:25.91, three out of the four Wildcats from that relay would turn in medal performances.
Bubolz defended his Big Ten Championship in the 100 fly, clocking in with a time of 46.40 to best his own Big Ten- and school-record time of 46.46.
Alexandrov came out of a thrilling battle with Kevin Swander and Giordan Pogioli with a second-place finish in the 100 breast, almost topping his personal best time when he touched the wall with a NCAA "A" time of 52.97.
Grevers netted his second-individual Big Ten Championship with a come-from-behind victory in the 100 backstroke. Grevers took the lead with 50 yards to go and cruised to a victory with an NCAA "A" time of 46.32.
The same trio was at it again on the final day of the Big Ten Championships as the Wildcats looked to move up in the standings.
Grevers claimed his third individual title by swimming an NCAA "A" time of 43.07 to win the 100 free. His closest competitor was a familiar one - Bubolz - who finished second with an NCAA "A" time of 43.44.
After finishing in the middle of a tight three-man race in the 100 breast the previous day, Alexandrov bested his two opponents, setting a pool record and breaking the 13-year-old Big Ten record with a time of 1:55.19.
Northwestern senior Oxman ended his Big Ten career with arguably his best performance, scoring 369.30 points in the platform diving competition to earn a third-place finish.
Two of the younger Wildcats showed impressive improvement in the 1650 free. Sophomore Daniel Walls (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino) knocked 44 seconds off his previous best time of the year to finish with a time of 16:00.87, while freshman Andy Long (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) dropped 20 seconds off his season-best time to finish in 16:03.26.
When the Championships dust settled after the 'Cats' second-place finish in the 400 free relay, Northwestern found itself in fourth place. In a sign of things to come, the Wildcats tied Michigan for the most championships as each squad earned seven.
Northwestern's swimmers earned some recognition for their season-long performances as well as their efforts over this three-day span. Five Wildcats garnered all-Big Ten honors, with Grevers, Alexandrov, Bubolz and Dexter being named first-team All-Big Ten and Nilsson earning second-team honors. Grevers was rewarded for his season-long dominance as he was named Co-Swimmer of the Year along with Michigan's Peter Vanderkaay.
On the heels of these strong individual performances, all five All-Big Ten swimmers were invited to the NCAA Championships in Atlanta, Ga., where they would look to show that 2005 was the beginning of a trend.
Day one of the NCAA Championships was a day of near misses for the Wildcats. Nilsson swam his best time of the year in the 500 free (4:22.47) in preliminaries but missed out on the finals by six spots. Alexandrov missed the consolation final in the 200 IM by one spot after swimming his second fastest time of the year in preliminaries. Bubolz swam his fastest time of the year in the 50 free (19.87), missing out on the finals by .25 seconds.
Once again, it was the Wildcat relays and their NCAA champion that provided some much-needed points. After qualifying sixth in the 200 free relays the 'Cats dropped one spot in the finals, finishing seventh with a time of 1:19.01 to earn 24 points. The finish gave Alexandrov, Bubolz, Dexter and Grevers their first All-America honors of 2006.
After a tough preliminary swim pushed him into the consolation final, Grevers moved up two spots in the consolation final of the 50 free when he clocked in with a time of 19.60. The tie for tenth gave the 'Cats another 6.5 points and Grevers his second All-America honor.
The first day ended with one the Wildcats' better events, the 400 medley relay. The 'Cats entered the prelims with the number one seed and easily qualified for the finals, swimming a 3:08.19 to earn the second seed for the finals.
The finals must have been déjà vu for the 'Cats. With one leg of the relay left the Wildcats found themselves in front of the pack. However, the 'Cats could not hold off the hard-charging competition and finished in fourth place with a time of 3:08.10 to earn 30 points and four more All-American honors.
After day one Northwestern had amassed 60.5 points and found itself in eighth place.
On day two Northwestern had some high expectations. Grevers was defending his championship in the 100 back, Bubolz was seeded second in the 100 fly, and the 200 medley relay looked poised to post a high finish.
The 'Cats began this all-important day with a solid effort in the 200 medley relay. After qualifying for the finals with the top seed, the Wildcat quartet of Grevers, Bubolz, Alexandrov, and Dexter swam their way to a fourth-place finish and set a school-record time of 1:25.72.
Bubolz qualified for the finals of the 100 fly and made a good impression in his first final as an individual. The sophomore touched the wall with a time of 46.43 to finish fifth and earn 14 points for Northwestern.
Nilsson continued his steady improvement throughout the season with his best performance of the year in the 200 free. Only a freshman, Nilsson swam a time of 1:36.33 to finish the event in 17th place, one spot out of the consolation finals.
Alexandrov scored some points for the 'Cats by placing ninth in the 200 breast. Alexandrov won the consolation final with a time of 53.18, his second-fastest time of the year.
The stage was set for Grevers' defense of the NCAA Championship in the 100 back. After a photo-finish last year Grevers left little doubt this time around, touching the wall with a time of 45.93 to win by .29 seconds over Auburn's Doug Van Wie.
With the victory, Grevers became the 'Cats first back-to-back champion since Bill Heusner won the 1500 free in 1948 and 1949.
Thanks to these strong individual performances Northwestern maintained their eighth-place standing with 133.5 points going into the final day of competition.
Grevers led the way by making yet another final, this time in the 100 free. The junior touched the wall in a time of 42.83 to earn a sixth-place finish - exactly the finish he earned in the same event last year.
Alexandrov mimicked his teammate's performance by finishing sixth in the 200 breast. Alexandrov finished with a time of 1:56.46 to give him his second-fastest time of the year.
The Wildcats ended their 2006 season on a positive note, with the quartet of Nilsson, Alexandrov, Bubolz, and Grevers swimming a time of 2:54.02 to place seventh in the 400 free relay.
With only five swimmers competing, the Wildcats defied the odds and finished tenth with 183.5 points. The 'Cats second-straight top-10 finish ensured they were the second-highest scoring Big Ten team behind Michigan as they beat Big Ten Champion Indiana and runner-up Minnesota. The Wildcats' qualified all four of their relays for the championship finals for the first time in school history.
Northwestern brought a lot of hardware back to Evanston with them. Grevers garnered another seven All-America honors to push his career total to 21. Alexandrov earned six more honors to push his total to 20, while sophomore Bubolz earned five more to push his all-time number to 10. Senior Dexter earned three All-America honors to finish his career with six. The freshman Nilsson rounded out the All-America honors by bringing home the first of his career.
With only Dexter graduating from the group of five All-Americans things are certainly still looking bright for Northwestern next year. Practically the entire team is returning, and the dual-match season this year showed that the group of swimmers Northwestern sends to the NCAA's next year could be much larger.
In the first dual meet of the year against Wisconsin-Milwaukee five Wildcats claimed the first victories of their collegiate career. Jon Ehret (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy College Prep) won the 50 and 100 free, Gavin D'Amico (Edmonton, Alberta/Strathcona) touched the line first in the 500 free, Alex Hostoffer (Cleveland, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) squeaked past teammate Adam Lewno (Racine, Wis./J.I. Case) to claim the victory in the 200 breast and Alex Kiaie (Milwaukee, Wis.) won both the 1- and 3-meter competitions in his first meet as a collegiate diver. As a result of these victories Northwestern cruised to an easy
In a narrow defeat against Texas A&M, sophomore David Kormushoff (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) showed some of the form that made him an All-American as a freshman, winning the 100 breast for the 'Cats.
It took a team effort to win the NU Relays, and the 'Cats were up to the task. Sophomore transfer Charlie Cunnick (Davenport, Iowa/Davenport Central) teamed with Kormushoff and Ehret to take home the 300 butterfly relay. Eric Simpson (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) and Adam Beckman (Kearney, Neb./Kearney) swam with Bubolz to claim the 300 backstroke relay victory by more than three seconds. Jimmy Sourbeer (Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic) also earned his first victory of the year when he teamed with three of the All-Americans (Bubolz, Grevers, and Nilsson) to take home the 400 freestyle relay.
After dropping half of a Big Ten double dual to Purdue while defeating Michigan State, the Wildcats pushed their Big Ten record above .500 with a win against Wisconsin in Madison. The 'Cats were propelled to victory by a record-breaking performance from diver Ryan McIntosh (Louisville, Ky./Trinity). McIntosh, who also won the 1-meter event, won the 3-meter competition and broke Iowa All-American Timo Klami's pool record by more than 30 points with an astounding 388.125 points.
The 'Cats won two other dual matches in 2006 as they defeated Notre Dame 172-128 and Iowa 178-77 on Senior Day.
Besides Oxman and Dexter, senior Brian Davis (Issaquah, Wash./Issaquah) will also be sorely missed by next year's squad. Davis, who competed twice at the NCAA Championships, provided not only victories but leadership for this past year's young 'Cats squad. Davis went out in style, claiming victories in the 200 free and 200 fly against Iowa.
The three other members of the 2006 Wildcat squad showed some impressive improvement that they will look to continue next season. Alec Hayden (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) improved from 58.32 to 54.85 in the 100 back by the end of the year, while fellow teammate Dmitri Kouzmine (Novosibirsk, Russia/Evanston Township) shaved nearly eight seconds off his time in the other backstroke event, the 200 back. Freshman John Franklin (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./North Broward Prep) swam 2:12.71 in the 200 breast at the beginning of the year against Texas A&M, but by the Big Ten Championships was down to 2:06.55.
With five different All-Americans returning combined with some young swimmers right on the cusp of success, Northwestern looks like it will continue to sustain its success and must be considered one of the great swimming programs in the country.
Story by Northwestern Media Services student Eric Dyrdahl
