Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Welcomes No. 19 Wisconsin, Notre Dame
11/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Nov. 15, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Coming on the heels of a huge win at Purdue Nov. 3, Northwestern welcomes No. 19 Wisconsin and Notre Dame to the Norris Aquatics Center Nov. 16-17 for a two-day double-dual meet against another pair of perennial powers.
The meet will follow Big Ten and NCAA Championships format over three sessions of competition. Things get underway at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16, with the second session starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 17. The final session begins at 5 p.m. Saturday evening. Though the meet is in invitational format, dual-meet scoring still will be used.
The Wildcats had a huge team effort in their last outing Nov. 3, earning the program's first win over the Boilermakers since 1999. Sophomore Kassia Shishkoff (Raleigh, N.C./St. David's School) and senior Katie Braun (Edina, Minn./Edina) swept the top two spots in the 200 IM to position NU to win the meet, which they did with a first-place finish in the 400 free relay.
Purdue came into the meet receiving votes in the preseason College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) poll, and now Northwestern has earned seven points in the most recent edition. Notre Dame enters this weekend two spots out of the top 25 with 28 points.
Braun and Shishkoff both have earned NCAA 'B' provisional qualifying standards already this season, while NU's deep freshman class has already showcased its talents. In particular, the freshman backstroking duo of Liza Engstrom (Reno, Nev./Robert McQueen) and Katie Eschenburg (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) have found spots on NU's top times list in both the 100 and 200. Engstrom also appears on the top times list at both individual medley distances.
Northwestern's men's team also is in action Friday and Saturday at Norris, taking on Wisconsin and Michigan.
