Northwestern University Athletics
Four Wildcats Qualify for NCAA Championships
3/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
March 17, 2008
2008 NCAA Championships Pysch Sheet (PDF Format) 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Four Wildcats will represent No. 18 Northwestern at the 2008 NCAA Championships March 27-29 in Federal Way, Wash., combining to account for eight entries in individual events while comprising a pair of relays.
Senior Bruno Barbic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gymnazija), senior Kyle Bubolz (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North), junior Eric Nilsson (Weston, Mass./Weston) and freshman Brian Kerr (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) are Northwestern's NCAA qualifiers for 2008. The group will race together as the 11th seed in the 400 free relay and as the 14th seed in the 200 free relay.
The University of Washington will serve as host for the meet. Swimming World Magazine will provide live streaming video, and "live results" are available at this link. To protect its exclusivity, the NCAA is not allowing actual live results to be disseminated. The live stats link will contain secured .pdf's only after the completion of events.
For more information on the 2008 NCAA Championships, visit gohuskies.com.
Bubolz and Nilsson lead the way for Northwestern with entries in three individual events each. Bubolz is the No. 7 overall seed in the 100 fly with a 46.38 seed time -- Northwestern's lone NCAA `A' automatic qualification time on the year. Bubolz also will swim as the 15th seed in the 50 free and the 18th seed in the 100 free. In his first three years as a Wildcat, Bubolz has earned three individual All-America honors while picking up 11 more as a member of relays. Bubolz has finished in the top five in the nation in the 100 fly in each of the last two years.
Nilsson is the 23rd seed in the 200 fly, the 25th seed in the 200 free and the 32nd seed in the 500 free. Last year he earned his first individual All-America accolade with a 16th-place finish in the 500 free, picking up honorable mention honors. He also has a first-team All-America award as a member of NU's seventh-place 400 free relay in 2006.
Barbic is the 16th seed in the 50 free and the 28th seed in the 100 free for the Wildcats, and is coming off two All-America performances in those events at last year's NCAA Championships. Barbic picked up a total of five All-America honors in 2007 in his first season with Northwestern after transferring from Washington (where he was an honorable mention All-American in the 50 free in 2006).
Barbic, Bubolz and Nilsson have been huge contributors to Northwestern's recent string of success at the NCAA Championships, where the Wildcats finished sixth in the nation last season -- the best in the program's modern era. The Wildcats have been in the top 11 in each of the last four years.
Kerr will not swim any individual events for Northwestern, but will be a key member of the freestyle relays. Kerr turned in season-best performances at his first Big Ten Championships with a 20.35 in the 50 free and a 45.06 in the 100 free.
