Northwestern
NCAA Championships
Northwestern Vaults Three Spots, Finishes 12th at NCAA Championships
3/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
March 29, 2008
2008 NCAA Championships Complete Results (PDF Format) 
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Northwestern earned six more All-America honors Saturday during the final day of the NCAA Championships in Federal Way, Wash., using a stellar performance in the 400 free relay to vault three places and finish 12th in the nation.
The Wildcats have finished 12th or better at the NCAA Championships in each of the last five seasons. In 2008, Northwestern earned 85 total points, seven points better than 13th-place Texas A&M and 52.5 points behind 11th-place Minnesota. Arizona won the team national championship with 500.5 points.
Northwestern picked up huge team points Saturday in its second relay of the meet with an appearance in the championship final of the 400 free relay, which is the final event of the NCAA Championships. The Wildcats' team of junior Eric Nilsson (Weston, Mass./Weston), senior Bruno Barbic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gymnazija), freshman Brian Kerr (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) and senior Kyle Bubolz (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North) swam a season-best 2:54.55 in the prelims to earn the eighth and final spot in the championship heat.
At the end of the night, NU was in a battle with Texas A&M for 12th place, with both squads fielding relays in the race. The Aggies needed to finish high in the consolation final to protect their lead, but took fifth (13th overall) to earn eight points and take a 17-point lead over the Wildcats.
Northwestern then swam a 2:55.06 to finish seventh in the championship final and earn 24 points to clinch 12th place. Nilsson led the 'Cats off with a 43.99, his career-best time in the 100 free. With NU trailing the field by a wide margin heading into the final leg, Bubolz swam a 42.28 anchor 100 that was 1.52 seconds faster than Minnesota's, allowing the Wildcats to overtake the Gophers for seventh by .04 of a second.
Earlier in the day, Bubolz qualified for his second individual championship final of the meet with a career-best 42.45 in the preliminaries of the 100 free, coming in eighth overall in the early heats. Barbic gave the Wildcats two point scorers in the 100 free by qualifying 14th overall to earn a spot in the consolation final with a season-best effort of 43.12.
In the championship heat, Bubolz went out very strong and was in fourth place halfway through the race with a 20.30 before turning in a time of 42.67 to finish seventh for the 'Cats. In the consolation final, Barbic had a similar strategy with similar results. He swam a fast 20.33 during the first 50 yards to rank second in the heat at the halfway point before ending up fifth in the race with a 43.34 to take 13th place overall in the event.
Nilsson nearly earned his first individual All-America honor of the year, but his career-best time of 1:45.25 in the 200 fly prelims put him just .05 of a second and one spot outside of the consolation final with a 17th-place finish in the event.
As a team in 2008, Northwestern earned 13 All-America honors -- five in individual events and eight with the four members of NU's two relays.
Bubolz concluded his final NCAA Championships with five All-America honors, bringing his career total to 19, ranking third in Northwestern history behind 2007 graduates Matt Grevers (27) and Mike Alexandrov (24). His All-America accolades in the 50 free from Thursday and the 100 free from Saturday were his first as an individual in an event other than the 100 fly.
Barbic picked up four All-America awards in 2008, bringing his final career total at Northwestern to nine. He earned 10 overall when adding in his honorable-mention nod in the 50 free as a sophomore at Washington.
Nilsson won two awards with NU's relays this year, making him a five-time All-American after three collegiate seasons. Kerr's two relay All-America accolades are the first of his career.
Players Mentioned
