Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
TYR Invitational
Northwestern Expands Huge Lead at TYR Invitational
11/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Nov. 21, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern broke another Norris Aquatics Center pool record and racked up several more NCAA `B' provisional qualifying standards Saturday at the TYR Invitational, extending its massive lead over the six-team field in the process.
The Wildcats have 867 points to out-pace second-place Iowa State's total of 471. Michigan State is in third with 454, Cleveland State is fourth with 235, Kenyon College is fifth with 219 and Illinois-Chicago is in sixth with 154 points.
Northwestern kicked off Saturday's finals with a thrilling win the 200 medley relay, coming from behind to defeat Iowa State with an NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time of 1:42.17. The squad of Liza Engstrom (Reno, Nev./Robert McQueen), Jenny Wilson (Bethesda, Md./Sidwell Friends School), Meghan Cavanaugh (Anchorage, Alaska/East Anchorage) and Emily Wong (Nepean, Ontario/St. Joseph's) were trailing entering the final leg, but Wong picked up right where she left off after a tremendous Friday to swim a 22.29 final 50 free split and reel in the Cyclones for the victory.
The Wildcats took five of the top six spots in the 400 IM championship final with Hannah Points (Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin) leading the way. He time of 4:20.53 was nearly two seconds better than Meredith King (Louisville, Ky./duPont Manual) in second. Kathleen Patterson (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) took third, Jacquie Godbe (Rapid City, S.D./Stevens) was fifth and Meaghan Fenn (New Rochelle, N.Y./The Ursuline School) grabbed sixth the Wildcats.
Iowa State's Nan Liu broke the pool record in the 100 fly during the prelims with a 53.55, then won the event in the finals. Cavanaugh was the Wildcats top finisher in second with a 55.21 while Alex Kraus (Birmingham, Ala./Vestavia Hills) placed fourth, Katie Eschenburg (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) fifth, Teisha Lightbourne (Nassau, Bahamas/The Peddie School (N.J.)) seventh and Marybeth Hall (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) eighth in the championship heat.
Kassia Shishkoff (Raleigh, N.C./St. David's School) notched an individual NCAA `B' cut to win the 200 free, coming in with a 1:48.87. She was followed by Caitlin Masney (Hong Kong, China/Chinese International School) in second and Ellen Grigg (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin School) in third for a 1-2-3 sweep by the 'Cats. Wong rounded out the NU swimmers in the championship final with an eighth-place finish.
A quartet of Wildcat scored in the consolation final of the 200 free, led by Beth Loe (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) in 10th, Taylor Reynolds (St. Louis, Mo./Webster Groves) in 11th, King in 12th and Jenn Kocsis (Omaha, Neb./Marian) in 13th. Sheila O'Neill (Dunwoody, Ga./Marist School) won the bonus final for NU.
Wilson captured the 100 breast with a 1:03.21, followed by Wildcats Lightbourne in fourth and Patterson in fifth. Both Hall and Katie McCullough (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) scored in the consolation final of the event.
Engstrom was NU's lone competitor in the championship heat of the 100 back, placing third with a 56.72. Eschenburg won the consolation final in 57.64 while Genny Szymanski (Haines, Alaska/Haines) (12th) and Erin Reilly (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) (16th) each scored in the consolation final.
Felicitas Lenz (Altadena, Calif./Polytechnic School) won the 1-meter springboard with a score of 282.80 one day after winning the 3-meter board. Carlin Dacey (West Roxbury, Mass./Choate Rosemary Hall) took fourth with a 273.45 and Tania Lyerly (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) was sixth with a 238.70.
NU's 800 freestyle relay closed the second day's proceedings with a bang, shattering the Norris Aquatics Center pool record with an NCAA `B' cut of 7:16.36 to win by more 15 full seconds. Wong opened up with a 1:47.84 split while Masney, Grigg and Shishkoff all went 1:49's behind her to break the old pool mark of 7:20.57 set last year.
The final day of the TYR Invitational begins at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning, Sunday, Nov. 22, with preliminary heats before finals get underway at 3 p.m.
