Northwestern Falls at Wisconsin, 191-109

11/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

Nov. 11, 2010

Results

Site: Madison, Wis. (Natatorium)
Score: Wisconsin 191, Northwestern 109
Records: NU (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten), Wisconsin (3-2, 2-1 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Nov. 19-21 -- TYR Invitational (Norris Aquatics Center)

MADISON, Wis. -- Northwestern traveled to Wisconsin Thursday evening for its final Big Ten dual meet of the fall portion of the schedule, falling to the Badgers, 191-109.

The Badgers opened the meet with a bang, winning the 200 medley relay with an NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time. Northwestern top team did finish second in the event, turning in a time of 1:45.18 from the team of Liza Engstrom (Reno, Nev./Robert McQueen), Emily Russart (Lake Geneva, Wis./Badger), Katie Eschenburg (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) and Taylor Reynolds (St. Louis, Mo./Webster Groves).

Wisconsin also won the 1,000 free to begin the individual events, but Northwestern swept the 2-3-4 spots in the race. Freshman Megan Goss (Brentwood, Tenn./Ravenwood) led the way with a 10:14.45, followed by classmate Erin Sosdian (The Woodlands, Texas/Woodlands College Park) in third and junior Beth Loe (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) in fourth.

Freshman Jackie Powell (Madison, Wis./James Madison Memorial) took third as NU's top finisher in the 200 free with a time of 1:51.62, then Engstrom also was the `Cats' top performer in the 100 back with a third-place and season-best time of 57.25. Russart took second-place honors in the 100 breast with a 1:04.04 after a Wisconsin swimmer won the race via an NCAA `B' cut.

Northwestern's best event of the night came in the 200 fly when the Wildcats swept the top four spots in the race. Senior Alex Kraus (Birmingham, Mich./Birmingham Groves) led the way with a 2:04.08, followed by Hannah Points (Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin) with a 2:04.87, Meghan Cavanaugh (Anchorage, Alaska/East Anchorage) with a 2:05.51 and Becca Soderholm (Madison, Wis./Madison East) in 2:06.12.

Wisconsin came back to sweep the top-two positions in the 50 free and the top-three in the 100 free. The Badgers also won the first diving event during that time, but Wildcat divers finished 2-3-4 on the 1-meter springboard. Freshman Cosima Lenz (Altadena, Calif./Polytechnic School) had NU's top score with a 271.65, her sister Felicitas Lenz (Altadena, Calif./Polytechnic School) was third with a 262.80 and Mary Kate Campbell (Burr Ridge, Ill./Fenwick) placed fourth with a 248.63.

Wisconsin turned in its third NCAA `B' time of the night to win the 200 back, but again NU was second behind that effort. Engstrom's 2:01.70 was nearly two full seconds faster than the third-place finisher in the event, and was more than a full second faster than her previous season-best in the race.

A three-way Badger sweep of the 200 breast preceded a Powell second-place finish in the 500 free, where the freshman swam an NU-season-best 4:57.87 to knock nearly three seconds off the best time by a Wildcat in that race this year.

Cavanaugh then paced a 2-3-4 finish for Northwestern in the 100 fly with a 56.29. Marybeth Hall (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) was third with a season-best 56.77 and Kraus took fourth with a season-best 57.21 for the `Cats.

In the second diving break, Felicitas Lenz won the 3-meter springboard with her fourth-straight 300+ point score of the year, this time turning in a 306.68 performance for the victory.

Kathleen Patterson's (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) season-best 4:25.13 in the 400 IM led a 2-3-4-5 Northwestern finish in the race. Jacquie Godbe (Rapid City, S.D./Stevens) took third, Points was fourth and Meredith King (Louisville, Ky./duPont Manual) was fifth to complete the NU convoy.

Wisconsin closed the meet by winning the top two spots in the 400 free relay, out-touching NU for second place by .03 of a second after a valiant comeback attempt by Wildcat anchor Reynolds. The swim by Powell, Cavanaugh, Hall and Reynolds did set an NU-season-best time with a 3:28.38.

Northwestern returns to action Nov. 19-21 at its own TYR Invitational at the Norris Aquatics Center. Preliminary sessions begin at 9 a.m. each day with finals scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday.

••••••

Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!