Northwestern University Athletics
Tyler Earns 'A' Final Berth Thursday at Big Ten Meet
2/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 25, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Junior Alex Tyler (Birmingham, Mich./Birmingham Groves) swam a career-best time in the 200 IM during Thursday morning preliminary heats at the 2010 Big Ten Championships, earning a spot in the `A' final to lead Northwestern's effort.
For more information on the 2010 Big Ten Championships including complete results from this morning and live results, link to the Championships page at OhioSateBuckeyes.com.
Freshman Charlie Rimkus (Tustin, Calif./Beckman) opened his first Big Ten Championships with an NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time of 4:27.16 in the 500 free, slicing 3.54 seconds from his seed time. The effort, however, placed him 28th after the preliminary heats to leave him out of Thursday night's finals session.
John Frutiger (Alma, Mich./Alma) dropped more than five full seconds from his seed to turn in a 4:30.94 while Jan Hanulik (Cavisov, Czech Republic/Sportovni Gymnazium) cut a whopping 10.17 seconds from his seed to swim a 4:32.29. Frutiger ended up 43rd while Hanulik was 46th overall.
Tyler qualified third overall during preliminary action in Thursday's second event, the 200 IM. Tyler went three seconds faster than his seed time and knocked a full second off his personal best in the race with an NCAA `B' cut of 1:45.03 to earn a spot in the championship final.
Cal Staben (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay) and Jay Calhoun (Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) also competed in the event, with Staben (1:55.78) dropping almost seven seconds and Calhoun (2:01.42) eliminating more than 2.5 seconds from their seeds.
Brian Kerr (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) was NU's top finisher in the 50 free prelims, swimming a season-best 20.76 to come in 31st. All other Wildcats in the event also swam season-best times, averaging nearly a half-second drop from their seeds among them.
Diving action is yet to be completed at the time of this posting. Results will be included with tonight's finals session release.
