Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Makes Big Ten Debut Saturday at Purdue
11/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Nov. 2, 2011
Northwestern (1-0) at Purdue (1-0)
Saturday, Nov. 5 • 1 p.m. CT
Boilermaker Aquatic Center
West Lafayette, Ind.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Fresh off a powerful season opener against Eastern Michigan two weeks ago, Northwestern is ready to get back in action at 1 p.m. CT Saturday, Nov. 5, when it travels to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on the Purdue Boilermakers in a combined dual meet with the NU women.
This year's squad, under the steady leadership of head coach Jarod Schroeder, proved their strength by dominating in nearly every event in a commanding 165-130 victory against Mid-American Conference powerhouse Eastern Michigan on Oct. 21 to open the 2011-12 season.
Several freshmen gave phenomenal performances in their first meet as Wildcats. Freshman Uula Auren (Helsinki, Finland/Mäkelänrinteen Lukio) claimed a victory in the 100 breast by 1.71 seconds with a time of 57.04. He also contributed to the strong Wildcat 200 medley relay alongside Dominik Cubelic (Glenview Ill./Glenbrook South), Jake Grosser (St. Charles Ill./St. Charles East) and Tony Valcic (Ribnica, Slovenia/ Gimnazija Ledina), easily winning by more than three seconds.
Another freshman to prove his Wildcat strength was Matthew Margritier (Leawood, Kan./Rockhurst). Margritier gave Northwestern a strong show in the 400 free relay, combining with Valcic, Cubelic and Grosser for a decisive win by more than 4.5 seconds while also recording a photo-finish second-place effort in the 100 free. The Wildcats will look to their freshmen to continue to improve on Saturday against Purdue.
Distance expert Charlie Rimkus (Tustin, Calif./Beckman) took two events against EMU, crushing his closest opponent by nearly 12 seconds in the 1,000 free and prevailing to take the 200 breast by a tight .02 of a second win.
Rimkus was not the only Wildcat to earn a pair of victories. Standout sprinter Cubelic collected wins in the 100 back and the 100 free. Joining Cubelic with a double win day was John Frutiger (Alma Mich./Alma) who claimed the victory in the 200 and 500 free.
Purdue claimed a decisive victory in its season opener by beating Miami (Ohio), 170-127, on Oct. 21. The Boilermakers annihilated the Redhawks by winning 13 out of 14 events.
Both the women's and men's squads will be competing at Purdue for the Wildcats' first combined dual meet of the season. Northwestern will compete in its home opener at 5 p.m. CT Friday, Nov. 11.
Live results for Saturday's meet at Purdue can be found at .
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