Northwestern University Athletics
Pair of Wildcats Earn 400 IM Championship Final Berths
2/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 25, 2011
2011 Big Ten Championships Website
MINNEAPOLIS -- Northwestern placed a pair of swimmers in the 400 IM championship final following preliminary action Friday morning at the 2011 Big Ten Championships while also notching two other consolation final slots during the session.
Northwestern got off to a fantastic start Friday morning when both Charlie Rimkus (Tustin, Calif./Beckman) and Alex Tyler (Birmingham, Mich./Birmingham Groves) swam identical NCAA `B' and career-best times of 3:47.51 in the 400 IM to tie for third place and qualify for the championship final of the event.
Senior Peter Park (Princeton, N.J./Peddie School) made his way into the bonus final with a swim of 3:57.99, qualifying 23rd overall to put all of the Wildcats entered in the event into an evening heat.
In the 100 fly, senior Sean Mathews (St. Louis, Mo./Lafayette) recorded a `B' provisional qualifying time of 48.15 to place 14th overall after the morning and earn a point-scoring spot in the consolation final. After not swimming the race all season for the Wildcats, junior Jake Grosser (St. Charles, Ill./Saint Charles East) was the first alternate for the bonus final with a career-best and 25th-place time of 49.08.
One day after cutting 10 seconds off his previous career-best in the 500 free, sophomore Jan Hanulik (Cavisov, Czech Republic/Sportovnia Gymnazium) dropped more than three from his seed in the 200 free to be the first alternate for the bonus final after a `B' time of 1:38.11. Right behind him in 26th position as the second alternate was Tony Mattar (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion), who shattered his previous career-best in the event to swim a `B' cut of 1:38.16.
Junior John Frutiger (Alma, Mich./Alma) also shaved some time off his career-best in the 200 free with a 29th place and NCAA `B' preliminary heat time of 1:38.26.
Northwestern entered a trio of freshmen in the 100 breast, and while none of them earned a second swim in an evening final, all three swam collegiate-best times. Mac Anthony (Richmond, Va./Collegiate School) was 30th with a 58.00, Brien Gerber (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) took 32nd in 58.65 and Tim Smith (Oakland, Calif./De La Salle) claimed 34th with a 59.89.
Freshman Dominik Cubelic (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) earned a point-scoring consolation final berth in the 100 back Friday morning with an NCAA `B' time of 48.21, good for 11th overall. Sophomore Varun Shivakumar (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Fremd) earned the 24th and final spot in the bonus heat with a career-best 49.26.
Three-meter diving preliminary competition will be held in the early afternoon Friday; results will be included in tonight's finals recap.
The 2011 Big Ten Championships continue at 6:30 p.m. CT tonight with the Friday finals session. Live results and more Championships information are available at the 2011 Big Ten Championships website.
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