No. 19 Wisconsin Tops Northwestern, 166.5-125.5

Thursday, November 13

Madison, WI

5:00 PM

Northwestern

Wisconsin

No. 19 Wisconsin Tops Northwestern, 166.5-125.5

11/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

RESULTS

MADISON, Wis. -- No. 19 Wisconsin lived up to its billing Thursday in a Big Ten dual meet at its home Natatorium, defeating Northwestern, 166.5-125.5.

The Wildcats fall to 4-3 on the season, 1-1 in the Big Ten with their loss while the 19th-ranked Badgers improve to 2-4 on the year, 1-1 in the conference. NU was just the second squad Wisconsin has faced this year that is not ranked in the current top-13 in the nation.

Wisconsin began the meet with a 1-2 sweep of the 200 medley relay with Northwestern's team of Lacey Locke (Carmel, Ind./Carmel), Julianne Kurke (Atlanta, Ga./Parkview), Aja Malone (Acworth, Ga./Allatoona) and Julia Pratt (Vincennes, Ind./Vincennes Rivet) taking third in 1:45.63.

In the 1,000 free, Lauren Abruzzo (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) and freshman Sydney Modeas (East Amherst, N.Y./Clarence) went 2-3 for the Wildcats. Abruzzo swam a 10:05.24 while Modeas cut more than two seconds from her previous season-best in the event to finish right on her NCAA qualifier teammate's heels at 10:06.09.

A pair of Wisconsin freestyle All-Americans swam sub 1:50 200 free races to go 1-2, but sophomore Annika Winsnes (Singapore/United World College) did not make it easy for the duo, cutting more than 1.5 seconds from her season-best to record a career-best 1:50.55 for third place, seven-tenths of a second away from the runner-up spot.

Locke raced her way to a win in the 100 back to give the Wildcats their first event victory in the meet. She touched in 55.74 after opening a half-second lead at the 50-yard mark and cruising in from there. A trio of Badgers finished behind her.

Wisconsin swept the top two spots in the 100 breast in front of Kurke for NU, then Ellen Stello (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood) continued her stellar early season with a 2:01.77 in the 200 fly to win by more than a full second. Emily Launer (DeKalb, Ill./Rosary) lowered her season-best in the event by nearly two seconds to earn third-place points.

Freshman Mary Warren (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) out-touched a Wisconsin opponent by two one-hundredths of a second at the wall to win the 50 free for Northwestern in a strong 23.40 time.

During the first diving event of the meet, freshmen Monique Demaisip (Norwalk, Calif./Gahr) and Mashal Hashem (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) placed second and third, respectively on the 1-meter springboard.

Coming out of the break, Winsnes again pushed the All-American Martin, this time finishing as runner-up in the 100 free with a 50.92 to lead the Wildcats.

Locke made it 2-for-2 for herself in the backstroke events with her first sub-2:00 swim in the 200 this season, picking up a victory in the race with a 1:59.52. Kurke then mounted a furious charge at the end of the 200 breast, nearly erasing a .64 of a second deficit in the final 50 yards. She would end up as the runner-up in the race by nine one-hundredths with a season-best 2:19.89.

Abruzzo staged a similar comeback in the 500 free but also fell just short at the wall, touching in a time of 4:54.97 after gaining .84 of a second on the Wisconsin winner in the final 100. Modeas (4:59.68) and Purdy (5:00.60) followed in third and fourth for NU.

Malone, Locke and Maddy Sims (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove) finished 2-3-4 for NU in the 100 fly before Demaisip and Hashem again took second and third in the diving competition. Stello then led a caravan of Wildcats in second through fifth in the 400 IM to close out the individual races.

In the final 200 free relay, Warren, Pratt, Anna Keane (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale) and Winsnes swam to a second-place time of 1:34.79.

Northwestern returns to action at its home TYR Invitational Friday through Sunday, Nov. 21-23 at the Norris Aquatics Center.