'Cats Rewrite NU Record book en route to sweeping TYR Invite

Sunday, November 18

Evanston, Ill.

9 a.m. / 3 p.m.

Northwestern

1462.5

TYR Invitational - Day Three

'Cats Rewrite NU Record book en route to sweeping TYR Invite

11/18/2018 6:14:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

TYR Invite Results - Day 3 | TYR Invite Full Results

EVANSTON, Ill. - Records continued to fall on the third and final day of the TYR Invitational at the Norris Aquatics Center on Sunday. The Northwestern men's and women's teams won the meet with 1225.5 points and 1462.5 points, respectively.

Building off their momentum from the first two days, the 'Cats started strong on Sunday with eight season best in the prelims alone. Over the course of the three-day meet, the 'Cats secured nine NCAA "B" cut times and had 14 event wins during the final day of competition.

In the prelims, the 'Cats had seven swimmers who dropped at least two seconds off of their seasons best including Lara (200 Back), Freeman (200 Back), Thorne (200 Back), Vovk (200 Breast), Hruby (200 Breast), Hofstadter (200 Breast), Blaul (200 Breast) and Sharma (200 Fly). Blaul specifically dropped five seconds off his previous best time in the 200 breast that was set at the UIC/Chicago meet.

Sophomore Calypso Sheridan highlighted the day with a pool record and school record set in the 200 yard backstroke. She finished the race in 1:54.11, besting her prelim time by five seconds and earning an NCAA "B" cut time. Northwestern also swept 2-3-4 in the race as junior Krystal Lara (1:56.16), classmate Nicole Aarts (1:58.36) and first-year Emma Theobald finished in 1:59.26. Together, the four earned 68 points for the 'Cats in the race. Lara also secured an NCAA "B" cut time in the backstroke with her strong performance.

Calypso also had a strong performance in the 100-yard individual medley, as she posted a time of 55.89 to earn a first place finish. She was followed closely behind by Theobald who finished the race in 57.11 for second place.

The Northwestern women's 400 freestyle relay team of Krystal, junior Malorie Han, first-year Jasmine Hellmer and Aarts won the event with a time of 3:19.72, setting a new pool record.

The women also swept 1-2-3 in the 200-yard breaststroke. First-year Tara Vovk won the race at 2:10.67, securing an NCAA "B" cut time and setting a new Norris pool record. Sophomores Sophie Angus and Becky Kamau posted times of 2:14.52 and 2:14.96, respectively, racking up another 53 points for the Wildcats. Vovk topped her previous personal best by seven seconds and Angus topped her previous best time of 2:16.83.

The Wildcats started the final session of the meet on a strong note with a first place finish in the 1650 yard freestyle by sophomore Rachel Tseng, who finished in 16:35.55. Tseng bested her previous personal record of 17:12.63. Junior Irune Andres was close behind in second place at 16:46.41. Melissa Melnick kept the winning going for Northwestern with a first place finish in the the championship of the women's 50 yard butterfly, with a time of 25.20.

The women earned another top finish in the 100 yard freestyle as Han won the race in 49.53 and Hellmer took second at 50.98. Han and Hellmer both swam to personal bests in the race and Han also secured an NCAA "B" cut time.

First-year Ryan Gridley earned the first first-place finish for the men on the day with a top finish in the 200-yard backstroke at 1:43.62 and securing an NCAA "B" cut time. Seniors Jack Thorne (1:46.74) and Tyler Lis (1:47.52) took second and third to give the Wildcats the sweep in the race. Lis also earned a second place finish in the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 51.01.

Sophomore DJ Hwang won the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 15:22.98, earning an NCAA "B" cut time in the race and a new personal best. Sophomore Jeffrey Durmer was close behind, finishing the race in second place with a seasons best 15:34.65.

The 'Cats swept first, second and third place in the 200-yard breaststroke with strong performances by first-year Henry Blaul (2:01.19), senior Will Hofstadter (2:03.05) and sophomore Lyon Zhang (2:04.85). Blaul swam a personal best by nine seconds. Hofstadter topped his previous best time of 2:06.74 and Zhang also beat his prior season best of 2:10.29.

The men took second and fifth in the 50 yard butterfly with the efforts Arjun Sharma and Ryan Tate, who finished in 22.16 and 22.36, respectively. The men had another second and fifth place finish in the 100 yard freestyle as first-year Andrew Zhang posted a time of 44.77 and sophomore Liam Gately posted 45.23 in the race. Zhang's bested his previous season best of 45.37 and Gately topped his previous best of 45.67.

The men closed out the meet with a first-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The relay team was comprised of Hofstadter, Gridley, Zhang and Gately. Together, they posted a time of 2:57.94.

On the platforms, the 'Cats remained dominant with Senior Olivia Rosendahl winning for the women and first year Yohan Eskrick-Parkinson winning for the men. Northwestern swept both events with senior Eryn Scannell taking second for the women and Evan Labuda and Ben Magliato going 2-3 on the men's side.

The 'Cats will be back in the pool on Jan. 19 when they head to Iowa City, Iowa for the Iowa/Wisconsin Tri-Dual.

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