'Cats Shine on Day One of TYR Invite

Photo by: S. J. Carrera, Inc.

11/22/2019 7:24:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

EVANSTON, IL -- Northwestern wrapped up the first day of the annual TYR Invitational with two dominant first-place leads Friday night at the Norris Aquatics Center. The women's squad led the invite with 383 points, while the men's team finished in first with 357 points.

The 'Cats had a record setting day to kick off the weekend. The women's 200 free relay team of juniors Calypso Sheridan and Maddie Smith and seniors Malorie Han and Nicole Aarts became the fastest in Northwestern history with their school- and pool-record setting time of 1:29.73. The 400 medley relay team of Sheridan, Smith, first-year Hannah Brunzell and sophomore Miriam Guevara added another pool record on to the day with a time of 3:33.80.

Sheridan tallied another record onto her total, setting a pool record in the morning's preliminary 50 free race and breaking her own record in the 50 free final with a time of 22.23.

The Wildcats started the invite off strong with 30 swimmers qualifying for championship final events, with four 'Cats in the top spots. Sheridan's first place finish in the 200 IM preliminaries set Northwestern's first NCAA 'B' cut time of the weekend, followed by her 'B' cut and record-setting time in the 50 free.

Northwestern added four more wins on the day. Brunzell and first-year Ally Larson took the top two spots in the 200 IM, with times sitting in Northwestern's all-time top ten. In the men's 200 IM, Henry Blaul finished first with a time of 1:47.39.

Sheridan, Smith, and Aarts completed a 1-2-3 sweep in the 50 free finals. Sheridan's pool record-setting 'B' cut time was followed by Smith's 'B' cut time of 22.66. Aarts took third with a personal best time of 23.04.

For the last win of the day, the men's 400 medley relay team rounded out the night with a first place finish in 3:13.54.

On the diving boards, Northwestern completed two 1-2-3 sweeps of the podium. In the women's 3M event, first-year Markie Hopkins took the top spot with a score of 289.40, with first-years Jaye Patrick and Leah Parsons following close behind. For the men, sophomore Yohan Eskrick-Parkins finished first in the 1M, followed by first-year Henry Schirmer and sophomore Evan Labuda.

The 'Cats return to the pool for day two of the TYR Invitational tomorrow at 9 a.m. for preliminary races and 5 p.m. for final events.
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