University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Moves to Sixth at NCAA Men's Swimming Championships
3/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Minnesota's 200-yard medley relay team of juniors Todd Smolinski and Jeff Hackler, along with freshmen Bjorn Lundin and Terry Silkaitis became the second Gopher relay to place third at the Championships, clocking a school-record 1:25.87. Smolinski swam the race's fastest backstroke leg, leading-off with a 21.35. The Gophers were first heading into the anchor leg, but could not hold off Stanford, who set the pool record in 1:25.47, and Texas, who edged the Gophers by a mere .07 seconds. California's Anthony Ervin swam the fastest 50-yard freestyle split of all-time (18.52), but Silkaitis was able to hold him off handing the Golden Bears fourth.
"I knew Terry's best 25 (yards) was his second 25, so I just praying we were going to win, but third is nothing to be embarrassed about," Hackler said. "It was great to hear everybody screaming and very exciting to be in a race like that."
All four members of the Gopher relay will return next season. Minnesota's 400-yard medley relay also placed third, Thursday night.
Hackler earned his 10th career All-America honor and third of the Championships, breaking his own school record, swimming a 53.24 in the 100-yard breaststroke to place third. Hackler, who won the 2002 Big Ten crown, followed Texas' Brendan Hansen who won in 52.47.
Smolinski became a nine-time All-American after placing fifth in the100-yard backstroke in 46.86. Smolinski, a two-time conference champion in the event, broke his own school record, swimming a 46.85, leading off Minnesota's 400-yard medley relay. Stanford's Peter Marshall, the pool record holder, won the event in 45.91.
The Gophers earned a pair of All-America honors in the 200-yard freestyle. Silkaitis, who anchored the Gopher 400-yard and 200-yard medley teams, placed seventh, after swimming a 1:35.91 in preliminaries. All-American Matt Taylor placed fourth in the consolation final, clocking a 1:36.63 to place 12th. Florida's Adam Sioui won in a pool record time of 1:34.67.
Silkaitis and Taylor joined junior Justin Mortimer and senior Brandon Crook to place ninth in the 800-yard freestyle in 6:28.81. It was Silkaitis' fourth All-America honor of the Championships and third of the day. Southern California won the event in a NCAA record 6:17.35.
Minnesota sophomore Ryan Plummer finished fourth during the consolation final of the 400-yard individual medley swimming a personal-best 3:48.00, placing 12th to earn honorable mention All-America. Erik Vendt of USC set the pool record in 3:40.65 taking the title.
The conclusion of the Championships will begin Saturday morning with the preliminaries of the 200-yard backstroke.
2002 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships: Friday's Minnesota Final Results: Event Time Place 200-yard medley relay 1:25.87* 3 (Smolinski, Hackler, Lundin, Silkaitis) 400-yard individual medley Plummer 3:48.00 12 Mortimer 3:50.38 19 Urreta 3:55.67 30 100-yard butterfly Krastins 48.02 28 Lundin 48.78 38 Ong 49.11 40 200-yard freestyle Silkaitis 1:36.77 7 Taylor 1:36.63 12 Crook 1:38.51 30 100-yard breaststroke Hackler 53.24* 3 Forrest 55.24 23 100-yard backstroke Smolinski 47.11 5 Bartell 48.37 26 800-yard freestyle relay 6:28.81 9 (Mortimer, Silkaitis, Taylor, Crook,) * Minnesota School Record
Players Mentioned
