University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Places Eighth at NCAA Men's Swimming Championships
3/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Texas won its third consecutive team title with 512 points, followed by Stanford with 501 points. It was the closest 1-2 finish since a 10 1/2 point differential in1984, while the Gophers fell just 26 points shy of seventh-place Arizona.
"One of our goals this year was to improve on last year's performance, when we placed ninth," Minnesota head coach Dennis Dale said. "We were able to do that with some great relay and individual efforts. We just need some more depth if we want to get into the top five."
This season marks the third consecutive year the Gophers have placed in the nation's top 10 and 11th straight campaign among the top 15. It is the first time since 1961-63 the Gophers have had three straight top 10 finishes. Minnesota was the top Big Ten school, as Michigan placed 10th.
"No question we wanted to prove we were the top Big Ten team," Dale said. "We were able to win the conference meet for the second consecutive year and now at NCAA's. Coming in, Michigan knew where we were and we knew where they were. It just feels good to be the top conference team."
Following his third place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke Friday evening, Hackler, a junior from Alpharetta, Ga., tied Gary Marshall of Virginia for fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke in1:56.33. Texas' Brendan Hansen took the title, breaking his own NCAA, American and US Open records in 1: 52.88.
Sophomore Justin Mortimer earned his sixth-career All-America honor by placing third in the 1,650-yard freestyle, swimming a14:50.57, after finishing fourth a year ago. Southern California's Erik Vendt won the event in a pool record 14:37.48.
Chris Forrest, who was celebrating his 22nd birthday on Saturday, placed seventh in the 200-yard breaststroke consolation final for the Golden Gophers, swimming a 1:59.40.
Minnesota freshman Terry Silkaitis, who anchored the Gopher 200- and 400-yard third place medley relay teams, placed14th in the 100-yard freestyle. Silkaitis' swam a personal-best 43.57 in the preliminaries, the second fastest time in school history, which broke his own freshman school mark. California's Anthony Ervin set the NCAA, American and US Open records, claiming the title in 41.62.
The Gopher 400-yard freestyle relay team of Silkaitis, Matt Taylor, Allen Ong and Todd Smolinski swam a 2:55.37 to place second in the consolation final. Cal won the event in a pool-record time of 2:50.01.
It was Silkaitis' sixth All-America honor, as Minnesota set six school records during the Championships.
2002 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships: Saturday's Minnesota Final Results: Event Time Place 1,650-yard freestyle Mortimer 14:50.57 3 100-yard backstroke Smolinski 1:45.17 18 Bartell 1:46.06 22 Urreta 1:47.20 29 100-yard freestyle Silkaitis 43.80 14 Ong 44.39 32 Gettelfinger 44.82 40 200-yard breaststroke Hackler 1:56.33 t4 Forrest 1:59.40 15 200-yard butterfly Krastins 1:47.09 t24 Taylor 1:47.09 t24 400-yard freestyle relay 2:55.37 10 (Silkaitis, Taylor, Ong, Smolinski)
Players Mentioned
