University of Minnesota Athletics
Men's Swimming Wins Triple Dual in Iowa City
1/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
The Golden Gopher men's swim team took their talent to Iowa City Saturday to take on the hosting Iowa Hawkeyes and fellow Big Ten rival, Indiana. The water was kind to the Gophers as they captured a first place finish. Minnesota defeated Indiana by a score of 172-126 and host Iowa 167-133.
Sophomore Travis Beckerle set the stage early with the top finish in the 1000 yard freestyle in a time of 9:18:55. Teammate David Moulder came in second recording a time of 9:24:09. Beckerle and Moulder also performed well in the 500 free finishing in second and third place clocking times of 4:34:52 and 4:35:08. Junior Sean McCaffrey rounded out the top five in this event with a time of 4:37:65.
The shorter freestyle swims of 100 and 200 yards belonged to 2003 Big Ten swimmer of the year, Terry Silkaitis. The Minnesota junior clocked a time of 44.44 in the 100 and 1:38:43 in the 200. Both times provisionally qualify Silkaitis for the national championship in those events.
Moreover, the backstroke continued to be a strength of sophomore Adam Mitchell who earned a first place finish time of 49.68 in the 100. Mitchell also took top honors in the 200 with a time of 1:46:34. The 200 back also favored Diego Urreta who finished third in a time of 1:49:03. In addition, both Mitchell and Urreta swam well in the 200 IM. Capturing first place, Mitchell earned a time of 1:49:03, while Urreta, who finsihed third, clocked a time of 1:52:42. Mitchell's time in both the 200 back and the 200 IM provisionally qualify him for the national championship in those events.
The Gophers also put forth a performance to be proud of in the 100 butterfly. Senior Brian Gettelfinger finished second in a time of 49.80. He was followed by Neil Osten in third (49.83) and Lucas Petersen, who finished in fifth place (49.88).
Futhermore, the Gopher divers performed well capturing three of the top five spots in the 1 M competition. Ben Herdt led all Minnesota divers finishing second with a score of 277.65. Shaun Kennedy finished fourth earning a score of 257.20 and Ben Bauman finished in fifth place at 254.85. Herdt also finished in third place in the 3 M competition as the only Gopher to score over 300 at 306.20.
Look for the Gophers in action again next weekend as they travel to Madison to take on Wisconsin and Purdue.
Players Mentioned
