University of Minnesota Athletics
MSD: Gophers Finish 11th At NCAA Championships
3/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Mortimer wrapped up his Gopher career with his 10th All-American honor. He finished eighth in the 1650 freestyle in 14:58.40. He earned first team All- America certificates in all three of his individual events (500 freestyle, 400 individual medley and 1650 freestyle) and the 800 freestyle relay. His illustrious career also ends with four individual school records. His teammate, Travis Beckerle, finished 16th in the event with a time of 15:09.24.
The Gophers capped the Championships with a strong performance in the 400 free relay. The team of Mario Delac, Terry Silkaitis, Neil Osten and Igor Cerensek posted a time of 2: 53.70 to tie with Kentucky for fifth place. Cerensek's sizzling split of 42.85 brought the Gophers from eighth to fifth place. It was the last collegiate swim for Silkaitis, who picked up the 23rd All-America award of his career. California broke the NCAA and US Open record with a time of 2:47.70. The Bears easily snapped the previous record of 2:48.99 set by Cal in 2003.
Adam Mitchell made it three individual All- America swims this Championships by finishing 12th in the 200 backstroke. He touched the wall in 1:43.92. The junior is now a seven- time All-American. Teammate David Plummer finished 15th in the event in 1: 44.29, shaving six-tenths of a second off his prelim time.
California's Duje Draganja brought the Aquatic Center crowd to its feet in the 100 freestyle, breaking the NCAA record and US Open record with a time of 41.49. He shattered the record of 41.62 set by California's Anthony Ervin set in 2002. In the 200 breaststroke, Alabama's Vladislav Polyakov touched the wall first in a pool record time of 1:53.93. Northwestern's Mike Alexandrov made a late charge to finish second in 1:54.04.
Michigan's Davis Tarwater won the 200 butterfly in an Aquatic Center
Players Mentioned
