University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Dominates First Day of Ohio State Invitational
12/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
The No. 7 Minnesota men's swimming and diving team began the Ohio State Invitational in dominating fashion this evening in Columbus, Ohio, winning four of the six events and racking up 383 points. Ales Volcansek and Ray Betuzzi won individual events and the Gophers finished first and second in both of the evenings relays. Ohio State stands a distant second with 237 points, followed by South Carolina (172) and Notre Dame (161).
Minnesota began the night with a 1-2 finish in the 200 freestyle relay. The Gophers A team of Volcansek, Mike Woodson, Tyler Schmidt and Igor Cerensek set a new McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion record and posted an NCAA B qualifying time of 1:19.91. Minnesota's B team of Jason Timmer, Mario Delac, Matt Engel and Colin Lee-To was second in 1:21.42. The Gophers scored 74 points in the event to take a commanding lead out of the gate.
Freshman Ray Betuzzi posted an NCAA B cut time of 4:23.38 to win the 500 freestyle, touching out South Carolina's Dan White by just .04 seconds. His winning time also broke the pool record set by the Gophers' Travis Beckerle last year. Senior Zach Wood, who posted an NCAA B cut time in the prelims, finished fourth in 4:27.03. Sophomore Mike Holmes also finaled, placing eighth in 4:35.16.
Minnesota placed four swimmers in the final of the 200 individual medley, led by sophomore Evan Bernier, who finished second in 1:50.50. Timmer was third in 1:50.76, junior David Plummer was sixth in 1:51.15 and junior Russ Payne was seventh in 1:51.69.
The Gophers posted their top event of the evening in the 50 freestyle, taking six of the eight finalist spots. Volcansek had a dominating swim, clocking a pool record and NCAA B cut time of 19.89 to pick up the win. Cerensek followed in second in 20.29 and Schmidt was fourth in 20.57. Engel placed fifth in 20.63 anad Lee-To was sixth in 20.72. Woodson rounded out the top eight in 21.10. The Gophers added three in the consolation final and ended up with 106 points in the event.
Sophomore Cole Young was the only Gopher diver entered in the very competitive 1-meter competition and placed 10th with a score of 288.45.
The Gophers rounded out the night with another dominating relay performance, taking the top two spots in the 400 medley relay. The A team of Plummer, Lee-To, Bernier and Cerensek touched in a pool record and NCAA B cut time of 3:13.79. Minnesota's B team of Dan Berve, Drew Knoechel, Engel and Delac was second in another NCAA B cut time of 3:16.46.
The Ohio State Invitational continues tomorrow with the prelims at noon and the finals at 6 p.m.
Men's Team Scores
Minnesota- 383
Ohio State- 237
South Carolina- 172
Notre Dame- 161
Denver- 66
Utah- 65
Purdue- 27
Arizona State- 20
Miami (Fla.)- 16
Cleveland State- 15
Alabama-4
Players Mentioned
