University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota In Second After First Day At Big Ten Championships
2/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
The University of Minnesota men's swimming and diving team stands in second place after the first day of competition at the Big Ten Championships at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. Freshman Ray Betuzzi led the Gophers individually with a third place finish in the 500 freestyle while four other Gophers finished in the top eight. Ohio State leads the meet with 186 points while Minnesota has 173. Michigan follows in third with 172 and Northwestern is third with 168. Defending champion Indiana is fifth with 131 points.
The Gophers opened the night with a second place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. Minnesota's team of Ales Volcansek, Tyler Schmidt, Mike Woodson and Igor Cerensek finished in 1:18.49, just .02 seconds off an automatic NCAA qualifying time. Northwestern won in a Big Ten record time of 1:17.21. Ohio State was third in 1:18.86. Cerensek closed the relay in a blistering 19.24, the fastest anchor leg of the event, to hold off the Buckeyes for second place.
Betuzzi swam a sizzling 4:19.08 to place third in the 500 freestyle. His time is the second-fastest in school history and just missed another NCAA A cut time. Zach Wood wasn't far behind, taking fifth place in 4:22.20. Wood posted a personal-best 4:20.10 in the prelims. His fifth place individual finish is a career-best at the Big Ten Championships for the senior co-captain. Michigan posted a 1-2 finish in the event, led by Matt Patton (4:17.16) and Alex Vanderkaay in second (4:17.28). Mike Holmes had another strong swim in the consolation final, cutting another .21 off his career best prelim time to finish 11th. He touched the wall in 4:24.30 to pick up valuable team points.
The Gophers had a trio of athletes in the 200 individual medley consolation final. Evan Bernier clocked a career-best time of 1:48.37 to place 12th. David Plummer took 15th place in 1:49.85 and Russ Payne finished 16th in 1:51.23. Northwestern's Mike Alexandrov won the event in 1:45.11.
In the 50 freestyle, Volcansek clocked the third-fastest time in school history to place fourth in 19.80. He finished just ahead of teammate Cerensek who took fifth in 19.91. Both times were under the NCAA B cut standard. Northwestern's Matt Grevers repeated as the conference champion in 19.53. Schmidt lowered his career-best time to win the consolation final in an impressive time of 20.05. Woodson also dropped his career-best time in the consolation final, finishing 12th in 20.32.
In one-meter diving, senior Shaun Kennedy finaled for the first time in a springboard event and placed eighth with a finals score of 283.45. In the prelims, Cole Young secured ninth place giving Minnesota 20 points in the event. Ohio State''s Berkley Showe won the event with a tally of 379.80.
Minnesota closed the evening session with a third place finish in the 400 medley relay. The Gophers' team of Plummer, Colin Lee-To, Dan Berve and Cerensek clocked an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 3:10.69. Cerensek had another dominating swim, closing the relay in 42.56, the fastest anchor leg of the event. Northwestern swept the evening's relays, winning in a Big Ten record time of 3:06.99.
The meet continues tomorrow with the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, 3-meter diving and the 800 freestyle relay. The Championships, which continue through Sunday, were postponed one day due to severe weather and travel problems.
Team Standings (official through day one)
1. Ohio State 186; 2. Minnesota 173; 3. Michigan 172; 4. Northwestern 168; 5. Indiana 131; 6. Purdue 103.50; 7. Penn State 82; 8. Wisconsin 74.50; 9. Michigan State 34; 10. Iowa 32.
Minnesota Day 1 results
200 FREESTYLE RELAY
2. Minnesota • 1:18.49 B
(Volcansek, Schmidt, Woodson, Cerensek)
500 FREESTYLE
3. Ray Betuzzi • 4:19.08 B
5. Zach Wood • 4:22.20 B
11. Mike Holmes • 4:24.30 B
Prelims
24. Nico Zebley • 4:28.71
25. Adam Weis • 4:28.75
29. Drew Knoechel • 4:29.66
45. Fabian Toth • 4:34.55
200 IM
12. Evan Bernier • 1:48.37 B
15. David Plummer • 1:49.85
16. Russ Payne • 1:51.23
Prelims
18. Alex Wold • 1:49.34
22. Jason Timmer • 1:50.76
30. Anthony Portela • 1:51.77
35. Mark Solfelt • 1:52.03
50 FREESTYLE
4. Ales Volcansek • 19.80 B
5. Igor Cerensek • 19.91 B
9. Tyler Schmidt • 20.05 B
12. Mike Woodson • 20.32
Prelims
18. Mario Delac • 20.43
20. Colin Lee-To • 20.46
23. Matt Engel • 20.48
1-METER DIVING
8. Shaun Kennedy • 283.45
Prelims
9. Cole Young • 287.80
400 MEDLEY RELAY
3. Minnesota • 3:10.69 A
(Plummer, Lee-To, Berve, Cerensek)
Players Mentioned
