University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers' 200 Medley Relay Advances to Tonight's Championship Finals
3/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
On the second afternoon of competition at the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships at University Aquatic Center, Minnesota advanced its 200 medley relay to the championship final while David Plummer advanced to the consolation final of the 100 backstroke. The Gophers were in 15th place after the first day.
Minnesota opened the morning with a season-best time in the 200 medley relay to reach the championship final. Minnesota's team of David Plummer (22.20), Colin Lee-To (24.08), Dan Berve (20.88) and Ales Volcansek (19.20) finished in 1:26.37, almost a half-second better than their seed time established at the Big Ten Championships. Minnesota entered the event seeded 11th. The Gophers will swim in lane eight this evening in the final. Texas posted the top time of the prelims at 1:24.74, followed by Arizona and Northwestern.
Plummer highlighted
Minnesota individually, narrowly missing the final of the 100 backstroke. Plummer clocked a 47.04 to place ninth. He will swim in lane four in the consolation final this evening. The time was his best in the 100 back event, although he has clocked faster times leading off the 400 medley relay. He broke the school record in the 100 back last night leading off the 400 medley relay in 46.64. Senior Dan Berve finished 23rd overall with a time of 48.06.
Junior Tyler Schmidt clocked a lifetime-best 1:35.76 and barely missed reaching the consolation final of the 200 freestyle, finishing 17th. Schmidt finished just .07 seconds behind Florida's Roland Rudolf for the final spot in the consolations. Schmidt's time is the fourth-best in school history and lowered his previous best time of 1:36.48. Senior Igor Cerensek also timed a lifetime-best in the event, clocking a 1:36.36 to finish 25th. His time is the seventh-fastest in school history. Junior Mike Woodson placed 36th in 1:39.15 while freshman Ray Betuzzi was 37th in 1:39.73.
In the 100 breaststroke, sophomore Colin Lee-To clocked a career-best time of 54.09 to finish 19th. His time is the third-fastest in school history. Junior Jason Timmer also competed in the 100 breast, clocking a time of 54.71 to finish 33rd.
Minnesota had one swimmer take the blocks in the 100 butterfly. Sophomore Evan Bernier finished 34th with a time of 48.03.
The finals begin this evening at 7 p.m.
Players Mentioned
