University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Start Strong at Minnesota Grand Prix
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
The No. 9 Minnesota men's swimming and diving team opened the 2008 Minnesota Grand Prix/Diving Invitational today at University Aquatic Center with several very strong performances. Sophomore Curt Carlson was the Gophers' top performer, finished second in the 200 freestyle while senior Cole Young took the title in the 1-meter diving competition. The large meet sponsored by USA Swimming features over 450 athletes from college teams and clubs from around the nation.
Young had a strong performances on the 1-meter, taking first with a score of 322.95, easily an NCAA Zone qualifying mark. He edged teammate Drew Brown, who was second with a score of 321.45. Junior Tyler Jepsen tallied a career-high 274.50 to finish third.
Carlson posted a time of 1:38.65 to finish second in the 200 freestyle, leading a group of five Gophers that finished in the top 16. Carlson was behind former California All-American Bill Copeland, who timed a 1:36.81. Senior Steve Miller managed a sixth place finish in 1:39.90 while freshman Dominique Massie-Martel dropped over two seconds from his prelim time to place ninth in 1:40.56. Freshman Zach Bolin was 10th in 1:41.651 and freshman Matt Papenfuss was 14th in 1:45.00.
In the evening's first event, junior Nico Zebley placed fourth in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 9:28.67 while sophomore David Hawker was sixth in 9:33.33. Sophomore Matt Crees was 14th in 9:47.63. In the 100 breaststroke, Colin Lee-To posted a nice time of 55.09 to finish third while Ivan Gutesa was sixth in 56.00. Sophomore Rob Schnitzler took 11th in 58.30 and freshman Richard Hills was 13th in 58.80. Zach Weis rounded out the consolation final in 59.69.
Minnesota got a nice sign of things to come when Nadav Kochavi took second place in 47.27, a time that would be an NCAA B cut standard and ranks as the third-best time in school history. The former Israel national champion will be eligible to compete in January. Kevin Baseheart had another strong showing the Gophers, taking fourth in 49.17 and Anthony Portela was fifth in 49.49. Freshman Karl Burdis took 12th in 50.82 and junior Ray Betuzzi was 14th in 51.50.
In the 200 individual medley, junior Alex Wold was the Gophers' top performer, placing fourth in 1:51.16. Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte posted the win easily in 1:45.59. Mark Solfelt was seventh for the Gophers in 1:54.96 and Josh Griffey was ninth in 1:53.40 and Hills placed 11th in 1:54.42.
The Gophers ended the night with a win in the 800 freestyle relay. The team of Baseheart, Betuzzi, Miller and Carlson took home first in 6:41.82.
The Grand Prix continues tomorrow with preliminaries at 9 a.m. and the finals at 6 p.m.
Players Mentioned
