University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Star At Speedo Champions Series Sectionals
7/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Gopher junior Nico Zebley (Baltimore, Md.) led a large group of Minnesota swimmers competing last weekend at the Speedo Champions Series Sectionals at the Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer, Wis. Zebley won two events and made four top three finishes over the four-day competition.
Zebley started his slate of events with a victory in the 800-meter freestyle in a time of 8:28.85, winning the event by 1.43 seconds. The following day, he took second place in the 200-meter backstroke in a career-best 2:09.20. The same day, he came back to place third in the 400-meter free with a time of 4:06.01. He dropped over four seconds off his preliminaries time of 4:10.24. He also managed a sixth place finish in the 400-meter individual medley in 4:39.50. Zebley wrapped competition with a victory in the 1500-meter freestyle. He dominated the event, taking first in 16:17.99, over 15 seconds faster than the next closest finisher.
Zebley wasn't the only Gopher to pick up a victory during the event. Sophomore Rob Schnitzler (Wausau, Wis.) recorded a lifetime-best 1:04.15 to cruise to a victory in the 100-meter breaststroke. He was one of three Gophers in the championship final as junior Rob Schaefer placed sixth in 1:07.04 and sophomore Zach Weis took seventh in 1:07.20. Incoming freshman Andrew Knaak also took 18th in 1:09.46.
Senior Josh Griffey recorded a pair of runner-up finishes in the individual medley events. He timed a 2:09.18 in the 200 IM to place second and a 4:34.60 to take runner-up honors in the 400 IM. Also in the 200 IM, Knaak placed 16th in 2:14.79 and Weis was 25th in 2:16.18. In the 400 IM, Knaak took 14th in 4:46.09 and Schaefer was 17th in 4:41.82. Schaefer took over five seconds off his prelim time in the event. Griffey also took ninth in the 200 backstroke behind Zebley in 2:10.70.
In the 200 breaststroke, Weis led Minnesota with a fourth place finish in 2:24.38 while Griffey was sixth in 2:25.43 and Schnitzler was seventh in 2:25.67. Schaefer also placed 10th in 2:28.65. Sophomore Kevin Baseheart took third in the 100-meter butterfly in 56.81 while Griffey was 21st in 58.96. Baseheart also placed 11th in the 100 free (52.89) while incoming freshman Paul Tierney was 17th in 53.58. Junior Jacob Kittilstad was 23rd in 54.61.
Baseheart also led the Gopher contingent in the 200 butterfly, placing seventh in 2:09.74 while Tierney placed a solid 11th in 2:09.94. In the 200 free, Baseheart took 12th in 1:58.75 while Tierney was 18th in 1:57.85 and David Hawker was 19th in 1:59.19.
In the 50-meter free, Schnitzler took eighth in 24.85 and Baseheart placed 12th in 24.68. Tierney took 18th in 24.81. In the 400-meter free, Hawker also finished 10th in 4:11.76.
University Aquatic Center on the U of M campus will host two large national competitions in the next two weeks. The U.S. Open, featuring much of the nation's top talent not reaching the Olympics in Beijing, will take place July 29-August 2. The Speedo U.S. Junior Nationals will follow from August 4-8.
Players Mentioned
