University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Set to Host Last Meet of the Season
2/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
GOPHERS HOST LAST MEET OF THE SEASON THIS WEEKEND
The No. 10 University of Minnesota women’s swimming and diving team will compete in its final meet of the season when it hosts the Minnesota Challenge, Feb. 6-7. Friday’s action begins at 6 p.m., followed by a noon start on Saturday. Listed below are this weekend’s order of events:
Friday Night (6 p.m.)
200 Free Relay
500 Free
200 IM
50 Free
400 Medley Relay
Saturday Noon
11:50 a.m.-Men’s Senior Recognition
200 Medley Relay
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
800 Free Relay
Saturday Night (6 p.m.)
5:50 p.m.-Women’s Senior Recognition
1650 Free
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
400 Free Relay
HONORING THE SENIORS
Minnesota will honor its graduating seniors prior to Saturday’s sessions. The Gophers will recognize men’s swimmers Josh Griffey, Mike Holmes, Colin Lee-To, Steve Miller, Anthony Portela, Adam Weis and Cole Young approximately 10 minutes before the Saturday noon session. Minnesota’s women’s seniors, Stacy Busack, Erin Holtmeyer, Christine Jennings, Yuen Kobayashi, Meredith McCarthy, Danielle Ridder, Jenny Shaughnessy and Kait Strickland will be recognized before Saturday night’s session.
DID YOU KNOW?
Minnesota broke six meet records against Wisconsin, 10 meet records against Purdue and nine against Illinois last weekend. The Gophers combined for 15 individual new records, while posting 10 new relay times between the three schools.
ASHLEY STEENVOORDEN EARNS WEEKLY LAURELS
The Big Ten Conference office has announced that freshman freestyler Ashley Steenvoorden has been named the Big Ten Swimmer of the Week after her performance at the Quad Duals last weekend. It is the first honor for the rookie and the Golden Gophers' fourth honor this season.
Steenvoorden, an East Brunswick, N.J. native, picked up two first-place finishes and guided her Minnesota squad to victories over Illinois Purdue and Wisconsin this past weekend. Her time of 4:48.86 in the 500-yard freestyle provisionally qualifies her for the NCAA Championships. The freshman also took home top honors in the 1,000 freestyle. During her tapered time at the beginning of December, Steenvoorden held her best time of her career at 4:45.97 in the 500 free and a team-best 9:46.74 at the Minnesota Grand Prix. Steenvoorden and the rest of the Golden Gophers host their final home meet of the season in the Minnesota Challenge, Feb. 6-7. Friday's action begins at 6 p.m. and continues at noon on Saturday. The Gophers will also honor their seniors during the meet.
Gophers and the Big Ten Weekly Honors
Ashley Steenvoorden (Jan. 30-31 vs. Wisconsin/Purdue/Illinois)
Jillian Tyler (Dec. 5-7 @ Ohio State Invite)
Jillian Tyler (Oct. 31-Nov. 1 @ No. 16 North Carolina)
Stacy Busack (Oct. 10-11 @ Michigan/Michigan State)
ON THE DOCKET
Minnesota will train for the Big Ten Championships, February 18-21 in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Gophers won the title last year with 660.5 points. In all, the Gophers won five events at Big Tens last year (400 medley relay, 800 free relay, 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 400 IM).
Players Mentioned
