University of Minnesota Athletics
Gutesa Leads Gophers At Minnesota Challenge
2/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
The No. 10 Minnesota men's swimming and diving team won 13 of the 14 events on the final day of the Minnesota Challenge at University Aquatic Center. Senior Ivan Gutesa and Kristoffer Jorgensen led the Gophers with two individual event victories. The meet was the Gophers' final tuneup for the Big Ten Championships in three weeks in Columbus, Ohio.
Gutesa won the 100 breaststroke during the afternoon session with a time of 55.78. Freshman Evan Lee-To posted a career-best 55.88 to take runner-up honors while freshman Josh Hall was third in 56.53. Freshman Jared Anderson was fourth in 56.94. During the night session, Gutesa took first in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:00.44. Senior Rob Schaefer was second in 2:03.88 while Lee-To was third in 2:04.17. Hall was fourth in 2:04.18 and Richard Hills was fifth in 2:05.66.
Schaefer won the 400 individual medley during the afternoon with a time of 4:00.06 and Hills was second in 4:01.96. Junior Curt Carlson touched the wall first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 49.49 while junior Nadav Kochavi was second in 50.49. Junior Phil Greenberg was third in a career-low 50.69.
Freshman diver Kristoffer Jorgensen dominated the diving events, winning the 3-meter title with a score of 336.20 and the 1-meter crown with 342.55 points. Senior Tyler Jepsen was second on the 3-meter and third on the 1-meter.
Sophomore Matt Papenfuss picked up a victory in the 200 freestyle with a career-best time of 1:39.24. Alex Wold placed second in 1:39.68 and senior Jacob Kittilstad was third in 1:40.86. Overall, the Gophers took the top 10 spots in the 200 free. Sean Nesheim was fourth (1:40.87) and Kevin Baseheart was fifth (1:41.63).
The Gophers took the top five slots in the 1650 freestyle, led by freshman Michael McBroom with a time of 15:16.21. Nico Zebley was second in 15:40.20 and Matt Benecki was third in 15:54.54. In the 200 backstroke, freshman Sean Nesheim placed first with a time of 1:51.06 while Carlson was third in 1:52.40. The Gophers took the top five again in the 200 butterfly with Baseheart touching first in 1:49.94 and Kochavi taking second in 1:50.78. He was followed by Greenberg in third (1:52.95), Jack Poletto in fourth (1:54.32) and Larry Formosa in fifth (1:55.56).
Michael Richards led a dominating performance by the Gophers in the 100 free where they took the top 11 spots. Richards finished first in 45.25, followed by Zach Bolin in 45.62. Papenfuss was third in 45.66 and Wold was fourth in 46.17.
The only event the Gophers did not win was the 100 backstroke where St. Thomas senior Peter Mullee took first in 51.00 and Minnesota junior Goran Majlat was second in 52.02. Freshman Ben Griggs was third in 52.52.
The Gophers' 400 free relay team of Papenfuss, Conor Murphy, Lee-To and Nesheim took first place in 3:05.37.
Minnesota's team of Carlson, Baseheart, Wold and Betuzzi won the 800 freestyle relay easily with a time of 6:59.30
Players Mentioned
