University of Minnesota Athletics
Competition Wraps at Minnesota Grand Prix
11/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Nov. 14, 2011
The University of Minnesota men's and women's swimming teams concluded the final day of the Minnesota Grand Prix Sunday evening at the University Aquatic Center with the Gophers' representing well in Championship Finals.
"It was a great meet for us. We came into the meet wanting to use this as an opportunity to race long and measure ourselves against all the elite athletes who came to this meet to compete with us," Minnesota head men's and women's swimming and diving coach Kelly Kremersaid. "Both the women's team and the men's team are in a really good spot."
The women's 400 medley relay A team of Tess Behrens, Haley Spencer, Tori Simenec and Erin Caflischwas able to capture first-place honors with a time of 4:10.51 to cap off an impressive weekend for the Gophers' relay teams.
Ashley Steenvoorden took fourth place in the 800 freestyle with a time of 8:36.95, while Haley Spencerplaced sixth in the 200 individual medley Championship Final in a time of 2:17.62.
Olympic Gold medalist Michael Phelps won his fifth race of the Minnesota Grand Prix by a body length, clocking in at 1:57.58 in the 200 individual medley.
"I am happy," Phelps said. "I do know there is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but I want to continue feeling this way for the next eight months".
Minnesota's Kyler Van Swolswam in the B Final of the event and placed seventh with a time of 2:09.91.
Tess Behrens placed fifth in the 200 backstroke A Final with a time of 2:14.53, while freshman Katie Anton finished seventh in 2:17.43. On the men's side, freshman Carl Newenhousetallied a fifth-place finish for the Gophers in the Championship Finals of the men's 200 backstroke after touching in 2:04.66.
Caflisch swam in the Championship Final of the 100 freestyle, placing fifth with a time of 56.84, before Zach Bolin, Jared Anderson, Van Swol, and Derek Toomeywrapped-up the event with a strong finish in the 400 medley relay, placing first with a time of 3:47.10.
"We're going to go back to work and put in a consistent, long block of training until mid-January when we compete against the University of Missouri," Kremer said. "We will also prepare for the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA Championships, and continue to keep our eyes set on the Olympic trials in June."
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Players Mentioned
