University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Wisconsin
Gophers Split Border Battle to Start Season
10/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
We caught up with Minnesota Head Coach Kremer after his @GopherSwimDive men got a B1G win over @BadgerSwimDive https://t.co/QO83KzybmY
- Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) October 14, 2016
Minnesota opened the swimming and diving season with a Border Battle split. The men's team defeated Wisconsin 185-115, and the women's team lost 158-142 at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis. Diving and breaststroke were highlights for both teams, and the Gopher men took first in both relays.
WOMEN - L, 158-142
Breaststroke races yielded big points for the Gophers. Lindsey Horejsi finished in 1:01.54 in the 100 breast to win her first collegiate race. Kierra Smith (1:02.41) and Rae Bullinger (1:03.85) followed in second and third. Smith later won the 200 breast in 2:12.18, swimming it in a collegiate meet for the first time since capturing the 2015 NCAA title. Horejsi (2:16.39), Kaela Marcus (2:20.93) and Bullinger (2:22.05) followed in order.
Minnesota collected all the top honors on the diving boards. 2015 Big Ten Diver of the Year Yu Zhou (316.65) captured the 1-meter win. Freshman Sarah Bacon (309.45) and fellow senior Lexi Tenenbaum (303.45) were second and third.
Tenenbaum won the 3-meter competition at 352.28. Zhou (340.88), Bacon (316.95) and Mariam Khamis (297.30) followed her in order.
With a time of 9:53.84, Brooke Zeiger beat 2016 Olympian Cierra Runge for first place in the 1,000-yard freestyle, one of two wins on the evening. Erin Emery (10:04.61) also scored in the event, finishing fourth. Zeiger and Runge again faced off in the 500 free, and Zeiger finished second this time in 4:49.91 to Runge's 4:47.81.
Zeiger later won the 200 individual medley in 2:02.39. Breanne Siwicki (2:06.33) and Smith (2:07.53) were fourth and fifth.
Danielle Nack won both butterfly events. She touched in 1:59.59 in the 200. Siwicki was fourth in 2:02.60. Nack's winning 100 fly time was 54.32.
Freshman Tevyn Waddell was second in the 100 backstroke in 54.18. In the 200 back, Chantal Nack (1:59.62) and Waddell (1:59.97) finished second and third, while Katelyn Holmquist was fifth (57.28). Chantal Nack was the Gophers' top finisher in the 200 free, in fourth at 1:50.63.
Zoe Avestruz (23.49) led Minnesota in fourth place in the 50 free. Abigail Raatz (51.88) was fourth to lead the Gophers in the 100 free.
Gopher squads took second and third in the 200 medley relay. Tevyn Waddell, Horejsi, Danielle Nack and Zoe Avestruz (1:40.58) made up the "A" relay. Minnesota's relay of Danille Nack, Avestruz, Waddell and Chantal Nack (3:24.42) was third in the 400 free relay.
UP NEXT
The Gopher men will host Iowa on Friday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m., and the women's meet will follow on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 11 a.m. It will be the Gophers' "Pack the Pool" and senior recognition weekend.
MEN - W, 185-115
Minnesota started and ended the meet with relay wins. Daryl Turner, Conner McHugh, Paul Fair and Bowe Becker posted a time of 1:28.08 to win the 200-yard medley relay. In the 400 freestyle relay, Turner turned a slight deficit into a victory on the anchor leg. Becker, Fair, Noah Busch and Turner finished in 2:57.82.
In the breaststroke, Conner McHugh won both races to lead the charge for Minnesota. The Gophers swept the top four spots in the 100, led by McHugh's 54.53. Nick Hatanaka (56.02), John Bushman (56.05) and Eric Sande (56.96) finished in places 2-4. McHugh (1:57.90), Bushman (1:59.72) and Hatanaka (2:02.67) were the three fastest in the 200.
The Gophers' divers controlled the scoring on both springboards. Returning Big Ten champion Matt Barnard won 3-meter with a score of 393.68. Runner-up Alan LeBlang scored 369.00, and Jeremy Moser 305.63 in his first event.
Freshman Lucas Cooperman (358.75) won 1-meter. Barnard (348.75) and LeBlang (314.93) joined him in the top three spots.
Minnesota swimmers won both sprint freestyle events. Bowe Becker had the only sub-20 time in the 50 free at 19.92. Paul Fair and Becker claimed the top two spots in the 100 at 44.41 and 44.54, respectively. Hunter Doerr was third in the 50 (20.71) and fourth in the 100 (45.99), while James Tidd (20.97) was fourth in the 50.
Turner won the 100 backstroke by nearly three seconds, touching in 48.21 for his first of two individual wins in the meet. Freshmen Tyler Klatt and Hunter Connelly tied for fourth in 51.37.
Turner, a senior, also won the 100 butterfly, in 47.85. Freshmen Tuomas Pokkinen and Garner Kohrell took third and fourth. In the 200 fly, Nick Orf was second in 1:50.90, with Brian Poon (1:52.46) taking fourth and Pokkinen (1:54.21) fifth.
Fair (1:38.66) and Jakub Maly (1:39.63) turned in a 2-3 finish in the 200 free. Nick Saulnier (1:40.68) was fifth in his Gophers debut. Saulnier was fourth (1:52.27) in the 200 back to lead Minnesota.
Maly (1:49.62) and Poon (1:51.70) finished second and third in the 200 individual medley, with John Bushman (1:52.59) in fifth.
Nick Plachinski (9:24.01), Logan Redondo (9:27.46) and Justin Torres (9:30.20) scored in the third, fourth and fifth places in the 1,000 free. They would later finish second (4:32.89), third (4:34.71) and fourth (4:38.43) in the 500 free in the same order.
Players Mentioned
