University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, November 5
Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center
4:00 PM
University of Minnesota
135
vs
163
Wisconsin
Players Mentioned
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Breaststroke/Sprint Freestyle
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Freestyle/Backstroke/Butterfly
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Sprint Freestyle
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Breaststroke/Butterfly
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Breaststroke/Freestyle
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Freestyle/Butterfly/IM
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Backstroke
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Backstroke
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
IM/Butterfly/Breaststroke
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Gophers Drop Border Battle to Wisconsin
11/5/2021 7:15:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota men's and women's swimming and diving teams suffered their first losses of the season Friday afternoon in a dual meet against Wisconsin. The men dropped a 163-135 decision to the 18th-ranked Badgers, while the women fell 172.5-127.5 to the No. 19 team in the country.
Despite what the scoreboard said, Gophers head coach Kelly Kremer was encouraged with his team's performance.
"It was good; this was our best performance of the year," he said. "Wisconsin is a really good group on both sides, and they did a good job. It was fun to elevate the competition a little bit. But I'm really proud of our teams. It's early, but we're headed in the right direction. We'll learn from this and keep moving forward."
The men's team was led by senior Max McHugh, who posted two individual victories and was the second leg of the 200 medley relay that touched first.
McHugh won the 100 breast with a time of 52.73, which is an NCAA 'B' cut and the fourth fastest time in the nation this year based on results heading into Friday. He produced similar results in the 200 breast, as he notched another 'B' cut with a time of 1:56.14, the fifth fastest posting in the country this season.
Junior Desmon Sachtjen and sophomores Kaiser Neverman and Lucas Farrar joined McHugh in winning the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:27.27.
Farrar also claimed an individual win by taking first in the 50 free. His time of 20.07 was the fastest on the Gophers' roster this year.
Minnesota's other individual swimming came courtesy of junior Gavin Olson in the 200 back. His mark of 1:46.46 was the fastest by a Gopher this year by nearly three seconds.
In the diving well, Jake Butler took honors on the 3-meter with a winning score of 388.20.
The women's evening was highlighted by four individual winners amongst the swimmers and the return of defending NCAA champion diver Sarah Bacon.
Junior Emma Lezer notched the first victory of the evening for Minnesota thanks to a posting of 1:02.30. Fellow junior Grace Bennin finished second in the event, .52 behind Lezer.
Hannah Cornish, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, took home first-place honors in the 100 free with a mark of 49.96 that is also a personal best.
After coming in second earlier in the day in the 100 breast, Bennin took first place for herself in the 200 breast at 2:14.99, the best time for a Gopher this season.
Sophomore Megan Van Berkom used a strong finish in the freestyle portion to win the 200 IM. Her final split of 28.00 made up the ground she needed to out-touch her opponent by .11 at 2:01.37.
Competing for the first time this season, Bacon swept both the 1- and 3-meter boards, while the Gophers had the top four finishers on each. Bacon started on the 3-meter with a score of 371.78 and then tallied a 334.35 on the 1-meter. Both scores are the highest on the team so far this year.
Friday's dual meet was the final competition for the Gophers for nearly the next month, as they'll return to the pool Dec. 1-4 at the prestigious Minnesota Invitational.
"We're really going to work the next couple of weeks," Kremer said. "We're going to focus on the details: the starts, the turns, the underwaters, making sure our kick counts are where we want them. We're going to work very hard the next few weeks, and then we'll rest for a week before the Invite. I think we'll put up some really good performances there."
Despite what the scoreboard said, Gophers head coach Kelly Kremer was encouraged with his team's performance.
"It was good; this was our best performance of the year," he said. "Wisconsin is a really good group on both sides, and they did a good job. It was fun to elevate the competition a little bit. But I'm really proud of our teams. It's early, but we're headed in the right direction. We'll learn from this and keep moving forward."
The men's team was led by senior Max McHugh, who posted two individual victories and was the second leg of the 200 medley relay that touched first.
McHugh won the 100 breast with a time of 52.73, which is an NCAA 'B' cut and the fourth fastest time in the nation this year based on results heading into Friday. He produced similar results in the 200 breast, as he notched another 'B' cut with a time of 1:56.14, the fifth fastest posting in the country this season.
Junior Desmon Sachtjen and sophomores Kaiser Neverman and Lucas Farrar joined McHugh in winning the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:27.27.
Farrar also claimed an individual win by taking first in the 50 free. His time of 20.07 was the fastest on the Gophers' roster this year.
Minnesota's other individual swimming came courtesy of junior Gavin Olson in the 200 back. His mark of 1:46.46 was the fastest by a Gopher this year by nearly three seconds.
In the diving well, Jake Butler took honors on the 3-meter with a winning score of 388.20.
The women's evening was highlighted by four individual winners amongst the swimmers and the return of defending NCAA champion diver Sarah Bacon.
Junior Emma Lezer notched the first victory of the evening for Minnesota thanks to a posting of 1:02.30. Fellow junior Grace Bennin finished second in the event, .52 behind Lezer.
Hannah Cornish, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, took home first-place honors in the 100 free with a mark of 49.96 that is also a personal best.
After coming in second earlier in the day in the 100 breast, Bennin took first place for herself in the 200 breast at 2:14.99, the best time for a Gopher this season.
Sophomore Megan Van Berkom used a strong finish in the freestyle portion to win the 200 IM. Her final split of 28.00 made up the ground she needed to out-touch her opponent by .11 at 2:01.37.
Competing for the first time this season, Bacon swept both the 1- and 3-meter boards, while the Gophers had the top four finishers on each. Bacon started on the 3-meter with a score of 371.78 and then tallied a 334.35 on the 1-meter. Both scores are the highest on the team so far this year.
Friday's dual meet was the final competition for the Gophers for nearly the next month, as they'll return to the pool Dec. 1-4 at the prestigious Minnesota Invitational.
"We're really going to work the next couple of weeks," Kremer said. "We're going to focus on the details: the starts, the turns, the underwaters, making sure our kick counts are where we want them. We're going to work very hard the next few weeks, and then we'll rest for a week before the Invite. I think we'll put up some really good performances there."
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