Swimming and diving: Males dominate, ladies falls quick towards Duke

Back in acquainted waters, the ‘Cats returned to Norris Aquatics Center over the weekend to host the Duke Blue Devils. While the men took home the nearly 100-point, 216-118 victory, the women could not muster enough and fell 192-142.

After winning nearly every event and posting several season-best marks, the men’s dominant win over Duke was inevitable.

In the relays, Northwestern took all however one. The 200 free (1:19.19) and 200 medley (1:26.49) have been tight, with the ‘Cats edging out the Blue Devils by roughly a second in each. However, the 400 medley was a commanding performance as Northwestern’s A bunch beat out its respective B group by six seconds and Duke’s A bunch by eight. The solely relay the Blue Devils managed to take was the 400 free, ending in 2:56.97 simply forward of the Wildcats’ 2:58.14.

In the sprints, Stuart Seymour opened with a win within the 50 free at 19.59, incomes a season greatest for himself. Oli Kos captured a win and private greatest within the 100 free with a time of 43.87, then added one other victory later within the meet by taking the 200 fly in 1:45.08. David Gerchik additionally banked a pair of wins when he swept the backstroke occasions, clocking a 47.53 within the 100 and a season greatest 1:44.27 within the 200. Connor Schuster added to the streak with a victory within the 100 fly, stopping the clock at 46.83.

Josh Staples saved the momentum going by claiming one other Wildcat victory, this time within the 200 IM with a 1:45.86. He additionally earned a private better of his personal, narrowly out-touching teammate Diego Nosack (1:36.90 and season greatest) to assert one other victory within the 200 free with a time of 1:36.28. Nonetheless, Nosack would seize his personal win within the 500 free after recording a 4:22.65, besting Duke’s Anderson Kopp by practically 6 seconds.

Unfortunately, the breaststroke races are the place the ‘Cats struggled the most. The Blue Devil’s Jack Smith narrowly edged out Chris Leung (54.14 to 54.40) within the 100, whereas Raphael Wong of Duke surpassed Staples within the 200 (1:56.82 to 1:57.01). Despite a powerful effort within the distance lane, Northwestern additionally fell quick within the 1000 free, the place Alexander Rousseau completed second behind Kopp (9:15.56 and 9:12.74, respectively).

In diving, Adam Cohen took first on the 1-meter board with 335.10 factors, and Kyle Ly received the 3-meter with a rating of 381.53.

Going up towards a Duke squad ranked No. 19 within the October CSCAA ballot, the ’Cats held their very own, and whereas the end result was lower than superb, there have been nonetheless glimmers of hope wading within the water.

When it involves relays, the Blue Devils swept all 4. However, the 200 free was the tightest race of the day, with Duke edging the Wildcats by simply eight-hundredths of a second (1:29.28 to 1:29.36). The remaining relays — the 400 free, 200 medley and 400 medley — every slipped away by roughly three seconds.

Audrey Yu, regardless of falling to Duke’s Tatum Wall within the 50 free, picked up a private greatest of twenty-two.42. She additionally clocked a second private greatest within the 100 free after ending fourth with a 49.65 whereas Kat Nikonova completed second for the ‘Cats in the event, again just behind Wall, with a season best 48.64.

To round out the individual freestyle events, Sydney Smith secured NU’s first win within the 200 with a season greatest 1:46.45, whereas Zoe Nordmann dominated within the 500 and 1000 with a season greatest 4:45.51 and a private greatest 9:44.60, respectively. Smith later went on to assert one other victory and season-best time within the 200 IM after squeezing by Martina Peroni to beat the Blue Devil by a .2 second margin (2:01.13).

In the backstroke occasions, Gretchen Braun led the ‘Cats with a 54.67 in the 100, good for fourth overall, while Claire Mehok placed third in the 200 at 1:58.03. Both faced a tough field headed by Duke’s Ali Pfaff, who took wins in each races (51.53 and 1:53.59).

In one other sweep by a Blue Devil, this time Kaelyn Gridley within the 100 and 200 breast, Northwestern’s Maggie Papanicholas adopted shut behind in every, giving the ’Cats a pair of sturdy runner-up finishes and herself two season bests with occasions of 1:01.22 and a couple of:12.41.

Isabella Chow clocked a 55.00 within the 100 fly and Grey Davis adopted with a private greatest 1:59.45 within the 200, each sturdy second-place efforts behind Duke’s Heather White (53.73) and Martina Peroni (1:57.28).

Finally, in a battle on the boards, Chloe Sharp fell to Duke’s Keira Lu in each the 1M (292.05 and 202.75, respectively) and 3M (272.35 and 330, respectively).

On November 18th, Northwestern will journey to Austin, Texas, for a three-day slate within the Texas Hall of Fame Invite.