Michigan State University
Illinois (women only) with S. Illinois
Swimming and Diving Completes Action Against Illinois and S. Illinois
11/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
Nov. 5, 2010
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Michigan State swimming and diving team traveled to Champaign, Ill., on Friday Nov. 5 for its first road meet of the season. Overall, the men placed first with a score of 181.5-115.50 over Southern Illinois, while the women placed second out of three against Illinois in first and the Salukis in third. The women topped SIU, 204-80.5, however fell to UI, 170-129. Illinois posted a win over MSU, while also defeating the Salukis, 218.5-95. Jacob Jarzen had a stellar night for the Spartans as he set three pool records in four event wins.
"I feel the team has really improved," said MSU head coach Matt Gianiodis. "We received good efforts tonight out of both the men and the women. The last couple of weeks have really shown a drastic improvement, and we look to build upon the things that we did well tonight as we continue into the season."
The first heat of the night, the women's 200 yard medley relay opened the meet with an exciting finish. After falling behind after the first two legs of the race, the Spartans' relay team of Alex Pierce, Kerry Sodonis, Becca Ebner and Jenny Rusch rallied back with the fastest third and fourth laps. Although MSU's effort was resilient, it was not enough as Illinois earned the win with a time of 1:46.02, two tenths faster than the Spartans in second (1:46.22).
Since the Fighting Illini does not field a men's squad, the Spartans competed against Southern Illinois in a head-to-head dual meet in neutral water. MSU's Jacob Jarzen, Kevin Puskaric, Jacob Geschwendt and Mark Schramm kicked off the men's portion of the meet with a solid win in the 200 yard relay. The Spartans clocked in at 1:32.66 to defeat the second place team from SIU who finished in 1:34.25.
The men's 1000 yard freestyle say Brad Gillilan turn in a top time of 9:35.42. Giving MSU the one-two-three sweep in the event was Colby Ward in second (9:35.69) and Ricky Forest in third (9:36.94).
Bryan Williams placed first in the 200 yard freestyle to hand MSU a one-two finish as Mark Schramm joined Williams in second. Williams turned in a time of 1:42.34, while Schramm clocked in at 1:43.43.
The men saw Jarzen earn another win when he finished the 100 yard backstroke in 49.62, beating the next fastest swimmer by 2.25 seconds.
Sodonis was narrowly edged in the 100 breaststroke by eight hundredths of a second. Sodonis clocked in at 1:06.27, however Corey Kasten of Illinois finished with a time of 1:06.19. Puskaric and Jason Lintjer gave MSU another one-two finish in the 100 breast. Puskaric swam away from the competition in 57.13, while Lintjer finished in 59.04.
Ebner gave the women their first win of the night when she finished the 200 yard butterfly in 2:04.22. Ebner's time topped the next closest swimmer by 0.55 (2:04.77).
In arguably one of the closest heats of the night, the women's 50 yard freestyle, Rusch was narrowly edged by Erin Lamb of Illinois by one hundredths of a second. Rusch clocked in at 24.31, while Lamb finished with a time of 24.30.
The men swept the 50 yard freestyle as Bryan Williams, Geschwendt and Brandon Williams finished one, two and three, respectively. Bryan Williams paced the team with a time of 21.56, while Geschwendt was second at 21.63 and Brandon Williams in third at 21.68.
Sarah Clay kicked off the diving portion of the meet with a win on the one-meter board. Clay finished her six dives with a score of 283.80, besting the next closest diver by 8.8 points.
Ivan Zalessov opened the men's dives with a school- and pool-record dive of 371.45 on the one-meter board. Zalessov topped the next closest diver by 80.75 points.
In the 100 yard freestyle, Nick McGowan finished the race in second with a time of 47.41. El Badrawi of Southern Illinois won the event in 47.23.
Maeve McHugh earned a win in the 200 yard backstroke when she clocked in at 2:05.86.
Jarzen gave MSU the men's and women's sweep in the 200 back when he finished with a time of 1:48.35, finishing 4.61 seconds ahead of the field.
The 200 yard breaststroke saw Sodonis once again place second as she turned in a time of 2:23.97, just behind Erica Lynn of Illinois in first (2:22.70).
The men's 200 yard breaststroke see Puskaric take home top honors with a time of 2:03.48. Nick Roberts was second (2:08.25), while Lintjer was third (2:12.04) for the Spartans.
Katie Burkland turned in MSU's fastest time in the 500 yard freestyle when she clocked in at 5:03.89, finishing second overall in the event. Kristen Groome of Southern Illinois was first with a time of 5:00.64.
Ebner earned another win on the night when she finished the 100 yard freestyle with the fastest time. Ebner finished in 56.49, topping Brittany McGowan of Illinois in second (57.07).
Jordan Jackson opened the second portion of the diving events when she claimed top honors on the three-meter board. Jackson posted a score of 312.60, 8.95 points ahead of Lauren Wismer of Illinois in second.
Zalessov completed the men's dives sweep when he posted a school- and pool-record dive of 411.70 on the three meter. Zalessov once again topped the next closest diver by a significant margin, 83.2 points.
Finished second in the women's 200 yard IM was Pierce with a time of 2:09.87. April McKee of Illinois won the event in 2:07.89.
Roberts turned in the second-fastest time of the night in the men's 200 yard IM when he clocked in at 1:56.40, trailing only Cesar Perez of SIU who clocked in at 1:55.36.
Winning the final event of the night was the 400 yard freestyle relay team of Jarzen, McGowan, Schramm and Bryan Williams. Together, MSU turned in a time of 3:06.50, 3.3 seconds ahead of the next closest relay team.
The Spartans return to action in a week when they face Grand Valley State in the annual meet at Jenison High School. Swimming is set to begin at 6 p.m.
Players Mentioned
