Michigan State University
Northwestern Invite
Michigan State Succeeds at TYR Northwestern Invitational
11/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
Men's Results l Women's Results
EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - The Michigan State men and women's swimming and diving team showed great success at the TYR Northwestern Invitational as both teams brought home second-place finishes after three days of competition, which concluded Sunday.
"We had a good finish tonight. Our women did a fantastic job. Our guys ended up losing by half-a-point, which is so tough to do, but overall it was an outstanding overall performance," said head coach Matt Gianiodis.
After all 49 events were completed, the Michigan State women's team concluded with 803.5 points, while Northwestern won the meet with a score of 1,032. On the men's side, the team scored 978.5 points, being edged out by just a half-a-point to host, Northwestern who scored 979.
Freshman Iana Wolff got the final day started with a third-place finish in the 50 yard butterfly on a time of 25.45. Sophomore Cathryn Armstrong earned a fourth-place finish in the 200 yard backstroke, marking a time of 1:59.86.
Senior Kennedy Cutler took third-place in the 100-yard IM, while sophomores Ellie Roche and Ana Sortland took third and fourth-place respectively in the 200-yard breaststroke. Junior Racheal Bukowski recorded the highest-place finish garnering a second-place in the 100-yard freestyle, touching the pad at 50.30.
"Our breaststrokers on the women's side did great. Ana Sortland, Ellie Roche and Cathryn Armstrong all had really strong swims. Racheal Bukowski did very well too," said Gianiodis.
On the men's side, senior Jon Burke showed an excellence performance in the 1650-yard freestyle racing to a second-place finish, clocking in at 14:48.94.
"On the guys' side, Jon Burke had a strong performance. He swam against an Olympian in the mile and finished second so that's pretty exciting," said Gianiodis.
Junior Sam Hiller also earned a second-place finish on the third and final day of the invitational. Hiller took second in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:47.04. Freshman Phillip Meffert finished third in the 200-yard breaststroke, marking a time of 2:02.68.
Senior Alec Kandt and junior Nick Leshook took third and fourth-place respectively in the 100-yard IM. Kandt touched the pad at 51.40, while Leshok was close behind at 52.00.
"This meet provides a clear setting for us into the next semester. We got what we wanted to out of the meet, and hopefully we can use it as momentum going into the second half of the season," said Gianiodis.
Michigan State will return to competition as a team for its second-half of the season, on January 13. The Spartans will travel to West Lafayette, Ind. to face-off in a duel meet against Purdue. The meet is set to begin at 6 p.m.
Players Mentioned
