Men's Swimmers Open in Sixth at Big Tens
February 27, 2003 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Competing with a small team of just 13 swimmers and no divers, the Wisconsin men 's swimmers kicked off the 2003 Big Ten Championships with two-second place finishes Thursday night. The Badgers are in sixth place with 99 points, while defending champion Minnesota holds down the top spot with 206 points.
The Badgers opened finals action with a second-place touch in the 200 free relay (1:19.49) just behind Minnesota's winning 1:19.44. Junior Matt Marshall opened the relay with a 19.98 split, giving the Badgers a slim lead. Adam Mania, Eric Wiesner and Dale Rogers rounded out the quartet. Marshall's 19.98 is .04 off the school record.
Marshall also added a second-place finish in the 50 free (20.00), .05 seconds behind Minnesota's Terry Silkaitis. Marshall also competed in the 400 medley relay to close day one's events.
'I'm happy with our free relay performance and Matt Marshall,' coach Eric Hansen said. 'But overall, I'm very disappointed after day one.'
Dale Rogers was the only other Badger individual to advance to event finals and placed eighth in the 50 free.
Wiesner and Pat Torpey swam in the consolation finals of the 500 free. Torpey placed third in the heat, 11th overall, with a time of 4:25.01. Wiesner took 16th.
Wisconsin continues Big Tens action tomorrow with prelims at 11 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.
