Men's swimming and diving takes down Northwestern
November 13, 2008 | Men's Swimming & Diving
The University of Wisconsin men's swimming and diving team (2-2, 1-1) won 12 of 16 events en route to a 188-103 victory over Northwestern (0-3, 0-3) Thursday night at the UW Natatorium. The victory snapped the Badgers' four-meet losing streak to the Wildcats.
Wisconsin started and finished strong, winning the two relay events on the evening.
The team of junior Derrick O'Donnell (McFarland, Wis.), junior Dan Koening (Madison, Wis.), senior Scott Rice (Des Moines, Wash.) and junior Phil Davies (Rye, N.Y.) won the evening's first event, the 200-yard medley relay, in a season-best time of 1:32.77.
The foursome of senior Kyle Sorensen (Palatine, Ill.), sophomore Fraser Roberts (Richmond, British Columbia), freshman Cole Scarbrough (University Place, Wash.) and sophomore Conner Andrews (Nashotah, Wis.) then closed out the night with a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The group won the race with a time of 1:22.95.
In total, 10 different Badgers won an event individually or as part of a relay team. Head coach Eric Hansen said that it's a sign of growth for the team.
'I think we're finally showing depth and we have fewer holes, ' Hansen said. 'They are coming together as a team, and that's a lot of fun to see everybody pull in the same direction. Everyone has each other's back, and you can't fake that. It's genuine, and I really like the group of guys we have. They are progressing really well.'
In addition to the relay race, Rice and O'Donnell each won two individual events on the evening, bringing their win totals on the season to eight and four, respectively.
Rice's two wins came in the butterfly events. He won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:50.72 and then went on to win the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 50.36.
O'Donnell picked up his victories in the 200-yard breaststroke and in the 100-yard backstroke. In the former, O'Donnell won the race with a time of 2:06.94 and he won the latter with a mark of 50.58.
Four other swimmers also claimed individual victories.
Soresen won the 50-yard freestyle for the second time this year, doing so with a time of 21.01.
Davies captured first in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45.55. It was the second time Davies had won the event this year, doing so against Arizona with the exact same time of 45.55. It is the season-best time in the event for the team.
Koenig set a new team-best time in the 100-yard breaststroke as he won the race with a time of 58.18. The previous best was also held by Koenig. He swam a 59.03 against Arizona.
Freshman Brett Nagle was victorious for the fourth time this year, winning the 1000-yard freestyle. It was his second win in the event, finishing in a time of 9:33.21.
The Badgers also swept the two diving events on Thursday evening. Sophomore Caleb Percevecz (Scottsdale, Ariz.) won both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. He won the 1-meter with a score of 300.08 and the 3-meter with a 338.03.
The men's diving team will be back in action on Nov. 21-23 when it travels to Arizona, while the swimming and diving teams will both be back Dec. 4-6 at the Texas Invitational.
