Oct. 29, 2010
Complete Results | Complete Results in PDF Format 
MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin men's swimming and diving team travelled to Minneapolis Friday night for a Big Ten match against the Gophers. The Badgers had many solid individual efforts on the night, winning seven of the events, but ultimately fell, 174-123, to Minnesota.
Many Badgers improved upon their previous season-bests, as they look to hit their stride heading into the rest of the schedule.
Wisconsin's day began with a third-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay as Jesse Stipek, Matt Pircon, Daniel Lester and Wes Lagerhausen finished with a time of 1:32.03.
Michael Ross earned the first Badger victory of the night on the 3-meter diving board (361.72). Ross, who also took first on the 1-meter board (311.70), has won every event he has competed in this season and has two Big Ten Diver of the Week awards on the year.
Michael Weiss provided another bright spot for Wisconsin in the 200-yard freestyle. Weiss posted a personal best time of 1:40.84, good enough to beat the field by almost a full second.
The Badgers placed highly in the 100-yard backstroke on the night, as Stipek, (51.13), Garrett Mulchrone (51.82), and Austin Cox (52.66) finished second, third, and fifth respectively.
Lester continued his winning ways by finishing first in the 200-yard butterfly (1:48.36), the 100-yard butterfly (48.32), and the 200-yard IM (1:50.10). The 100-yard butterfly was Lester's third NCAA `B' qualifying time in the event on the year.
Following Lester in the 200-yard IM was a host of Badgers, as the team also took second, fourth, and fifth. Sam Rowan, Weiss, and Brandon O'Donnell were the three who combined with Lester to dominate the event.
Wisconsin's best event of the night was the 200-yard backstroke, as the Badgers finished in first, second and third. Stipek led the way with a time of 1:51.76, two seconds ahead of the next finisher. Coming in second and third were Cox (1:53.90) and Mulchrone (1:54.13).
Stipek (51.13) and Mulchrone (51.82) also led the way for Wisconsin in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing in second and third, respectively.
Rowan and Dirk Lambrechts finished in second and third in the 200-yard breaststroke. Rowan posted a time of 2:06.64, and Lambrechts improved his personal best by more than two seconds with a time of 2:09.19.
Up next for the Wisconsin swimmers is a trip to Tucson, Ariz. for a meet with Arizona and UCLA. The divers will head to Los Angeles, Calif., to compete in the Trojan Invitational. Both the swimmers and divers come home next on Nove mber 11th for a match against Northwestern.
