MINNEAPOLIS — A pair of Badgers came up big Friday as the Wisconsin swimming and diving teams faced off with Big Ten competition for the first time this season.
The Badgers got individual wins from sophomore Beata Nelson in the women's 200-yard butterfly and freshman Matt Novinski in the men's 100 backstroke to open a two-day showdown with conference rivals Michigan, Minnesota and Penn State.
Nelson continued her hot start to the season by racing to a personal-best time of 1 minute, 58.01 seconds in the 200 fly, a time that ranks fifth all-time at UW and leads the Big Ten this season. She held off Michigan's Vanessa Krause (1:58.31) and Minnesota's Danielle Nack (1:58.82) to take the win.
Nelson also finished second in the 200 individual medley, clocking in at a collegiate personal-best time of 1:58.27 to trail only Michigan's Siobhan Haughy (1:56.62).
She finished her night by contributing to the Badgers' third-place showing in the 400 medley relay, joining Jess Unicomb, Marissa Berg and Emmy Sehman to finish in 3:40.94.
On the men's side, Novinski blazed to a personal-best 48.04 to win the 100 back comfortably over Michigan's Kai Williams (49.32). The time, an NCAA "B" cut, ranks Novinski third in the Big Ten this season.
Notable
• UW's foursome of Sehmann, Unicomb, Abby Jagdfeld and Berg took third in the women's 200 free relay in 1:31.94.
• In the men's 200 free relay, Tyler Zelen, Ryan Stack, Colin Riley and Griffin Back combined for a time of 1:21.47 to finish third.
• Sehmann grabbed a second-place finish in the women's 100 free, clocking in at 49.90.
Up Next
The Badgers are back in the water Saturday, with the quad dual resuming at 10 a.m. Live results are available online and via Meet Mobile.
