Minnesota vs. Northwestern vs. Purdue – Triple Duals
- Hosted by University of Minnesota
- Triple Dual Format
- Live Results
- 25 Yards
Women’s Scores – Day 1
- Minnesota 121, Purdue 84
- Minnesota 166, Northwestern 39
- Purdue 157, Northwestern 48
Men’s Scores – Day 1
- Minnesota 112, Purdue 92
- Minnesota 144, Northwestern 59
- Purdue 146, Northwestern 50
With less than one month to go before the Big Ten Championships, the University of Minnesota hosts its final regular season meet against Northwestern University and Purdue University. This is the final home meet of the year for the Minnesota women, who will travel to Ohio State for the Big Ten Championships. On the other hand, the Northwestern and Purdue men get one final tune-up in the very pool where they will fight for a Big Ten Championship in February.
The Minnesota women’s ‘A’ medley relay team came back from a 3/10th deficit at 100 yards to win the 200 medley relay by over 1.5 seconds. Thanks to a 23.51 butterfly split from senior Danielle Nack and a 22.65 freestyle split from junior Zoe Avestruz, the Gopher women finished in 1:40.29. Purdue’s ‘A’ squad finished 2nd in 1:41.90, while Minnesota’s ‘B’ team took 3rd in 1:43.44, followed by Purdue’s ‘B’ team in 4th at 1:43.94, pushing Northwestern’s ‘A’ squad back to 5th (1:44.31).
The Minnesota men’s ‘A’ squad also won their medley relay, putting up a 1:28.74 to Purdue’s 1:29.29. Similar to the women’s race, the Purdue ‘A’ team held the lead at 100 yards, exchanging 47.55 to Minnesota’s 48.38. But Minnesota inched back in butterfly, out-splitting Purdue 21.11 to 21.46. Sprint ace Bowen Becker sealed the deal for the Gopher men with a quick 19.25 split, over a second faster than Purdue’s freshman Nikola Bjelajac, who split a 20.28. For comparison, Becker split a 19.01 on the medley relay rested at Minnesota’s mid-season meet, which bodes well for the upcoming championships.
The women’s 1000 free was all Purdue senior Kaersten Meitz, who destroyed the field and clocked a 9:38.46 to win by 12 seconds. Minnesota’s Mackenzie Padington came in 2nd with a 9:50.60. Though Meitz and Padington were not too far apart at 500, flipping at 4:46.99 and 4:48.74, respectively, Meitz held on strong over the final 500 yards, splitting a 4:51.47 to Padington’s 5:01.86. Meitz and Padington were the only women to break the 10-minute barrier with 3rd place going to Purdue’s Emily Meckstroth in a 10:01.30.
Meitz, a World University Games medalist and member of the US National Team, swam a 9:38.79 at the 2016 Big Ten vs USA College Challenge, presumably suited-up, and has been as fast as 9:40.02 at 1000 yards when racing the 1650.
The men’s 1000 went to Purdue sophomore Nicholas McDowell, who ran away from the field over the final 400 yards, winning in 9:13.55. Second place went to Northwestern’s Dongjin Hwang who touched 9:19.77, just edging past Minnesota’s Cameron Kelley, who touched in 9:20.08 for third.
Barely more than 20 minutes after the 1000, Meitz and Padington dove back in the pool for the 200 free. This time Padington got the better of Meitz and touched first in a 1:46.60 to Meitz’s 1:46.71. Danielle Nack claimed 3rd for the Gopher women in 1:47.27. Padington’s time is just 2.5 seconds off of what she went at mid-season when she reset the University of Minnesota’s school record in the 200 free with a 1:44.15. Interestingly, Padington’s school record boasted a much faster first 100 split than her swim tonight (50.64 to 52.02 tonight), while her second 100 in this evening’s race was considerably stronger by comparison (53.51 mid-season to 54.58 tonight).
The Minnesota men dominated the 200 freestyle with a 1-2-3 finish led by freshman Timothy Sates, who won with a 1:38.60. Just behind in 2nd place was classmate Kyle Van Niekerk (1:38.85). The two South Africans just barely held off charging American teammate Nick Saulnier who finished 3rd in 1:38.90. Another freshman, Purdue’s Batuhan Hakan, finished 4th in a 1:40.96.
Minnesota’s Tevyn Waddell claimed the 100 backstroke in a 54.59, nearly a full second ahead of Purdue’s Jackie Smailis who touched 2nd in 55.54. Purdue also nabbed 3rd thanks to a strong finish from Hanna House (56.32), who just barely snuck in ahead of Minnesota’s Zoe Avestruz (56.35). Between Purdue and Minnesota, Northwestern’s two swimmers were pushed back to finishing in 7th and 8th.
The men’s 100 back was swept by Purdue in a 1-2-3 finish, similar to the Minnesota men in the 200 free. Joe Young was the only swimmer sub-49 with a 48.82 to win the race. Adam Noens took 2nd in 49.67 and Kiki Komlenic 3rd in 49.83, barely ahead of Northwestern’s Jack Thorne who took 4th in 49.84.
Purdue’s Christian Bals snuck past Minnesota’s Conner McHugh to win the men’s 100 breaststroke in 54.84 to McHugh’s 54.89. In a very close 3rd was Purdue’s Marat Amaltdinov in 54.93.
The women’s 200 fly went to Danielle Nack in a very quick 1:57.07. Nack’s best time in the event–and school record–stands at a 1:55.67. Nack’s best time this season came at the Minnesota Invite in early December where she posted a 1:56.46. Being so close to her suited and rested time after a month of hard January training signals that Nack could signal a major time drop at Big Tens.
The men’s 200 fly went to Matt Thomas in a 1:47.89, which is also close to his season-best of 1:46.76. Minnesota teammate Tuomas Pokkinen took 2nd in 1:49.60 while Purdue’s Grant Lewis nabbed 3rd in a 1:49.93.
Minnesota swept the men’s and women’s 50 freestyle with wins from Zoe Avestruz and Bowen Becker. Avestruz touched in a 23.00 to win by 12/100ths over Northwestern’s Mary Warren, while Becker blasted a 19.64 to win by nearly a second over Northwestern’s Almog Olshtein, who finished in a 20.58.
Minnesota’s ‘A’ team of Danielle Nack, Chantal Nack, Mackenzie Padington, and Tevyn Waddell won the women’s 800 freestyle relay comfortably, touching 7:15.07 to Purdue’s 7:21.21. The Minnesota men’s ‘A’ squad also won their 800 free relay, touching in 6:37.69 to Purdue’s 6:40.83.
The meet resumes tomorrow at 12:00 pm.