Michigan State University
M Swimming vs. Northwestern
Swimming and Diving Splits With Northwestern
1/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
Jan. 10, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's and women's swimming and diving teams split with Northwestern University on Friday, Jan. 10. The men crushed the Wildcats (131-91) for their second straight victory, while the women dropped their contest by a narrow 114-109 margin. The victory for the men's squad is the first Big Ten dual meet win since 1999.
"The men are gaining confidence," head coach Jim Lutz stated following the meet. "They're starting to believe in themselves and tonight they got the job done. The women swam really well. It was just a touch here and a touch there. It came down to the last relay."
The men stormed past the competition, claiming first-place finishes in nine of the 13 events, including eight individual titles. Freshman David Habel (Cincinnati, Ohio) claimed a pair of first-place finishes in the 500 and 1000-freestyle events. Habel finished the 500 in a time of 4:37.72, while swimming the 1000 in 9:33.22. Senior Nick DeFauw (West Bloomfield, Mich.) won the 50-freestyle in 21.61, while classmate Joe Brennan (Poway, Calif.) claimed the 200-free in 1:42.05.
Karl Sunryd (Molndal, Sweden) captured the 100 backstroke event in 50.89, while Ian Clutten(Capetown, South Africa) won the 100 breastroke, finishing in 56.13. The men's 400-freestyle relay team of DeFauw, Nick Harley (Rockford, Mich. ), Patrick Saucedo (Jackson, Mich. ) and Michael Rigali (Naperville, Ill.) claimed first, with a time of 3:07.98.
The men grabbed the lead in following their third event, when sophomore Justin Laskowski (Bay City, Mich.) scored a 278.63 on the one-meter to win the event. And from there, the Spartans never looked back,.
The women's night was not as plesant as the WIldcats slipped by the Spartans on the last event. The Spartans claimed four individual event titles and one relay title. The meet got off to a good start for MSU, as the quartet of Kate Duncombe (Erie, Pa.), Courtney Ellabarger (Carmel, Ind.), Tammy Jones (Conyers, Ga.) and Alicia Copestick(East Liverpool, Ohio) won the 400 medley relay in 3:54.11.
Freshman Rachael Hagerman (Goodland, Kan.) continued to shine for the Green and White, capturing her fourth 50-freestyle event of the season, finishing in 23.53. Jones also scored an individual first-palce finish, winning the 100 butterfly in 58.08.
Senior diver Stephanie Anisko (Mississauga, Ont.) nabbed her third sweep of the season, capturing event titles on the one- (271.88) and three-meter (284.50) boards - both new career high scores.
"It was a fantastic night," MSU diving coach Eric Best commented. "Steph led the team with two victories and Justin did a great job winning the one-meter board."
The Spartans return to action tomorrow (Jan. 11) at 2 p.m., when they face the Ball State Cardinals.
Players Mentioned
