Michigan State University
W Swimming vs. Penn State/Indiana
Swimming and Diving Falls To Nationally-Ranked Competition
1/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
Jan. 25, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's and women's team dropped meets to a pair of nationally-ranked teams on Saturday, Jan. 25, at the Charles McCaffree Pool. The Spartan women dropped a pair of decisions to No. 14 Indiana (259-111) and No. 20 Penn State (275-94), while the men suffered a 158-83 setback to the No. 17 Penn State men.
The women competed in two sessions of the double-dual meet with the Hoosiers and Nittany Lions. Senior Kate Duncombe (Erie, Pa.) was the lone event winner for the Spartans, earning a top time of 58.05 in the 100 backstroke against Indiana. Duncombe's time placed her second in the standings against Penn State.
Duncombe led a 200 medley relay team of Crissy Spaulding (Grand Blanc, Mich.), Rachael Hagerman (Goodland, Kan.) and Alicia Copestick (East Liverpool, Ohio) to a second-place finish. Hagerman and Duncombe bookended a 400 freestyle relay squad - with Copestick and Tammy Jones (Conyers, Ga.) - that finished second against the competition.
Courtney Ellabarger (Carmel, Ind.) claimed a second-place time in the 100 breaststroke against Indiana, while finishing third against the Nittany Lions. Hagerman scored a second-place time against IU and PSU in the 100 freestyle. Heather Wellings (Simpsonville, S.C.) touched the wall at 2:23.17 in the 200 breaststroke to garner second-place against Indiana and third-place against Penn State.
On the men's side, the Spartans claimed their lone first-place finish from freshman Ian Clutten (Capetown, South Africa), who won the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:03.18. With the exception of one race, the Spartans claimed second-place points in each of the the remaining events.
Senior co-captains, Joe Brennan (Poway, Calif.) and Nick DeFauw (West Bloomfield, Mich.) each claimed a pair of second-place finishes in their final competition in home waters. Brennan finished second in the 200 and 500 freestyle, while DeFauw was the runner up in the 50 and 100 freestyle.
MSU also picked up a pair of second-place finishes on the diving events, from senior Nick Visscher (Holland, Mich.) and Justin Laskowski (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.) on the one- and three-meter boards, respectively.
The Spartans return to action on Friday, Jan. 31, when the women travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on Michigan at 5 p.m., in the final Big Ten dual meet of the season. Both teams take to the water on Saturday (Feb. 1) when they close out the regular season at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. The first race is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Players Mentioned
