University of Minnesota vs University of Denver
- Saturday, January 13
- University of Minnesota, Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center
- Short Course Yards
- Live Results
Team Scores
- Men: Minnesota 195 – Denver 105
- Women: Minnesota 196 – Denver 104
Barely more than 24 hours after returning from training trip in Hawaii, the University of Minnesota hosted the University of Denver for their final non-conference swim meet of the season.
The Gopher men and women got things started in a similar fashion, with their ‘A’ squads winning both relays, followed by Denver’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ squads taking 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
Minnesota freshman Abbey Erwin won the 1650 by 7 seconds, posting a 16.53.77 to be the only woman under 17:00 in the event. Similarly, Minnesota freshman Cameron Kelley took the men’s 1650 in 15:34.27, touching 8 seconds ahead of Denver’s Colin Gilbert in 15:42.87. Though Gilbert lead at 1,000-yards, 9:25.46 to Kelley’s 9:27.48, Gilbert produced a string of 29-second 50s over the final 650 yards of the race, meanwhile Kelley stayed consistently at 28, even hitting a couple 27s.
Minnesota junior Chantal Nack ran away with the women’s 200 free, touching 1:48.30, fully three seconds ahead of her closest challenger. Nack also won the 100 free in a 50.73.
Teammate and sister Danielle Nack blew away the field to win the women’s 200 butterfly in a 1:58.21, nearly 7 seconds ahead of runner-up Kylie Cronin of Denver, who finished in 2:05.05. Danielle Nack later won the women’s 100 fly in a 52.92, well over a body length ahead of teammate Kaia Grobe who touched 2nd in 56.40. A little over one month ago at the Minnesota Invite, Nack scared the school records in both the 100 and 200 butterflies, the latter of which she already owns. Nack’s time in the 100 in December was a 51.79, while her 200 was a 1:56.46.
Minnesota’s Lindsey Kozelsky also doubled, winning the 100 breaststroke in a 1:00.82 and the 200 breaststroke in a 2:12.15.
Gopher teammates Tuomas Pokkinen and Matt Thomas went 1-2 in the men’s 200 fly, touching 1:49.38 and 1:49.48, respectively. While Thomas had a faster final 50, 28.50 to Pokkinen’s 29.05, it wasn’t quite enough to make up for the speed Pokkinen began the race with.
Conner McHugh doubled on the breaststrokes, winning the 100 in 55.39 and the 200 in 1:59.46. Bowen Becker also doubled, winning both the 50 free (19.62) and 100 free (43.88). Becker later led off the 400 freestyle relay, dipping under 44 again with a 43.66. Becker is showing more speed now than in the fall,
Anton Loncar swept both backstrokes for the Denver men, winning the 100 in 49.13 and the 200 in 1:47.23. Loncar was the only man sub-50 in the 100 and the only man under 1:50 in the 200. Other wins for Denver include freshman Stephen Calkins in the 200 free (1:39.53), barely edging ahead of Tim Sates (1:39.66) and Kyle Van Niekerk (1:39.99), both Minnesota freshman.
Maddie Myers also captured the women’s 500 for the Pioneers, winning in 4:56.71 to get the better of Minnesota’s Abbey Erwin (4:58.22). Lauren Moden also won the women’s 50 freestyle in 23.62, edging Minnesota’s Kaia Grobe (23.84).
Press Release – Minnesota:
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota men’s and women’s swimming and diving enjoyed their return to the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center with a pair of dual wins over Denver Saturday afternoon. Both squads collected 13 first place finishes in the 16 event meet.
“In almost every event we saw something that really looked like we are on the right path and I am very happy with the meet,” said head coach Kelly Kremer. “For us the relays get you going and it sure helps the rest of the meet. That gets the team feeling like we are out to perform that day.”
MEN | No. 22 Minnesota 195, No. 23 Denver 105
The Minnesota men’s team (4-3) saw three individuals take home multiple first place finishes in the freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly strokes.
Leading in the freestyle Bowen Becker connected in the 50-yard free (19.62) and 100 free (43.81). Dominating the breaststroke, senior captain Conner McHugh took the 100-yard breast in 55.39, before defeating the field in the 200 breast in just over three-and-a-half seconds (1:59.46). Tumoas Pokkinen displayed his speed during the butterfly events. In the 100-yard fly Pokkinen touched in first at 48.19 following a tight finish in the 200 fly (1:49.38) beating teammate Matt Thomas to the wall one-tenth of a second quicker.
Adding individual first place finishes were Nick Plachinski in the 500 free (4:31.27), Cameron Kelley in the 1650 free (15:34.27) and Brian Poon in the 400-yard IM (3:57.11).
In the diving well, Alan LeBlang tallied a pair of first place finishes. LeBlang scored a 373.20 on the 1-meter and 399.00 on the 3-meter. Minnesota diving took the 2-3-4-5 spots behind LeBlang in both events.
Contributing a pair of second place finishes, Eitan Yudashkin registered strong swims in the 100 breast (56.60) and 200 breast (2:04.01). Matt Thomas connected on second place finishes in the 100 fly (48.93) and 200 fly (1:49.48).
Minnesota’s A relay took a pair of victories in the 400 free relay (2:59.10) and 200 medley relay (1:29.39).
WOMEN | No. 16 Minnesota 196, Denver 104
Strong contributions in the freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly events lifted Minnesota (7-1) to a non-conference victory over Denver.
Senior Danielle Nack led the pack with first place finishes in the 100 fly (1:58.21) and 200 fly (52.92). Teammate and sister Chantal Nack returned the favor taking the top spot in the 100 free (50.73) and 200 free (1:48.30), while Lindsey Kozelsky put the cherry on top finishing first in the 100 breast (1:00.82) and 200 breast (2:12.15).
Abbey Erwin gave the Gophers the strong start they needed picking up the first individual win of the day in the 1650 free in a time of 16:53.77. A few races later Tevyn Waddell extended her winning streak in the 100 back to six races, touching in at 54.98.
Junior Kaia Grobe added a pair of second place finishes with a time of 23.84 in the 50 free and 56.40 in the 100 fly. Rachel Munson stayed strong in the 100 breast (1:03.81) and 200 breast (2:18.24) adding key second place finishes that led the Gophers to taking the top three spots in the breaststroke events.
Sophomore transfer Kristen Hayden had herself quite the day on the diving boards. Setting a new personal record in the 3-meter Hayden notched 333.30 points for the top spot following a score of 293.33 in the 1-meter. Mariam Khamis, Beth Etterman and Morgan Justus all combined for a 2-3-4 finishes in both diving events.
Minnesota’s A relay team once again displayed a strong performance adding a pair of first place finishes in the 400 free relay (3:24.07) and 200 medley relay (1:40.70).
UP NEXT
Minnesota hosts their regular season finale in Big Ten style on Jan. 26-27. The Gophers welcome Northwestern and Purdue to Dinkytown in a meet scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on the 26th and noon on the 27th.
Press Release – Denver:
MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Denver men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs picked up six event wins, three apiece, but fell to nationally ranked Minnesota on Saturday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
Senior Morgan McCormick (Golden, Colo.) recorded an NCAA B Standard in the 200 back and sophomore Sid Farber (Portland, Ore.) turned in another provisional time in the 50 free.
Denver’s top-two relays finished 2-3 in the women’s 200 medley relay. McCormick, junior Bailey Andison (Smiths Falls, Ontario), senior Heidi Bradley (Victoria, B.C.) and junior Lauren Moden (Parker, Colo.) turned in a time of 1:42.74, while junior Annelyse Tullier (Dallas, Texas), junior Courtney Laird (Overland Park, Kan.), sophomore Kylie Cronin (Marblehead, Mass.) and senior Morgan Wice-Roslin (Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished third with a 1:45.94.
Denver top-two men’s 200 medley relays also finished second and third in the event as senior Anton Loncar (Hillsboro, Ore.), freshman Cy Jager (Moscow, Idaho), redshirt-freshman Stephen Calkins (Calgary, Alberta) and Farber combined for a 1:29.89, 0.5 seconds off the winning time. Sophomore Neil Wachtler (Waco, Texas), freshman Adriel Sanes(Rosharon, Texas), sophomore Peter Webster (Odense, Denmark) and freshman Cameron Auchinachie (Binghamton, N.Y.) finished third with a 1:32.27.
In the first of two distance races on Saturday afternoon, senior Maddie Myers (Arvada, Colo.) led the Pioneers in the women’s 1650 free with a 17:00.51. Sophomore Colin Gilbert (Kamloops, B.C.) led Denver on the men’s side with a 15:42.87.
Calkins picked up Denver’s first win of the duals with a 1:39.53 in the 200 free to edge out Minnesota’s Timothy Sates by 0.13 seconds.
In the women’s 100 back, McCormick grabbed second and Moden took third to earn Denver points. McCormick clocked in at 55.21, while Moden finished in 58.11.
Denver swept the podium in the men’s 100 back. Loncar took the top spot with a 49.13, Wachtler was behind him with a 50.01 and senior Jared Smith (Boulder City, Nev.) finished third, turning in a 50.27.
Moden grabbed the first win for the women on Saturday, taking the 50 free sprint with a 23.62. Sophomore Sarah Lingen (Maple Grove, Minn.) rounded out the podium with a 23.95. Farber and Auchinachie finished second and third in the men’s sprint. Farber clocked in at 19.80, while Auchinachie finished in 21.04.
Freshman Aysia Leckie (Georgetown, Ontario) recorded a 52.63 to lead the Pioneers in the 100 free with a second place finish. Farber led the men, matching Leckie’s second place finish with a 44.86.
McCormick continued her success in the backstroke in her final season with the Pioneers, winning DU’s women’s second event of the afternoon with a 1:58.99 in the 200 back.
Denver’s men’s senior leader in the backstroke didn’t disappoint either, taking first as well with a 1:47.23 in the 200. Smith rounded out the podium with a third place finish in the event, finishing in 1:51.52.
In the next distance race, Myers earned a win in the 500 free, clocking in at 4:56.71. Gilbert finished second on the men’s side to lead the program with a 4:32.90.
The Pioneers grabbed spots 2-4 in the women’s 400 IM. Andison led the trio with a 4:24.17, freshman Uma Knaven (Chapel Hill, N.C.) was right behind her in third with a 4:28.49 and freshman Charlotte Simon (Saint Remy, France) finished fourth with a 4:30.93.
In the final relays of the meet, Denver’s women’s A 400 free relay of Moden, Leckie, Wice-Roslin and McCormick finished second in 3:29.40. On the men’s side, Calkins, senior Ray Bornman (Mackay, Queensland), Auchinachie and Farber touched second in 3:01.28, while Wachtler, sophomore Hugo Sykes (Weston, Conn.), Webster and freshman Jackson Gainer(San Jose, Calif.) rounded out the podium with a 3:06.08.
NCAA B Standards
Sid Farber – 50 Free – 19.80 – NCAA B Standard
Morgan McCormick – 200 Back – 1:58.99 –NCAA B Standard
Saturday’s Event Winners
Men’s 200 Free – Stephen Calkins – 1:39.53
Men’s 100 Back – Anton Loncar – 49.13
Women’s 50 Free – Laurent Moden – 23.62
Women’s 200 Back – Morgan McCormick – 1:58.99
Men’s 200 Back – Anton Loncar – 1:47.23
Women’s 500 Free – Maddie Myers – 4:56.71
UP NEXT: Denver returns home next week for its final two home meets of the season January 19-20 at El Pomar Natatorium. Denver will host Colorado Mesa on Friday at 4 p.m., before welcoming Utah on Saturday at 12 p.m. The Pioneers’ will honor their senior class before the meet against Utah on Saturday.
