Iowa at Michigan State (Men & Women)
The Iowa Men & Women will travel to Lansing to face Michigan State on Friday at 4 PM Central Time.
The Michigan State men will be making their intercollegiate debut at this meet, and Iowa is coming off of a big win over Wisconsin last week.
Michigan State is in the middle of a huge youth movement that includes graduating 6 out of their top 10 sprinters. The good news for the Spartans is that the returning 4 are 3 sophomores and a junior, and by season’s end could have a better relay than they did last season. Those young sprinters will be tested against Iowa’s Paul Phelan, who has already gone a 20.38 in the 50 this year.
The up-and-coming star of the Michigan State team is sophomore Jacob Jarzen, who last year had the Spartan’s best time in 6 individual events. This includes a 1:36.2 in the 200 free and a 46.9 in the 100 fly. That 200 free is where we could see a great showdown with Iowa’s Paul Gordon, who went a swift 1:39.7 against Wisconsin.
On the women’s side, the Michigan State and Iowa teams are both coming off of in-conference losses, to Minnesota and Wisconsin respectively, which are two of the best Big Ten squads this season.
The best race on this side of the pool will be the 100 butterfly, where Becca Ebner of Michigan State will face Katarina Tour of Iowa. Ebner went a 57.3 against Minnesota, and Tour was a 56.1 against Wisconsin. There will also be a great matchup on the 3-meter diving board, where Iowa’s Veronica Rydze and MSU’s Sarah Clay are both undefeated on the season.
I foresee an Iowa sweep here. Michigan State is on the rise, but are still a little too young to knock off Iowa.
Northwestern at Indiana (Men & Women)
Northwestern and Indiana will both be kicking off their seasons on Friday at 2 PM in Bloomington.
On the men’s side, the showdown of the meet will be between seniors Alex Tyler of NW and Doug Spraul of Indiana. Last year, Spraul’s time from NCAA’s (49.05) was identical to Tyler’s season best, though Spraul had been faster earlier in the season.
On the women’s side, both team lost huge graduating classes. Indiana lost their first individual National Champion in program history in Kate Fesenko, and Northwestern graduated their top swimmer in a majority of the individual events. There will be several very good races here, including the breaststroke battle between Indiana’s Ashley Specht and NW’s Jenny Wilson. I’m also excited to see how Indiana’s freshman sprinters, especially Sara Delay, hold up against a strong NW sprint crew that includes Taylor Reynolds and Liza Engstrom.
Virginia Tech at Penn State (Men & Women)
Virginia Tech will travel to visit Penn State in an inter-conference showdown on Saturday at 11 AM Eastern Time.
The Virginia Tech men are coming off of a season-opening win against the College of Charleston. Penn St. has faced a rash of illnesses and injuries that hampered them in a 125-116 loss against West Virginia. There won’t be many tight races in this battle, though the victories should be pretty well split. Each team lacks depth in opposing areas. The tightest race could be the 200 yard free relay, where both teams should be right around a 1:27.
Virginia Tech’s new facility is already paying off for them in recruiting, but I think Penn State pulls of the win if they’re healthy.
The Virginia Tech women are coming off of a tri-meet sweep against Radford and CoC, and Penn State had an easy victory over West Virginia. This should be a fairly lopsided meet in favor of PSU, who is led by Amy Modglin. Modglin has already gone a 1:58.6 200 back this season, which is tops in the Big Ten so far. Virginia Tech’s best chance at an upset is in the 200 free relay. They swam a 1:35.9 in their first meet, which will give Penn State a run for their money.
Michigan vs. Notre Dame/At Oakland (Men)
The Michigan men will travel down the road to Rochester to swim a tri-meet against Notre Dame and Oakland on Saturday at 2 PM Eastern Time.
This will be our first chance to see the 20-strong Michigan freshman class in a real meet. The one race that everybody will be looking for the results are is the 200 IM, where former high school record holder Kyle Whitaker in the 200 IM. He has big shoes to fill after Tyler Clary left school early to go pro, and Michigan will be counting on him for large contributions this year. He will be pushed by Notre Dame sophomore Bill Bass, whose 1:46.44 200 IM as a freshman smashed the Notre Dame school record.
Michigan should get the win in a great first test for their new swimmers and divers.
Michigan at Toledo (Women)
The Wolverine women will head across the state line to battle the defending MAC Champions Toledo Rockets on Friday at 5 PM Eastern Time.
The once-mighty Michigan women are in a definite rebuilding phase this year, after losing two their two best swimmers in Margaret Kelly and Emily Brunemann. They do return senior Natasha Moodie, who has already gone under 30 (22.94) for the Wolverines this season in a loss against Minnesota. Toledo is one of the better mid-major teams in the country, and took their meet against Illinois last week to the very last event, including winning 10 of 16 events, before falling 153-147. Michigan wins this one, but it will be closer than you might think.
Kentucky at Indiana (Men & Women)
The Kentucky Wildcats will travel to face Indiana at 9AM Central time on Saturday, in what will be Indiana’s second meet in as many days.
The Kentucky men, a year after surprising many people by finishing 16th in the nation at NCAA’s last year. They were devastated by graduation, however, and lost both legs of a tri-meet with Southern Illinois and Missouri. Look for a great race between Kentucky’s Matt Russell and Indiana’s Sam Trahin in the 200 IM. Another great race will be the free relay, with Kentucky being anchored by Big Ten runner-up in the 50 Bryan Chovanech, and Kentucky turning to Reinhardt Strijdom to bring them home.
The Kentucky women are on an upswing after pulling of a solid double-victory over S. Illinois and Missouri. They were carried by a pair of 56’s in the 100 butterfly from Kelcy Perry and Anna Mattox. Indiana graduated their best butterflier, but does return a redshirt senior in Brittany Barwegen, who should be around that same 56 range as well.
Northwestern at Iowa (Men & Women)
This will be the second meet on the weekend for both squads, and will take place on Sunday at Noon Central Time. Live results are available at http://stats.iowaswimming.com/
