Northwestern in 13th Place After Day One of NCAA Championships
March 27, 2008
NCAA Championships Day One Results (PDF Format)
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Northwestern picked up six All-America honors and 30 points Thursday on the first day of the NCAA Championships in Federal Way, Wash., currently ranking 13th in the meet. NU is 11 points behind 12th-place Texas A&M and two points ahead of 14th place Florida State in the meet. Thirty-two teams recorded points on the first day of competition, with Arizona leading them all with 137. Northwestern's four NCAA qualifiers -- senior Bruno Barbic (Zagreb, Croatia/V. Gymnazija), junior Eric Nilsson (Weston, Mass./Weston), freshman Brian Kerr (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) and senior Kyle Bubolz (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North) -- combined for a season-best swim and qualified for the consolation final of the 200 free relay, turning in a time of 1:18.75 to take 13th place in the preliminary heats. The Wildcats then reprised that exact time in the finals, using it to vault three spots up to 10th place to earn 14 points. Nilsson then had a rough time in the 500 free, coming in 44th during prelims with a time of 4:31.15, almost 10 seconds more than his cut time entering the meet. Both Barbic and Bubolz earned spots in the consolation final of the 50 free, with Barbic swimming a season-best 19.53 to take ninth during the prelims while Bubolz turned in a career-best 19.56 in the first session of the day to take 12th overall. Barbic was just .04 of a second behind a three-way tie for sixth place and a spot in the championship final. Bubolz then broke his career-best again in the consolation final, jumping Barbic to win the heat and finish ninth overall with a time of 19.47. Barbic's evening swim of 19.54 put him in 10th place overall, giving Northwestern a sweep of the top two spots in the consolation final. Swimmers at the NCAA Championships earn first-team All-America honors by qualifying for the championship heat, while making the consolation final nets honorable mention All-America status. Bubolz's two All-America honors on the day brings his career total to 16, third-most in school history behind 2007 graduates Matt Grevers and Mike Alexandrov. Barbic's two awards Thursday give him seven in his two years as a Wildcat and eight in his collegiate career. He also was an honorable mention All-American in the 50 free as a sophomore at Washington. Nilsson now has four All-America accolades to his name after his performance with the 200 free relay, while Kerr earned the first of his career in his first collegiate event at the NCAA Championships. In a related note, Northwestern did not have an entry in this year's 400 medley relay after winning the national championship and setting the NCAA record with a 3:04.40 in the race last year. Arizona's winning time in the event Thursday night was a 3:04.43, leaving the Wildcats' record intact. Friday's prelims begin at 2 p.m. CT. Swimming World Magazine is providing live streaming video, and "live results" are available at this link. To protect its exclusivity, the NCAA is not allowing actual live results to be disseminated. The live stats link will contain secured .pdf's only after the completion of events.
For more information on the 2008 NCAA Championships, visit gohuskies.com.
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