Minnesota’s men’s swimming and diving team took its talent to Iowa City on Saturday to take on Iowa and fellow Big Ten rival Indiana. The water was kind to the Gophers as they captured a first-place finish. Minnesota defeated Indiana by a score of 172-126 and host Iowa 167-133.
Sophomore Travis Beckerle set the stage early with the top finish in the 1000 yard freestyle in a time of 9:18:55. Teammate David Moulder came in second recording a time of 9:24:09. Beckerle and Moulder also performed well in the 500 free finishing in second and third place clocking times of 4:34:52 and 4:35:08. Junior Sean McCaffrey rounded out the top five in this event with a time of 4:37:65.
The shorter freestyle swims of 100 and 200 yards belonged to 2003 Big Ten Swimmer of the Year Terry Silkaitis. The Minnesota junior clocked a time of 44.44 in the 100 and 1:38:43 in the 200. Both times provisionally qualify Silkaitis for the national championship.
The backstroke continued to be a strength for sophomore Adam Mitchell, who earned a first place finish time of 49.68 in the 100. Mitchell also took top honors in the 200 with a time of 1:46:34. The 200 back also favored Diego Urreta who finished third in a time of 1:49:03. In addition, both Mitchell and Urreta swam well in the 200 IM. Capturing first place, Mitchell earned a time of 1:49:03, while Urreta, who finished third, clocked a time of 1:52:42. Mitchell’s time in both the 200 back and the 200 IM provisionally qualify him for the national championship.
Minnesota’s divers performed well capturing three of the top five spots in the 1-meter competition. Ben Herdt led all Minnesota divers finishing second with a score of 277.65. Herdt also finished third in the 3-meter competition as the only Gopher to score over 300 at 306.20.
Men’s gymnastics
Minnesota’s men’s gymnastics team lost to Illinois 218.900-208.250 in Champaign, Ill., on Sunday. Illinois was victorious in all team events, however, Minnesota junior Guillermo Alvarez won the all-around with a score of 53.30 and also claimed an individual title on the vault with a 9.60. Junior Clinton Mays also was an individual title holder by claiming the still rings with a mark of 9.30.
Alvarez also had the Gophers’ top finish on the floor and horizontal bar, by placing second with a score of 9.20 on the floor and taking fourth on the high bar with a mark of 8.90. Senior Mitch Griffin and sophomore Justin Meyer had the top scores for the Gophers on pommel horse with scores of 9.25 and 9.05, respectively. Junior Joe Moore and senior Gabe Suarez followed Alvarez’s first place finish on rings by placing fourth and sixth, respectively, with scores of 8.70 and 8.60.
Along with winning the rings, Mays also had top-five finishes on vault by placing fifth with a 9.20 and by earning a tie for fifth place on high bar with an 8.50.
