After Saturday’s finals, Minnesota’s men’s swimming and diving coach Dennis Dale found out only one other team would remain in the Twin Cities for Sunday’s conclusion to the Minnesota Invite.
The rest of the teams decided to leave because of inclement weather conditions.
While the teams physically left one day early, the competition was essentially already over.
The ninth-ranked Gophers finished in first place, doubling the score of second-place Wisconsin. Minnesota finished with a score of 1,517.50 while the Badgers ended with 578.50.
The Gophers also won the event last year.
“We performed well,” said Dale, in his 18th year at Minnesota. “We expected to win. If we had not won, I would have been shocked.”
This year’s competition field included the Gophers, Badgers, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, St. Olaf, Louisiana State, Miami, Carleton, Northwestern, and the only team to stay for the third day, Florida Atlantic.
Dale wanted a few more Big Ten teams in the field but Purdue held its own tournament this weekend at its brand new facility, luring many schools away from Minneapolis.
Overall, Dale was pleased with the effort. He cited Adam Mitchell’s performance specifically.
Mitchell finished first in the 400-individual medley with a time of 3:54:50 and also competed in the relay competition.
“He looked good,” Dale said.
While the Gophers found themselves basically competing against each other Sunday, Dale still felt the team pushed itself.
And more importantly, he felt the team stayed motivated despite the lack of competition and distance between first and second place.
“It was a good test,” Dale said. “We have a tough competition in two weeks and we need to be ready.
The Gophers will travel to Athens, Ga., to compete in the Georgia Invitational beginning Dec. 5. Included in the field is Georgia, ranked No. 7 in this week’s poll.
Women grab second
The cheers could be heard throughout the aquatic center as both Kansas and Minnesota’s 400 freestyle relay teams barreled down on the finish line.
In an exciting end to the Minnesota Invite on Sunday, the Jayhawks pulled out the win in the event by a mere 0.11 of a second.
The win also pushed Kansas into a first place finish for the three-day competition, ending with 748 points.
The Gophers finished with 619 points, good enough to jump over Wisconsin for second place.
However, the Badgers, who were in first place after two days, didn’t compete Sunday after leaving Saturday night with their men’s team.
“I am happy with our finish,” Gophers women’s swimming and diving coach Jean Freeman said. “We were getting tired near the end. This is an endurance test. That’s the nature of the sport.”
Freeman was happy with many performances, especially Sarah Perrott’s.
Perrott was part of the third place 200 relay Friday night.
“Last year, she wasn’t even close and this year she is finishing top eight,” Freeman said.
Freeman also praised the efforts of Jess Crawford (part of the 400-yard freestyle relay ‘A’) and Erika Bjorklund (part of the 400-yard freestyle relay ‘C’).
One area of concern for Freeman was the uneven results among her swimmers.
Because the Gophers could bring more than the travel roster of 24, there was more of an opportunity to make an impact.
But Freeman noticed some of her better swimmers didn’t maintain their high level, while other Gophers played better than she had seen before.
“It’s keeping everyone sharp,” Freeman said. “There hasn’t been a big difference between the top and bottom. More kids wanted to step up.”
Despite three days of competition, 20 Gophers plan to work out at 6 a.m. today. And Minnesota coaches only plan to take Thursday off for Thanksgiving.
The Gophers next competition will be in Athens, Ga., for the Georgia Invite.
