Chris Morris Sets Pool Record As Wisconsin Ekes out Sweep of Minnesota
Chris Morris swam a pool record in the 200 free as Wisconsin won the final relay before a record crowd to edge Minnesota, 158-142, in a men’s dual meet Friday.
The women’s meet was considerably more lopsided, with Wisconsin sweeping all 14 swimming wins in a 201-99 decision over their Big Ten border rival.
Morris started his day with a win in the 200 freestyle in 1:33.65, an NCAA B cut that set the Soderholm Aquatic Center record and booked a 1-2 result with Luukas Vainio. Morris won the 100 free in 43.16, with Vainio third, and was third in the 200 IM.
The Badgers led by seven points going into the concluding 400 freestyle relay, supplying an intriguing ending for the record crowd of 968 at Soderholm. Vainio went 43.82 off the front to put the Badgers A team in clear water, and Ben Wiegand, Taiko Torepe-Ormsby (42.88) and Nico Butera delivered them safely home in 2:54.08 to win by more than 1.5 seconds.
We 🫶 our Badger fans! pic.twitter.com/s03xoxHMCU
— Wisconsin Swimming & Diving (@BadgerSwimDive) November 2, 2024
Wisconsin also won the 200 medley relay, Weigand swimming breaststroke and Torepe-Ormsby anchoring in 18.89 for a win in 1:25.61.
The teams volleyed back and forth. Torepe-Ormsby won the 50 free, the New Zealand Olympian going 19.49, in a 1-2-3 result with Wiegand and Cooper Scharff. That answered consecutive wins by Minnesota, including Kaiser Neverman leading a 1-2 in the 100 breast, which replied to Nathan Welker and Sam Lorenz going 47.11 and 47.14, respectively, in the 100 back for Wisconsin.
Yigit Aslan won the 1,000 for Wisconsin and finished second in the 500. Dominik Mark Torok claimed the 200 breast.
Minnesota fab freshman Jacob Johnson keeps getting faster. He won the 200 fly in 1:41.70, slicing another seven tenths off the program record he set on Oct. 11. Johnson also won the 100 fly in 46.18, a 1-2 with teammate Davide Harabagiu to keep the Golden Gophers in with a shout.
Neverman added to his 100 breast title by finishing second in the 100 free and winning the 200 IM in 1:44.45, outdeuling Torok by .11 seconds. Third in the 200 fly was Joey Tepper, the runner-up in the 1,000 free and third-place finisher in the 500.
YuTong Wang swept diving for Minnesota, scoring 406.13 points on 3-meter. Bar Soloveychik won the 500 free and was third in the 200. Ryan Slonac claimed the 200 back.
The Badgers’ domination on the women’s side was far less complicated. It began with an NCAA A cut in the 200 medley relay, the quartet of Maggie Wanezek, Hazal Ozkan, Phoebe Bacon (22.95 in fly) and Hailey Tierney going 1:35.60. Abby Carlson, Tierney, Wanezek and Bacon went 3:14.75 for a high B cut in the 400 free relay.
Tierney was fabulous on the day, winning the 50 free in 22.05 and the 100 in 48.59. Ozkan’s 1:00.28 led a podium sweep in the 100 breast, then she doubled up in the 200 breast. Wanezek won the 100 back in 50.96, then 1:51.75 in the 200 back to best Bacon, from whom Wisconsin didn’t require an individual win. Wanezek was also third in the 50 free.
Maddie Waggoner won the 1,000 free and was third in the 500, while teammate Paige McKenna took the reverse positions. Carlson won the 200 free ahead of teammate Blair Stoneburg. Mackenzie McConagha did the butterfly double, and Callahan Dunn punctuated it with a podium sweep in the 200 IM.
Viviana Del Angel Peniche won both diving events for Minnesota, her and teammate Kate Lamonica both topping 300 points on 3-meter in their second 1-2 result of the day.
