MSU leads Northwestern In TYR Invite

The Spartan men swimmers are leading the Northwestern TYR Invitational in first and the women are trailing behind Northwestern in second place after Friday’s finals.

MSU swam their way to the top of the invite with a big gap in between first and second; Northwestern is now trailing behind with 285 points.

MSU men and women swimmers ended up taking first place spots in five of the 12 events.

Starting off the evening with a second place finish in the 200-yard free relay was  the team of Racheal Bukowski, Shelby Lacy, Sarah Love and Emily Parsons with a time of 1:33.94.

The men’s relay, consisting of Nick Leshok, Adam Marsh, Lachlan McLeish and Kyle Workman, took third place with 1:22.68.

Senior Lacy got back in the pool to claim first place in the 50-yard breaststroke finals with a time of 28.52. NU swimmer Julianne Kurke wedged herself in between Lacy and sophomore Kennedy Cutler, who got second place in prelims. Cutler ended up in third place with a time of 29.44.

Earning a win for the boys was sophomore Alec Kandt in the 50 breast with a time of 25.21.

Sophomore Jon Burke ended up losing his first place seed in the 500-yard freestyle to NU junior Jordan Wilimovsky. Burke ended up in second place with a time of 4:27.72. Freshman Joseph Szczupakiewicz and McLeish followed behind their teammate, finishing third and fourth with times of 4:29.71 and 4:29.91, respectively.

The highlights for the Spartan swimmers continued in the second half of the finals on Friday.

Winning first, second and third in the men’s 200-yard IM was sophomore Kandt, freshman Tal Hanani and junior Nathaniel Weeks. Each swimmer dropped a combined total of 3.69 seconds overall in finals.

The Spartans dominated diving for the first day of the 3-day invite.

Michigan State swept the top three scores for the women’s 3-meter diving. Senior Alison Menzies won first with 307.15 points, senior Cristee Cordes came into second with 298.70 points and sophomore Madeline Sewell took third with 277.30 points.

Sophomore Brennan Labar took second place in men’s diving with 289.25 points and junior Charlie Maurer took third place with 275.05.

Coming back from fifth place in prelims to third place in the guy’s 50 free was McLeish, dropping .17 seconds to swim a 20.85 in finals.

Ending the evening on a high note was a win in the men’s 400-yard medley relay. The Spartan men took first place with a time of 3:15.46 and fourth place in 3:23.19.

The action continues Saturday as the Spartans look to clinch a win in Evanston, Ill. for the Northwestern TYR Invitational.


Julie Angell is a multimedia journalist for Impact Sports

Photo: Max King/Impact Sports