Results

Nov. 18, 2011

Contact: Tim Ertle

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EVANSTON, Ill. - Day one of the TYR Invitational, hosted by Northwestern University, was highlighted by record-breaking performances that catapulted the Vikings into fourth place in a big-time field at the conclusion of day one in the three-day event.

"We came here having kept to our training," head coach Wally Morton said. "We competed twice last weekend and had some travel to get here. All week we put our team through double workouts and we've been putting in a lot of hard work. When you take a step back and take everything into account, I'm really encouraged with our swims.

"This is a meet, but we look at it as part of our training as we aim to peak at the league championships," Morton added.

Northwestern (267) and Illinois (216) of the Big 10 and Iowa State (204) of the Big 12 were the only teams to finish ahead of Cleveland State, who finished the day with 171 points and fourth in the eight-team field.

The Vikings 400 medley relay team touched first in 3:44.73 to win the event and shatter a school record. Alex Johansson, Alice Sommerville, Joanna Olsson and Carys Behn bested the previous program record of 3:46.77, set last season, by over two seconds. The pool record at Northwestern's Norris Aquatics Center is 3:43.10 set by Stanford in 1997.

Sommerville, Behn and Johansson later teamed with Christine Kopacko to take second in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:33.77.

As an individual, Sommerville set a school record in the 50 breast with a 28.29 and placed third in the 50 free with a 23.33. Finishing right behind her in the freestyle event was Nebraska's top sprinter and the top three swimmers from Illinois. Johansson won the 50 free consolation final with a 23.65, a time that would've placed her fifth.

Olsson, a member of that record-setting 400 medley relay team, improved her school record time in the 200 IM. Last year, she swam a 2:03.94 to put her name at the top of the list, but she turned in a 2:02.83 on Friday night to win the event.

"We swam our kids in a lot of races," Morton said. "I'm really happy with how we're coming along. I'm really encouraged by the likes of Erin Bender, Rachel Grove and Liz Tamas, swimmers who don't always get a lot of recognition. They're really developing for us."

Day two will begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. EST at the Norris Aquatics Center. Real time results are available by visiting http://www.fitrec.northwestern.edu/classes/aquatics/meets/.