Alexandrov Finishes Second in 200 Breast as 'Cats Earn Eighth-Place Finish at NCAA Championships
March 26, 2005 MINNEAPOLIS -- Fueled by a career-best performance from Mike Alexandrov (Champaign, Ill./Centennial), the 15th-ranked Northwestern Wildcats finished in eighth place at the 2005 NCAA Championships with 191 points. The 'Cats finished two points ahead of ninth-place Southern California and 14 points ahead of 10tb-place Georgia. Auburn won the overall championship -- its third straight -- with 491 points. After placing fourth at this year's Big Ten Championships, Northwestern finished as the second-best Big Ten team behind Michigan, who had 206 points. The Wildcats beat Big Ten Champion Minnesota by 16 points. Northwestern's performance earned Head Coach Bob Groseth the honor of Co-Coach of the Championships along with Arizona's Frank Busch. "This award is more about recognition for my team than recognition for me," Groseth said. "We definitely won the points per swimmer competition in these Championships." The Wildcats were led by Alexandrov, who was considered an unknown heading into the 200 breast final. The majority of the talk before the final centered on two Olympians in the field, Alabama's Vladislav Polyakov and Wyoming's Scott Usher, and this year's fastest-time holder, Stanford's Gary Marshall. With his two top-three performances in these Championships, Alexandrov now has to be mentioned in any breaststroke conversation. Alexandrov did more than stick his foot in the door; he nearly closed it shut with his career-best time of 1:54.04. Only Polyakov could top Alexandrov's time, and it took a pool-record time of 1:53.93 to do it. Before these Championships, Alexandrov's fastest time this year in the 200 breast was 1:57.06. Alexandrov's second-place performance came on the heels of his third-place finish in the 100 breast Friday evening.
"It is a dream come true for me," Alexandrov said. "I was a little concerned after my performance in the 200 IM, but I came back strong with my best performances in the two breaststroke events."
Heading into the final event of the Championships, the 400 freestyle relay, the Wildcats found themselves in 10th-place with 167 points, four behind ninth-place Georgia and 10 behind eighth-place Southern California. The quartet of Alexandrov, Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest), Kyle Bubolz (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North) and David Kormushoff (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) needed a seventh-place finish in the relay to ensure an eighth-place finish overall. Although they were exhausted from these grueling Championships, the 'Cats found their second-wind to earn themselves that vital seventh-place finish when Kormushoff touched the wall with a time of 2:54.13. "All of our relay teams really slugged it out with the best of them," Groseth said. "We are only one swimmer away from an NCAA Championship relay." Grevers was the 'Cats' other finals participant this evening as he finished sixth in the 100 freestyle. Grevers put himself in a position to win another NCAA Championship as he entered the last 50 in second place, but could not hold off the stiff competition and finished with a time of 42.63. California's Duje Draganja, who won the 100 butterfly earlier in the Championships, won the 100 freestyle with a NCAA-record time of 41.49. "Before the race, I knew it was no guts, no glory," Grevers said. "I decided to go all out in the beginning and it almost worked." Before the evening's finals, Brian Davis (Issaquah, Wash./Issaquah) swam the 1650 freestyle for the 'Cats and finished 25th with a season-best time of 15:14.45. The Wildcats amassed 23 All-America honors throughout the Championships. Grevers and Alexandrov led the way with seven honors, followed by Bubolz with five and Kormushoff with four. "It has been a slow and steady climb to where we are now," Groseth said. "It has taken a lot of guys to get us to this point and they all deserve recognition whether they are on this current squad or not." The end of the NCAA Championships marks the end of the Wildcats' season, which was arguably the greatest in NU modern-era history, with one NCAA champion (Grevers in the 100 back) and an eighth-place finish overall. |
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