Minnesota Swimming Tops Nebraska, South Dakota, led by Hannah Cornish

Photo Courtesy: Hannah Cornish via CollegeSwimming

The Minnesota swimming and diving programs got the 2022-23 started on a strong note with dominant wins over Nebraska and South Dakota. The women took down their Big Ten foes, 203-96, and the Coyotes, 223.5-75.5, while the men bested USD 220-66.

The Gopher women captured first place in 14 of the 16 events, while the men were victorious in 15 events.

“This was a nice start to our season,” Minnesota swimming head coach Kelly Kremer said. “It was great to be on the road as a team. Lots of great performances and we had several first-year student-athletes pick up their first dual meet wins for the Gophers. I am looking forward to watching this team learn and develop throughout the year.”

Sophomore Hannah Cornish was the top women’s performer with four victories, including a pair of individual wins, while junior Kaiser Neverman did the same on the men’s side with two solo victories, as well.

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In diving, fifth-year senior Joy Zhu swept the 1-meter (291.00) and 3-meter (324.35), while freshman Drew Bennett did the same for the Gopher men as he made his collegiate debut. He scored a 355.00 on the 3-meter and 269.15 on the 1-meter.

Cornish touched first in both the 100 free (50.83) and 200 free (1:51.48) and was part of a pair of relay victories. She was the anchor leg in the first event of the season, the 200 medley relay, and posted a time of 1:44.80 with junior Paula Rodriguez Rivero, senior Emma Lezer and junior Megan Van Berkom. The night closed out with Cornish leading off the 400 free relay and cruising to first in 3:26.22 with senior Jordan McGinty, fifth-year senior Olivia Bloomer and senior Maggie Summit.

In addition to being part of a winning relay, Van Berkom also captured solo wins in the 200 fly (1:59.44) and 200 IM (2:01.47).

Also winning a pair of individual races for Minnesota swimming was fifth-year Kate Sullivan who swept the distance free events with first-place finishes in the 500 free (4:58.73) and 1000 free (10:12.77). It was her first time racing in the latter event since January of 2020.

Additional individual Minnesota swimming victories went to Bloomer in the 50 free (23.71), Rodriguez Rivero in the 200 back (2:03.04), and freshmen Faith Johnson in the 100 back (56.26) and Ava Yablonski in the 100 fly (54.91).

Neverman’s performance was highlighted by touching first in both the 100 free (44.87) and 200 free (1:38.58). In addition, he was part of relay victories in 400 free relay (3:02.34) along with sophomore Chris Morris, senior Shane Rozeboom and freshman Lovro Serdarevic, as well as the 200 medley relay (1:29.51) with senior Desmon Sachtjen, Rozeboom and redshirt junior Lucas Farrar.

Joining Neverman with multiple Minnesota swimming victories was junior William Christenson, who grabbed wins in the 1000 free (9:23.41) and 200 IM (1:52.19).

In addition to their relay performances, Farrar (50 free, 20.57), Morris (100 fly, 49.92), and Sachtjen (200 back, 1:49.50) all tacked on first-place finishes.

Additional Minnesota swimming victories were secured by junior Chris Nagy (500 free, 4:39.85), junior Casey Stowe (100 back, 50.11), sophomore Josh Johnston (200 breast, 2:06.34) and freshman Alberto Hernández (200 fly, 1:51.16).

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