Pittsburgh's Men Sweep N.C. State and Rutgers
11/4/2000 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Pittsburgh's Men Sweep N.C. State and Rutgers
11/4/2000
Pittsburgh - University of Pittsburgh men's swimming and diving team (5-0/2-0) defeated North Carolina State, 146-95, and Rutgers, 177-55, Saturday, Nov. 4, at Trees Pool. In the same competition, North Carolina State managed a 143-95 victory over Rutgers.
The Panthers set the tone early with a win in the 400 medley relay. Pittsburgh extended its advantage after taking the top two spots in the 200 free. Mike Grube (Drexel Hill, Pa./Upper Darby) posted a winning time of 1:42.00 in the event and teammate Steve Siler (Chicago, Ill./Westmont) placed second (1:42.19). Siler would go on to win the 200 backstroke in 1:49.13, only .4 off the USA Senior National qualifying time.
Junior Max von Bodungen (Malmo, Sweden/Borgarskolan) won a pair of individual events as well as anchoring the winning 400 free relay (3:07.55). His first win came in the 200 IM (1:54.33) and his second in the 500 free (5:36.78). The 500 free was a close race with N.C. State's Stephen Matthews (5:38.12), until the final 50 yards when von Bodungen used his kick to win by almost 1.5 seconds.
A pleasant surprise developed for the Panthers during the meet. Freshman Randy Gertenbach (El Centro, Calif./Paradise Valley), who specializes in the breaststroke, turned in a time of 1:55.90 in the 200 fly. His time would have been the top time for Pittsburgh and good enough for third, but he entered the event as an exhibition participant.
Junior Miah Heath (Estes Park, Colo./Estes Park) won the 100 free with a time of 45.90, marking the first time he had gone under 46 seconds during the regular season.
Michael Wells (Downington, Pa./Downington) continued to show his dominance in the diving competitions, winning on both the one-meter (272.30) and three-meter (275.15) boards.
