Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand ForksUND men finish ninth

In the final day of competition at the 2012 MPSF Swimming and Diving Championships, the North Dakota men's swim team notched eight more top 25 finishes, including an eight-place finish in the 200 fly by sophomore David Flickinger (Moorhead, Minn.).

The only individual top 10 finisher for UND in the swim events, Flickinger finished eighth in the 200 fly with a season-best time of 1:50.93. Jacobson clocked in at 1:55.12 for 21st place.

"David swam very well for us tonight and it was exciting to see him compete in the championship finals group," head coach Steve Parsons said.

Freshman Zachary Stettner and junior George Philbin both posted season-best times in the 1650 free. Stettner, a native of Minnetonka, Minn., shaved over 10 seconds off of his previous time of 16:27.43 to finish 20th with a time of 16:14.97. A native of Plymouth, Minn., Philbin cut over 30 seconds off of his time (16:49.64) to place 21st with a time of 16:16.38. Junior Zak Gosney (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) finished 23rd with a time of 17:02.04.

In the 200 back, sophomore Daniel Jacobson (Ramsey, Minn.) clocked in with a season-best time of 1:52.86 for 21st place, followed by freshman Jacob Berry (Cambridge, Minn.) in 22nd with a time of 1:54.74.

"Dan had a real nice morning swim in the 200 back, and I cannot say enough about how he responded to the doubling up with the back and the fly this evening," Parsons said. "It was great to see him move up in the back, but I think he just ran out of gas in the fly."

Freshman Austin Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was the lone Sioux in the finals of the 200 breast. He took 21st with a time of 2:07.29.

UND wrapped up the meet with a ninth-place finish in the 400 free relay. The 'A' team of sophomore Adam Gannon (Plymouth, Minn.), sophomore Elliot Wilcox (Hastings, Minn.), Philbin, and senior Ben Adams (Sitka, Alaska) clocked in with season-best time of 3:02.96, cutting nearly a full four seconds off of their previous time of 3:06.06.

"Overall, I think it was a good first outing for our team in this meet," Parsons said. "I do think that our guys were a little surprised with how fast the meet was. Moving forward, we need to do a better job in our morning swims. We aren't happy with how we finished in the team standings and will have to do some work in order to move up next year."

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - In the final night of competition on the boards at the 2012 MPSF Swimming and Diving Championships, both Richard Eberle and Andrew Germain finished in the top 15 on the platform.

Eberle, a native of Fort Collins, Colo., took 10th with a season-best mark of 270.80, and Germain, a Blaine, Minn., native hit a season best mark of 214.10 for 15th. Both divers smashed their previous marks as Eberle hit over 40 points higher than his previous mark of 266.90 and Germain scored 39.10 above his previous career-high score of 175.00.

"Both Richard and Andrew finished with season best scores, and that's a great thing for our team," coach Brian Strom said. "It was platform, and that's' something we don't get on a lot because we don't have one in Grand Forks and have to go to Winnipeg, Canada, to train on. Overall, it was a very good meet for us.

"Now we just have to switch focus and get ready to meet up with the women's team for the meet in San Antonio on Monday."