Gophers' Max McHugh wins second NCAA title in 100-yard breaststroke

The Gophers' Max McHugh won the 100-yard breaststroke on Friday for the second straight year in the NCAA swimming and diving in Atlanta.

And he did in in amazing fashion. The senior from Sturgeon Bay, Wis., became only the second college swimmer to break 50 seconds. McHugh had a time of 49.95 seconds in the preliminaries and then swam 49.90 in the finals.

American record holder Ian Finnerty is the other collegian to go under 50 seconds; he did it for Indiana in winning NCAA titles in 2018 and '19. His time of 49.69 is the meet record.

McHugh will try to repeat as national champion in the 200 breaststroke on Saturday.

"Thank you Max! You deserve every ounce of success," Gophers coach Kelly Kremer tweeted. "You prepare consistently, every day, in and out of the pool, at a Championship level."

Junior Jake Butler of the Gophers finished 14th in 3-meter diving (373.30).

Sydney Baldwin scored two goals in the second period and Amanda Leveille made 31 saves to lead the Minnesota Whitecaps to a 3-1 victory over the Metropolitan Riveters in the Isobel Cup preliminary round at the Advent-Health Center in Wesley Chapel, Fla. Taylor Turnquist had the other Whitecaps' goal.

The Gophers softball team struggled with control in its Big Ten opener, falling 9-2 at Rutgers despite outhitting the Scarlet Knights 6-5. Gabrielle Callaway hit a grand slam for Rutgers (22-10) and the home team took advantage of walks to score four runs in the second and five in the third.

Starter Autumn Pease of Minnesota (13-12-1) walked seven of the 12 batters she faced and Emily Leavitt walked four more. Sydney Strelow had a two-run double for the Gophers.

Gophers redshirt Kostas Zaltos finished second in the Arizona State Invitational with a toss of 232 feet, 9 inches in the hammer throw. He was the top college thrower and his throw is the second longest in the nation so far.

Matt Wilkinson, a graduate transfer from Carleton, won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Raleigh (N.C.) Relays in 8 minutes, 39.70 seconds — the fourth best time in program history. Teammate Alec Basten was second (8:40.90). Basten was the NCAA runner-up in the steeplechase a year ago.

The Gophers tennis team lost 5-2 to Michigan at the Baseline Tennis Center. It was the first loss at home for Minnesota (12-6, 1-4 Big Ten) in seven matches. The Gophers won the doubles point and Vasia Karvouni won 6-3, 7-5 at No. 4 singles.