Illinois
In the opening session of the Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships, the Fighting Illini swimming and diving team shook up the record book. The Illini clocked the second-best time in school history in both the 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay tonight from the Canham Natatorium. The times in both events were season bests for the Orange and Blue.
“After a day of not knowing if we were going to start the meet today or have to postpone, the team came out with really good energy,” shared Illinois head coach Sue Novitsky. “We had some really strong relay efforts tonight and are showing some good speed. It was good to see the team respond and handle the adversity, stay calm and compete well under pressure.”
Big Ten Championship action began Wednesday evening with the 200 medley relay. The relay team of Sloane McDermott, Jennifer Coady, Lori Lynn and Audrey Rodawig posted a time of 1:41.39, placing them second on the school’s all-time fastest times list. The relay team finished 11th overall.
McDermott’s lead-off split was a lifetime best for the Illini senior and ranks sixth all-time in the 50 backstroke on the Illinois fastest individuals list.
In the second and final event of the night, the 800 freestyle relay team of Gabbie Stecker, Amelia Schilling, Megan Vuong and Samantha Stratford started strong for the Illini. Despite trailing Northwestern after the opening two legs of the race, Illinois kept battling, taking a small lead on the Wildcats heading into the final swimmers. The Illini ultimately won the heat by over a body length with a time of 7:14.31. UI’s reading held up for an eighth place finish in the event to secure the Illini relay team a spot on the podium.
The Illini currently sit in 10th place after the first session of competition with 76 points. Action will resume tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. CT with the preliminary rounds of the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, as well as the one-meter diving competition.
“We have a long way to go in the meet, but we have put ourselves in a good mindset to keep fighting,” stated Novitsky.
Indiana
The No. 13-ranked Indiana women’s swimming and diving team got off to a great start at the 2016 Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships on Wednesday night in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The Hoosiers earned medals in both championship finals, winning gold in the 200 medley relay and taking home the silver in the 800 freestyle relay.
After the first night of the Big Ten Championships, Indiana leads with a score of 120. Michigan sits in second with 116, while Ohio State and Penn State are tied for third place with 100. Wisconsin rounds out the top-five with 98 points.
Indiana started the 2016 Big Ten Championships on a high note, as the 200 medley relay team of Marie Chamberlain, Lilly King, Gia Dalesandro and Grace Vertigans took home the gold, winning with a school-record and NCAA A cut time of 1:35.73.
With their tremendous performance, the Hoosiers broke the previous school record by over a second and also surpassed the Big Ten meet record. Indiana’s time was also a Canham Natatorium record, eclipsing the previous mark set by Wisconsin (1:36.29) set in 2009.
The win in the 200 medley relay was the fourth in program history for the Hoosiers and the second in the last three seasons. IU also won the gold in the 200 medley relay in 1985, 2008 and 2014.
In the 800 free relay, the IU team of Haley Lips, Kennedy Goss, Grace Vertigans and Delaney Barnard touched the wall in a NCAA A cut time of 7:00.83 to earn the silver medal. The mark ranks fourth all-time in program history. Haley Lips’ leadoff time of 1:44.14 ranks as the fifth-fastest 200 free swim in IU history.
Iowa
The University of Iowa women's swimming and diving team is in ninth place at the Big Ten Championships with 78 points following the first day of competition at the Canham Natatorium.
Indiana is leads the team race, sitting in first place with 120 points followed by Michigan with 116 points.
Iowa got to the podium to start Wednesday's finals, touching seventh in the 200-medley relay. Senior Allie Orvis, junior Emma Sougstad, freshman Kelly McNamara, and senior Olivia Kabacinski posted the second-fastest time in program history, touching the wall in 1:39.27.
The Hawkeyes swam to an 11th place finish in the 800-free relay with a seventh-fastest time in program history to close out the evening. Kabacinski, junior Serena Wanasek, senior Jennifer Weigand, and sophomore Carly O’Brien touched in with a time of 7:20.79.
Minnesota
The Golden Gophers opened the 2016 Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships tonight at the Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Minnesota picked up a silver medal in the 200-yard medley relay,
Minnesota’s 200 medley relay team of Zoe Avestruz, Rachel Munson, Danielle Nack and Lauren Votava finished with a NCAA A cut time of 1:37.27 for second place.
Erin Emery, Abigail Raatz, Brooke Zeiger and Samantha Harding finished 10th for Minnesota in the 800 free relay (7:19.84).
Nebraska
The Nebraska swimming and diving team kicked off the 2016 Big Ten Championships with two strong relay performances, Wednesday evening, at the University of Michigan’s Canham Natatorium.
Nebraska began competition with the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Jacqueline Juffer, Jordan Ehly, Erin Oeltjen and Alexandra Bilunas earned a 12th-place finish, posting a time of 1:42.25.
In the final event of session one, Nebraska earned a top-three time in school history. The team of Taryn Collura, Cassandra Brassard, Bria Deveaux and Katt Sickle posted a fifth-place time of 7:12.50 in the 800-yard freestyle relay. That time was the third fastest in school history and fastest time since 2000 in the event for the Huskers.
After two events, Nebraska is tied for seventh-place with Northwestern. The Huskers earned 80 points Wednesday evening and trail sixth-place Minnesota by only 10 points.
Competition will resume Thursday morning at 10 a.m. with the preliminary rounds of the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle and one-meter diving. Finals for those events will follow at 5:30 p.m., Thursday evening. Check back in to Huskers.com following each session, as the Huskers continue competition at the 2016 Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships.
Ohio State
The 2016 Big Ten Championships have officially kicked off with the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle finals. Ohio State currently sits in third place and has already set a new school record just one day and two events into the week.
Competition began with the 200 medley relay and the Buckeyes started out their championship with a new OSU record. Camey Rabold, Rachael Dzierzak, Liz Li, and Annie Jongekrijg combined to swim a time of 1:37.54, which beat the previous record that was set last season. The time was also good enough for third place, beating out the relay foursome from host-Michigan.
The 800 freestyle relay followed and Ohio State was able to earn a seventh place finish behind Katy Luchansky, Kathleen Cook, Christi DiPaolo, and Cara Norris’s time of 7:13.02. All four swimmers swam the fastest 200 yard freestyle of their collegiate careers during the race, while Luchansky, Cook, and DiPaolo all set personal best marks as well.
After the two relay finals, Ohio State currently has 100 team points and sits in a tie for third place with Penn State.
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 2
1. Indiana, 120
2. Michigan, 116
3. Penn State, 100
3. Ohio State, 100
5. Wisconsin, 98
6. Minnesota, 90
7. Northwestern, 80
7. Nebraska, 80
9. Iowa, 78
10. Illinois, 76
11. Rutgers, 74
12. Michigan State, 62
13. Purdue, 54
Rutgers
The Rutgers swimming and diving team set a program record in the 200 medley relay during day one of the 2016 Big Ten Conference Championships Wednesday night at the Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The quartet of senior Joanna Wu (Kent, Wash.), junior Rachel Stoddard (Hillsborough, N.J.), freshman Francesca Stoppa (Trento, Italy) and senior Sarah Coyne (Osceola, Ind.) hit the wall with a time of 1:39.57 to set the new program standard. The finish was good for eighth in the field.
The performance bested the Scarlet Knights previous school record of 1:40.05 set at last year’s Big Ten Conference Championships, with Wu, Coyne, then-junior Morgan Pfaff (Red Lion, Pa.) and Greta Leberfinger combining for the result.
RU also competed in the 800 freestyle relay during the first session, as Joanna Wu, freshman Cynthia Wu (Princeton, N.J.), freshman Vera Koprivova (Prerov, JC, Czech Republic) and sophomore Emily Erwin (Jenkinton, Pa.) produced a 12th-place time of 7:22.39 in the heat. The mark was more than five seconds faster than the Scarlet Knights’ previous season standard of 7:27.42.
After day one, Rutgers currently sits in 11th-place with 74 team points.
Wisconsin
The Wisconsin women’s swimming and diving team got the championship season started with a pair of relays at the 2016 Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Wednesday night.
The Badgers earned top-six finishes in the 200-yard medley and 800-yard freestyle relays and finished the first night of finals in fifth place in the team standings with 98 points.
UW shaved off over half of a second from its season-best mark in the 200-yard medley relay, as the team of Jess Unicomb, Anna Meinholz, Dana Grindall, and Chase Kinney finished fifth in the event with a time of 1 minute, 38.19 seconds.
The Indiana squad of Marie Chamberlain, Lillia King, Gia Dalesandro, and Grace Vertigans won the event with a meet-record time of 1:35.73.
In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Wisconsin finished sixth, as Grindall, Danielle Valley, Emmy Sehmann and Grace Tierney teamed up to finish in a season-best 7:12:58.
Host Michigan won the relay, as the team of Yirong Bi, Siobhan Haughey, Gabrielle DeLoof and Gillian Ryan won the event with a conference-record time of 6:58.54.
