Opening Night Complete at 2011 Big Ten Championships

2/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

Feb. 16, 2011

Results

Official 2011 Big Ten Championships Website

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The 2011 Big Ten Championships got underway Wednesday evening at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center with a pair of relays during an abbreviated opening session.

Northwestern's team of Liza Engstrom (Reno, Nev./Robert McQueen), Jenny Wilson (Bethesda, Md./Sidwell Friends School), Alex Kraus (Birmingham, Ala./Vestavia Hills) and Taylor Reynolds (St. Louis, Mo./Webster Groves) kicked off the 2011 Big Ten Championships by cutting more than two full seconds from NU's seed time, pulling away to win the first three-team heat of the event by 2.32 seconds over Illinois with an NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time of 1:40.85. The Wildcats placed eighth overall in the event.

Northwestern's 1:40.85 placed this 200 medley relay squad fifth on NU's all-time top times list in the event; the effort was .54 of a second faster than the Wildcats' top time in the event in 2010.

The quick first night then took a break for an exhibition of synchronized diving, which is not a sanctioned Big Ten event. Northwestern's sister duo of Felicitas Lenz and Cosima Lenz (Altadena, Calif./Polytechnic School) tied with Purdue for fourth out of eight entries with a score of 245.19.

In the second and final relay of the night, Jackie Powell (Madison, Wis./James Madison Memorial), Ellen Grigg (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin School), Jacquie Godbe (Rapid City, S.D./Stevens) and Meredith King (Louisville, Ky./duPont Manual) sliced nearly seven full seconds off NU's seed time in the 800 free relay to turn in an NCAA `B' cut of 7:13.50, good for seventh overall in the field.

The time also made the group the third-fastest in NU history in the event.

The 2011 Big Ten Championships continue tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 17, with preliminary heats starting at 10 a.m. CT and finals getting underway at 5:30 p.m. CT.

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