Northwestern in Ninth Place at Big Ten Championships

2/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

Feb. 17, 2011

Results

Official 2011 Big Ten Championships Website

Thursday Photo Gallery

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Following the first full day of competition Thursday at the 2011 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, Northwestern stands in ninth place.

The Wildcats are one point behind eighth-place Iowa and 25.5 points in back of seventh-place Wisconsin. NU is 21 points on top of 10th-place Michigan State. Indiana leads the meet after placing four divers in the eight-person championship diving final.

Friday's preliminary session begins at 10 a.m. CT with finals getting underway at 5:30 p.m. CT. Live results and further information are available at the Official 2011 Big Ten Championships website.

Thursday Morning Preliminary Session Recap:

Northwestern turned in multiple career-best swims and earned a trio of NCAA consideration times during Thursday morning's three-event preliminary session at the Big Ten Championships, but the results were a mixed bag in terms of second-swim opportunities for the evening's finals session.

In the 500 free, freshman Jackie Powell (Madison, Wis./James Madison Memorial) earned a second swim in the bonus final when she placed 19th overall in an NCAA `B' time of 4:49.68, 4.24 seconds quicker than her seed time in the event. Sophomore Meredith King (Louisville, Ky./duPont Manual) earned first alternate status for the 500 free bonus final when she turned in a massive drop of 7.5 seconds from her seed time to swim a career-best and NCAA `B' cut time of 4:51.17 -- good for 25th overall after the morning session.

NU's top seed and a former first-team All-American in the event, senior Ellen Grigg (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin School) unfortunately ran into trouble when her goggles failed early on during her swim, leading to a 33rd-place 4:54.25 that was 2.20 seconds slower than her seed.

In the 200 IM, junior Kathleen Patterson (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) swam a 2:03.12 while classmate Jacquie Godbe (Rapid City, S.D./Stevens) notched a career-best 2:03.13 to each earn spots in the bonus final of the event, with Godbe securing the 24th and final second-swim position.

Swimming in her first Big Ten meet, freshman Becca Soderholm (Madison, Wis./Madison East) placed 27th overall with a 2:03.57, a time 2.73 seconds faster than her seed.

Sophomore Taylor Reynolds (St. Louis, Mo./Webster Groves) earned a scoring position in the consolation final of the 50 free with her Thursday morning effort, swimming a career-best and NCAA `B' cut time of 23.00 to take 13th overall. That time moves Reynolds up from ninth to a tie for sixth on NU's all-time top times list in the event.

Senior Liza Engstrom (Reno, Nev./Robert McQueen) narrowly missed out on the consolation final after a career-best swim of her own, tying for 18th place and securing a bonus final lane with a 23.25.

The career-bests continued to come for Northwestern in the 50 free, with sophomore Marybeth Hall (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) going 23.41 to take 28th overall and miss out on a second swim by just .08 of a second. Hall entered this weekend following a breakout meet at the Shamrock Invitational three weeks ago, setting her previous career-best of 23.60 at that time.

During the 1-meter diving preliminary competition early in the afternoon, sophomore Felicitas Lenz (Altadena, Calif./Polytechnic School) qualified 16th overall for the evening session with a 264.20. Freshman Cosima Lenz (Altadena, Calif./Polytechnic School) was 22nd overall with a 254.15 in her first Big Ten Championships event.

Thursday Evening Finals Session Recap:

In diving competition prior to the official start of the evening swims, Felicitas Lenz scored a 253.00 to finish eighth in the consolation final, earning a point for the Wildcats.

In the 200 free relay, Northwestern's team of Powell, Reynolds, Marybeth Hall (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) and Engstrom swam a sixth-place and NCAA `B' cut time of 1:31.14. The time cut 2.17 seconds off NU's seed time in the event and ranks the squad the sixth-fastest in the relay in Northwestern history.

In the bonus final of the 500 free, King again lowered her career-best time in the event -- nearly two more full seconds over her preliminary time -- to place third in the heat and 19th overall with a `B' time of 4:49.26. That effort put her seventh on NU's all-time top times list in the event. Powell scratched from the bonus swim after competing with the 200 free relay.

Godbe had a tremendous finals session in the 200 IM, dropping nearly two more full seconds from her prelim time to win the heat and finish 17th overall in the event with an NCAA `B' consideration time of 2:01.22. The time not only was a career-best for the junior -- who all but snuck into the finals session with the last available spot -- but it made her the second-fastest swimmer in Northwestern history in the event.

Patterson came back at night to place 22nd overall after a 2:03.35 in the 200 IM bonus final.

Reynolds was unable to duplicate her morning time in the 50 free, coming in 16th overall and earning a point for the Wildcats with a 23.13 consolation final swim. In the bonus final, Engstrom nearly replicated her career-best effort with a 23.27, good for third in the heat and 19th overall in the event.

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