Northwestern Poised For B1G Things at B1G Championships

2/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

Feb. 17, 2015

Game Photo

2015 Northwestern Women's Swimming and Diving
2015 Big Ten Championships
Championships Notes	Northwestern's B1G Notes Package
Date	Wednesday, Feb. 18-21
Times	10 a.m. CT Prelims • Noon CT Diving • 5:30 p.m. CT Finals
Location	McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion \| Columbus, Ohio
Championships Central	OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Live Coverage	\| Live Video

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern arrives at the Big Ten Championships this week with a cadre of young, fresh-faced talent ready to make an impact on the conference stage.

Ohio State and the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion play host to the 2015 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships Feb. 18-21. With the addition of Rutgers (Maryland does not sponsor swimming and diving anymore), this season marks the first with 13 teams at the B1G meet.

Six Big Ten schools are ranked in the most recent College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) dual meet poll, released Monday. Led by No. 14 Minnesota, the list also includes Indiana, Michigan, Purdue, Ohio State and Wisconsin. In addition, Iowa was ranked earlier in the season before they were defeated at home by Northwestern, giving this meet a wide open feel with a depth of talent.

Seven different Wildcats--including six freshmen or sophomores--have NCAA `B' provisional qualifying times this year in 10 different events, putting several B1GCats on the brink of NCAA Championships qualification.

In the winter, the AT&T U.S. Winter Nationals served as a preview of sorts for several Wildcats in showcasing their capabilities for this week's Big Ten Championships. Sophomore Ellen Stello broke a 25-year-old school record in the 200 butterfly while classmate Lacey Locke came within a whisper of breaking NU's school mark in the 100 back. A third sophomore, Lauren Abruzzo, finished 14th in the nation in the mile. All told, Wildcats earned five second swims at the Nationals meet and scored points in both medley relays courtesy of Locke, junior breaststroker Julianne Kurke, Stello and freshman Anna Keane.

During the dual meet season, Northwestern finished with a 7-6 record in which five of its six losses came to teams ranked or receiving votes in the most recent CSCAA coaches poll. In addition to that number, the Wildcats traveled to Iowa City in late January and knocked off then-No. 21 Iowa, 152-142, for a ranked road victory in dual competiton.

While school records were being challenged at the Winter Nationals meet, pool records fell all season long at the Norris Aquatics Center. Sophomore Annika Winsnes broke the 100 free mark and swam with the pool-record-breaking 400 free and 400 medley relays at NU's home TYR Inviational. In addition, the Wildcats' 200 free relay suited up to break that pool record in an un-rested, middle-of-January Senior Day dual against Milwaukee on Jan. 16.

All-in-all, it has been an exciting near for Northwestern, and the Wildcats are ready to carry that over in a B1G way.

EVENT-BY-EVENT PREVIEW

SPRINT FREESTYLE: Northwestern has a bevy of exciting young talent in its sprint freestyle group, led by freshman Mary Warren in the 50 free and sophomore Annika Winsnes in the 100 free. Both swimmers already have NCAA `B' cut time in those events this season and already rank among the top-5 all-time for NU in their respective specialty distances. Freshman Anna Keane and junior Julia Pratt--who swims the 50 free almost exclusively--give Northwestern an exciting 200 free relay. In the 200 freestyle, Winsnes and Keane move up distance quite well while distance stars Lauren Abruzzo and Emily Launer have been effective moving down.

DISTANCE FREESTYLE: 2014 NCAA Championships qualifier Lauren Abruzzo is back for her sophomore season in the 1,650 freestyle, where she achieved an NCAA `B' time at the AT&T Winter Nationals in December. She also has a `B' cut in the 500 free already this year. In that 500 free, sophomore Ellen Stello has added great depth while Ellen Anderson, Launer, freshman Sydney Modeas and sophomore Megan Purdy all could make noise in the mile thanks to a deep distance group.

BACKSTROKE: Sophomore Lacey Locke narrowly missed out on the NCAA Championships a year ago and is on a mission to get there in 2015. She has NCAA `B' cuts at both distances this season and fell just three one-hundredths of a second shy of the school record in the 100 back at the AT&T U.S. Winter Nationals. Classmates Jackie Doyle in the 100 and Melissa Postoll in the 200 also figure to make noise at their second-career Big Ten Championships.

BREASTSTROKE: Northwestern's lone event where seniority rules the day, junior Julianne Kurke is the Wildcats' leader here. She recorded an NCAA `B' cut in the 100 breast at NU's home TYR Invitational. Sophomore Georgie Pettibone is a strong 200 breast swimmer while sophomore Katie Branch ranks second for the Wildcats in the 100.

BUTTERFLY: Sophomore Ellen Stello in the 200 fly has been Northwestern's biggest breakout pairing this year. Stello has been swimming 2:00's all year in dual meets in this event, and broke the school record at the distance at the AT&T U.S. Winter Nationals with a `B' cut time. At the 100 distance, a pair of freshmen in Aja Malone and Maddy Sims lead the way.

INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY: Northwestern stars of the other events combine to give the Wildcats a deep group of IMers, especially at the 400 distance where Ellen Stello, Lauren Abruzzo and Sydney Modeas all have NCAA `B' cuts so far this season. Stello and Abruzzo's cuts came at Winter Nationals while Modeas' came at NU's home TYR Invite. At the 200 distance, Lacey Locke has Northwestern's top time of the season followed closely by Abruzzo, Stello and Melissa Postoll.

DIVING: Northwestern has been a battered and bruised bunch on the diving boards this season, with all three of its divers missing out of the last couple of dual meets of the year due to injury or illness. A pair of freshmen have been the Wildcats' lone competitors, with Monique Demaisip recording both of NU's top scores this year including an NCAA Zone qualification mark on the 1-meter springboard. Mashal Hashem is the other newcomer who has been competing this year for NU.

RELAYS: Northwestern's youth movement across all of its stroke disciplines has yielded exciting young relays for the Wildcats heading into the Big Ten Championships. The 200 free, 400 free and 400 medley relays all broke Norris Aquatics Center pool records this season--with the 200 free mark coming un-rested during a January dual meet with Milwaukee.

For Northwestern's complete preview and notes package for the 2015 Big Ten Championships, download the .pdf at the top of this page.

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