Wildcats Gear Up For Big Ten Championships

Wednesday, February 14

Columbus, Ohio

All Day

Northwestern

Big Ten Championships - Day One

Wildcats Gear Up For Big Ten Championships

2/14/2018 8:48:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
DATE	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE Results
Wednesday, Feb. 14 - Saturday, Feb. 19	McCorkle Aquatic Pavillion Columbus, Ohio	BTN Plus on BTN2GO	Swimming
Social: Twitter (@NUSwimDive and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (@NUSwimDive \| Facebook 2018 Big Ten Championships Meet Central \| Big Ten Release

EVANSTON, Ill. — With the end of dual meets and the close of the regular season, Northwestern women's swimming and diving is ready to make their impact on the conference stage at the Big Ten Championships, set for February 14-17.

This year, the women's championships will be hosted by Ohio State in the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, located in Columbus, Ohio. Races will span the four day period, across both preliminary and final sessions. A complete schedule of events is listed below.

The Wildcats finished seventh at last year's Big Ten Championships and have improved its standing each of head coach Abby Steketee's first two seasons. NU had 10 finishers in the top eight of their events last season and returnes senior Mary Warren, who placed third in last year's 50 free, and junior diver Olivia Rosendahl, who grabbed second place in both the 1M and Platform events. In all of Wildcat history, the team has won 56 individual championships at the Big Tens, including 38 swimmers, 17 relay teams, and one diver.

Northwestern's last individual championship title came in 2008, when Andrea Hupman took the top spot in both the 100 and 200 free.

The Season's Standout Stars
Swimmers to watch at this week include Warren and first-year Calypso Sheridan. Warren set a six-meet streak of wins in the 50 free this season, and set the pool record in the event at the TYR Invitational, qualifying with an NCAA 'B' cut time. Her 50 free time ranks 13th in the Big Ten, and she is ranked seventh in the 100 IM.

Sheridan stood out from the beginning of the season as on the 'Cats' top swimmers, earning her keep with two Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, and setting three pool records in the 200 IM, 400 IM and 200 breast. She tallied 18 individual event wins this season, and has three NCAA 'B' cut times going into the Big Ten Championships. S

The spotlight will also be on Rosendahl, who became Northwestern's first-ever National Champion with a career-best score and first-place finish in the platform last season. This year, Rosendahl has won eleven times across all diving events. She will look to improve on her two second place finishes at last year's Championship.

Event-by-Event Breakdown
Freestyle: Aside from Warren's dominance in the 50 free, Northwestern's sprint freestyle squad will be backed by fellow senior Anna Keane. Keane took first place in the 200 free at the TYR Invitational, finishing with an NCAA 'B' cut time. Keane also anchored the 800 freestyle relay team, joining sophomores Krystal Lara and Malorie Han, and first-year Ilektra Lebl for a pool-record win. After a TYR win in the 1650 free, sophomore Irune Andres hopes to bring home points as she enters the championships ranked 16th in the event.

Backstroke: While Sheridan is the 'Cats leader in the 100 back, Lara and fellow sophomore Nicole Aarts follow not far behind. Lara is ranked 15th in the 100 back. Aarts ranks in the top 30 in all backstroke events.

Breaststroke: One of Northwestern's premier strokes this season has been the breaststroke, with three swimmers in the top 30 of the 100 and 200 events. First-year Sophie Angus enters the championships ranked 21st in the 100 breast.

Butterfly: Sophomore Krystal Lara and first-year Ilektra Lebl will look to lead the 'Cats in the fly events. Lara posted a NCAA 'B' cut time in the 100 fly earlier this season and enters the championships ranked 21st in the Big Ten, while Lebl is just outside the scoring zone in the 200.

Individual Medley: Northwestern stars of the other events combine to give the Wildcats a deep group of IM swimmers, highlighted by Sheridan. Lebl's times in both the 200 and 400 IM at the TYR Invitational qualified for an NCAA 'B' cut.

Diving: Though Rosendahl rules the Northwestern pool on the diving boards, junior Eryn Scannell will also look to be a scoring threat. She came out of the TYR Invitational with a win in 1M, beating her own career record, and giving her a 17th ranking in the Big Ten.

Relay: Joining the 800 freestyle relay team in record-breaking relay wins is both the 200 and 400 medley relays. To set a pool record time, Sheridan, Angus, Aarts, and Warren touched the wall first in the 200 medley relay at the TYR Invitational. With last years teams placing seventh in both relays, this season's teams will look to improve at this year's Championships.

Now in its third year at the Big Ten Championships is a revised-scoring format in which qualifiers in the bonus finals of the swimming events will account for team points. Divers that finish 17th through 24th place in the preliminary rounds will also account for team points. Only A & B finals (championship and consolation) will be contested in the diving events.

A Final Scoring: 32-28-27-26-25-24-23-22
B Final Scoring: 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11
C Final Scoring: 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (Plus 17-24 in Diving Prelims)
Relay Scoring: 64-56-54-52-50-48-46-44-40-34-32-30-28

All seven sessions will air live on BTN Plus on BTN2Go. The Big Ten Network will air a condensed version of the meet on Sunday (Feb. 19) at 10:30 a.m. ET. Bernie Guenther (play-by-play), former Indiana swimmer Margaux Farrell (swimming color), former Minnesota men's diver Manny Pollard (diving color) and Gabriella DiGiovanni (reporter) will be on the call. The first six sessions will be streamed online via BTN Plus, while the seventh and final session will be shown live on BTN2Go.

Wednesday, Feb. 14 - 6:30 p.m. - Swimming Finals
200 Medley Relay 30 minute Intermission 800 Freestyle Relay

Thursday, Feb. 15 - 11:00 a.m. - Swimming Prelims
500 Freestyle 200 Individual Medley 50 Freestyle 1-Meter Diving - Trials (1 p.m.) 1-Meter Diving - Consolation Final

Thursday, Feb. 15 - 1:00 p.m. - Diving Trials
1M Diving Trials 30 minute break 1M Consolation Finals

Thursday, Feb. 15 - 6:30 p.m. - Swimming & Diving Finals
500 Freestyle 200 Individual Medley 50 Freestyle 1-Meter Diving 400 Medley Relay

Friday, Feb. 16 - PRELIMS at 11 a.m.
100 Butterfly 400 Individual Medley 200 Freestyle 100 Breaststroke 100 Backstroke

Friday, Feb. 16 - 1:00 .p.m - Diving Trials
3-Meter Diving - Trials 30 minute break 3-Meter Diving - Consolation Final

Friday, Feb. 16 - 6:30 p.m. - Swimming & Diving Finals
100 Butterfly 400 Individual Medley 200 Freestyle 100 Breaststroke 100 Backstroke 3-Meter Diving Finals 200 Freestyle Relay

Saturday, Feb. 17 - 11:00 a.m. - Swimming Prelims
200 Backstroke 100 Freestyle 200 Breaststroke 200 Butterfly

Saturday, Feb. 17 - 1:00 p.m. - Diving Prelims
Platform Diving - Trials Platform Diving - Consolation Final

Saturday, Feb. 17 - 4:15 p.m. - Approximate Mid-Day Session
1,650 Freestyle (fastest heats at finals)

Saturday, Feb. 17 - 6:00 p.m. - Swimming & Diving Finals
1,650 Freestyle 200 Backstroke 100 Freestyle 200 Breaststroke 200 Butterfly Platform Diving Finals 400 Freestyle Relay Awards Presentations