MINNEAPOLIS -- Runner-up showings in championship finals from Lauren Gustafson and MacKenzie Tweardy highlighted the final day of the Big Ten Championships for Purdue women's swimming and diving Saturday.
The Boilermakers finished in fifth place with 363 team points, topping both No. 21 Michigan (sixth) and No. 17 Wisconsin (seventh), teams that were ranked ahead of Purdue in the latest CSCAA Top 25 poll.
Gustafson placed second in the A final of the 100 freestyle and also had the best split (49.17) for the Boilers on the 400 freestyle relay team that took third. She teamed up with Carly Mercer, Lauren Nichols and Rhiannon Sheets on the 400 free relay. Gustafson's time of 48.78 was the best of 100 free preliminaries and the second fastest in program history, coming up only tenth of a second shy of the Purdue record.
Tweardy added a runner-up finish in the championship final of the platform diving to her second-place showing in the 1-meter springboard competition Thursday. The sophomore's score of 343.30 in the finals was the third highest in program history. She accounted for 36 team points this week, the most of any Boilermaker.
Casey Matthews, Gustafson and Tweardy were all named Second Team All-Big Ten.
Maddie Miskulin and Sheets joined Gustafson and Tweardy as championship finals qualifiers Saturday. Miskulin took seventh in the championship final of platform diving and Sheets placed sixth in the A final of the 200 butterfly.
Francesca Marr recorded the second fastest time (2:13.10) in program history while placing third in the B final of the 200 breaststroke.
Freshmen Allie Davis (ninth) and Nika Carlina Petric (12th) both scored team points by finishing among the top 16 in the 1650 freestyle. Michelle Cabassol (platform diving) and Mercer (100 free) also scored points in the consolation finals of their events.
As expected, the A final of the 100 free featured a tight finish among the top five. Gustafson finished tied for second with Northwestern's Taylor Reynolds, both sprinters getting out touched by seventh hundredths of a second by Big Ten champion Paige Whitmire of Penn State. Less than two tenths of a second separated the first- and fifth-place finishers.
The 400 free relay featured the third through seventh-place teams all finish within a span of seventh tenths of a second.
The Purdue swimmers will have the option of competing at the Boiler-Make-It NCAA Last Chance Meet at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center Saturday (March 2). The Purdue divers will continue training for the NCAA Zone C Championships, hosted by the Boilers this season the weekend of March 14-16.
Purdue Notables * -- New Purdue Season-Best Time
^ -- New Personal Season-Best Time
(B) - NCAA Provisional Qualifying Time
(Z) - NCAA Zone Qualifying Score
400 Free Relay Mercer, Gustafson, Nichols & Sheets, 3:18.08 (B) - Finished 3rd (32 Points)
Platform Diving MacKenzie Tweardy, 343.30* (Z) - Finished 2nd in Championship Final (17 Points)
Third Best Score in Program History Maddie Miskulin, 294.80^ (Z) - Finished 7th in Championship Final (12 Points)
Michelle Cabassol, 287.95^ (Z) - Finished 2nd in Consolation Final (7 Points)
100 Free Lauren Gustafson, 48.78* (B, Prelim Time) - Finished T-2nd in A Final (16.5 Points)
Second Fastest Time in Program History Carly Mercer, 49.33^ - Finished 3rd in B Final (6 Points)
1650 Free Allie Davis, 16:27.87* (B) - Finished 9th (9 Points)
Nika Carlina Petric, 16:32.40^ - Finished 12th (5 Points)
200 Breast Francesca Marr, 2:13.10* (B) - Finished 2nd in B Final (7 Points)
Second Fastest Time in Program History Missy Robinson, 2:16.22^ (Prelim Time) - Finished 8th in C Final
Ellesse Lunde, 2:17.04 (Prelim Time) - Finished 5th in C Final
200 Fly Rhiannon Sheets, 1:58.08 (B) - Finished 6th in A Final (13 Points)
Sarah Boylen, 2:01.45^ (Prelim Time) - Finished 8th in C Final
Alex Todd, 2:01.88^ (Prelim Time) - Finished 4th in C Final
200 Back Jacie Beagle, 2:01.53 - Finished 34th in Prelims
Swimmer of the Championships Lindsay Vrooman, Indiana
Diver of the Championships Maggie Keefer, Minnesota
Freshman of the Year Brooklyn Snodgrass, Indiana
Swimming Coach of the Year Kelly Kremer, Minnesota
Diving Coach of the Year Wenbo Chen, Minnesota
Tickets
Roster
Schedule
