The No. 23-ranked Indiana University women’s swimming and diving team competed well in the preliminary round of the 2020 Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center on Thursday afternoon.
The Hoosiers qualified 14 athletes into the second night of finals at the Big Ten Championships. Four Hoosier swimmers will compete in Championship Finals, seven will swim in the B Final with an addition diver in the B Final, and two additional swimmers will take to the blocks in the C Final.
Indiana enters the evening session in 13th place with 50.0 points. No. 5 Michigan leads the overall scoring with 118.0 points. No. 19 Ohio State ranks second with 112.0 points and Wisconsin stands in third with 108.0 points.
500 Freestyle
Senior Cassy Jernberg nabbed the third-fastest qualifying time in the prelims of the 500 freestyle with an NCAA B Cut mark of 4:39.50, narrowly missing her career-best time of 4:39.22. She will be joined in the Championship Final by teammate senior Maria Paula Heitmann, who established a new career-best mark of 4:40.91. The mark was the fifth-quickest in the prelims and was good for an NCAA B Cut time.
Junior Josie Grote and sophomore Maggie Wallace will each represent the Hoosiers in the B Final. Grote finished 10th in the prelims with an NCAA B Cut time of 4:44.10, while Wallace clocked an NCAA B Cut mark of 4:45.47 for 15th place in the prelims.
200 IM
Sophomore Mackenzie Looze turned in the best qualifying time for the Hoosiers in the 200 IM with an NCAA B Cut time of 1:56.47. She will return for the evening session in the Championship Final.
Junior Bailey Kovac and junior Abby Kirkpatrick will both take to the B Final after nabbing NCAA B Cut marks of 1:58.54 and 1:59.69, respectively. Freshman Emily Weiss will swim in the C Final after clocking a career-best time of 1:59.96.
50 Freestyle
Freshman Cora Dupre blazed out of the gates to eclipse her previous school record in the 50 freestyle (22.09) set at the Tennessee Invitational earlier in the season. Her NCAA B Cut time of 21.90 placed her in third overall heading into the Championship Final.
A trio of Hoosiers, freshman Ashley Turak (22.56), junior Grace Haskett (22.73) and junior Laurel Eiber (22.74), all earned B Final nods with NCAA B Cut times. The time set by Turak marked a new career best and places her eighth on Indiana’s all-time performer list.
Freshman Alexis Doherty moved into 13th on the all-time performance list at Indiana with a career-best mark of 22.71 in a swim-off for the final spot in the C Final following a 22.97 in the prelims.
1-Meter Dive
Freshman Zain Smith was able to squeak into the B Final of the 1-Meter dive after compiling a six-dive score of 251.40.
UP NEXT
The 2020 Big Ten Women’s Championships continue on Thursday with the second night of finals. The action gets underway at 6:30 p.m. ET with the finals of the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 1-meter dive and 400 medley relay.
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RESULTS
500 Freestyle
Cassy Jernberg – 4:39.50 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)
Maria Paula Heitmann – 4:40.91 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
Josie Grote – 4:44.10 (B Final, NCAA B Cut)
Maggie Wallace – 4:45.47 (B Final, NCAA B Cut)
- Ryley Ober – 4:49.34
- Anne Rouleau – 4:58.32
- Ashleigh Lechner – 4:59.22
200 IM
Mackenzie Looze – 1:56.47 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)
Bailey Kovac – 1:58.54 (B Final, NCAA B Cut)
Abby Kirkpatrick – 1:59.69 (B Final, NCAA B Cut)
Emily Weiss – 1:59.96 (C Final, Career Best)
- Carla Gildersleeve – 2:00.62 (Career Best)
- Shelby Koontz – 2:01.57
- Katrina Sommer – 2:05.45
50 Freestyle
Cora Dupre – 21.90 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut, School Record, Career Best)
Ashley Turak – 22.56 (B Final, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
Grace Haskett – 22.73 (B Final, NCAA B Cut)
Laurel Eiber – 22.74 (B Final, NCAA B Cut)
Alexis Doherty – 22.71 (C Final, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
- Savanna Spears – 23.78 (Career Best)
- Grace Pangburn – 24.42
- Hope Hayward – 28.94
1-Meter Dive
Zain Smith – 251.40 (B Final)
- Taylor Carter – 227.95
- Alyssa Wang – 224.80
- Carmen Hernandez – 224.10
- Kayla Luarde – 215.15
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