The No. 23-ranked Indiana University women’s swimming and diving team had a strong showing on Friday morning at the 2020 Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.
The Hoosiers will have 15 swimmers back for the finals this evening. A total of eight swimmers will compete in the Championships Finals, four in Consolation Finals, and three in C Finals. IU also brought back one diver for the Consolation Final and had a second diver score points out of the C Final.
Heading into the Friday night finals, Indiana sits in third place with 338.0 overall points. No. 19 Ohio State leads the field with a point total of 561.0 and No. 5 Michigan has compiled 478.0 points for second place in the team standings.
100 Butterfly
Senior Shelby Koontz turned in the 10th-fastest preliminary time in the 100 fly with an NCAA B Cut mark of 53.51 to secure a spot in the evening Consolation Final. Freshman Carla Gildersleeve finished the prelim round in 22nd place to advance to the C Final with a career-best time of 54.26.
400 IM
The Hoosiers put on a show in the 400 IM, qualifying all three entries in the event for the Championship Final. Sophomore Noelle Peplowski shaved nearly 10 seconds off her career best time to secure the third seed in the A Final. Her NCAA B Cut time of 4:08.89 makes her the ninth-fastest performer in the event in program history.
Sophomore Mackenzie Looze posted the fifth-quickest prelim time in the event with an NCAA B Cut time of 4:09.57. Junior Bailey Kovac secured a career-best and NCAA B Cut time of 4:11.22 to nab the seventh spot in the A Final. She remains the 11th-fastest performer in the event in IU history.
200 Freestyle
In perhaps the deepest prelim event in the field, Indiana advanced six swimmers into the finals of the 200 free. Freshman Cora Dupre was the fastest qualifier in the event with a career-best time of 1:44.53, making her the fifth-fastest performer in the event in school history. Senior Maria Paula Heitmann notched her second Championship Final of the week with a time of 1:45.88. She will be seeded seventh.
Senior Josie Grote and freshman Ryley Ober each will compete in the B Final with times of 1:46.92 and 1:47.16, respectively. For Ober, her time marked a career best. Finally, senior Cassy Jernberg and junior Laurel Eiber will both represent Indiana in the C Final. Jernberg made the final with a career-best time of 1:47.39, while Eiber notched a time of 1:47.36.
100 Breaststroke
Three Hoosiers went under a minute in the prelims of the 100 breaststroke. Freshman Emily Weiss touched the wall at 59.02 for the third-fastest qualifying time, while Peplowski came in fifth with a career-best mark of 59.17.
Junior Abby Kirkpatrick became the eighth Hoosier to break the one-minute barrier in the event with a lifetime-best time of 59.91 to reach the B Final.
100 Backstroke
Junior Grace Haskett recorded the third-fastest qualifying time in the 100 backstroke prelims with a career-best time of 55.77, tying her for the 10th-fastest performer in school history.
3-Meter Dive
Sophomore Alyssa Wang narrowly missed an NCAA Zone Qualifying score in the 3-Meter Dive with a six-dive tally of 279.45. Freshman Zain Smith earned her second scoring outing of the week with a 21st-place finish with a score of 257.00.
UP NEXTThe 2020 Big Ten Women’s Championships continue on Friday with the third night of finals. The action gets underway at 6:30 p.m. ET with the finals of the 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 3-meter dive and 200 freestyle relay.
