Feb. 17, 2001
Northwestern finally was able to take part in the record-breaking action that has been going on all weekend at the 20th annual Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships in Bloomington, Ind.
In back-to-back races two Northwestern school records were rewritten -- one for the second time that day. In the first event of the evening, freshman Vicky West erased a four-year-old mark in the 1650-yard freestyle with a first-place time of 16:17.20. This was only the third time in West's career that she has swam the mile.
Three-peat was the chant for Tashy Bohm, as she set a new school record and took first in the 200 backstroke for the third consecutive year. Bohm swam 1:57.61 to break the old record of 1:57.80, which stood for less than a day. Bohm had broken Susie Sample's 2000 record during prelims Saturday morning. Sample finished third in the championship race with a time of 1:58.91.
Rachel Johnson capped off a successful meet by placing second in the 200 butterfly. She swam a personal best 2:00.27. Previously, Johnson had placed third in the 200 IM and fifth in the 400 IM. Merritt Adams also picked up points for the `Cats in the 200 butterfly, finishing fourth in 2:00.81.
Summing up the meet, NU finished with two Big Ten titles, one runner-up, three third-places and two fourth-places. Bohm and West have automatically qualified for nationals, while numerous `Cats have posted provisional times. Bohm, West and Johnson also received All-Big Ten honors.