Feb. 20, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Northwestern women's swimming and diving team remains in seventh place after two days of competition at the Big Ten Championships hosted by Purdue University. The Wildcats had four individuals and one relay squad score points Thursday in the five events which finals were held.
The Wildcats have compiled 96 team points through the first seven events. Indiana is the leader after the first two days, having amassed 220 points, just two points ahead of second-place Wisconsin.
Vicky West (Redlands, Calif./Redlands) provided NU's top finish of the day, placing seventh in the 500 freestyle in a season-best time of 4:50.04. The time earned West an NCAA "B" cut.
Wisconsin's Carly Piper broke her own Big Ten mark in winning the event with an "A" cut time of 4:41.58.
The Wildcats' 200 freestyle relay squad of Sara Petric (Mequon, Wis./Homestead), Paige Nath (Wichita, Kan./Trinity Academy), Maria Reeves (Fairbanks, Alaska/Lathrop) and Carmen Cosgrove (Perth, Western Australia) earned an eight-place finish, touching in at 1:33.83. Wisconsin won the event in 1:30.36 to set a pool record.
Northwestern had two individuals place in the consolation heat of the 200 individual medley. Erin Swenson (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) finished 11th in a time of 2:03.17. Nath touched in at 13th, a half-second behind Swenson (2:03.67). Both marks were "B" cuts.
Michigan's Sara Johnson edged Wisconsin's Anna Trinidad by one-hundredth of a second to capture the title. Johnson's winning time of 2:00.55 was an "A" cut, as was Trinidad's.
Ashley Carter (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) earned the Wildcats' final points of the night on the 1-meter diving board. The sophomore posted a score of 242.20 in the preliminary round to place 13th.
Competition resumes at 11 a.m. Eastern time Friday morning with the preliminary rounds, followed by the finals at 7 p.m.