Feb. 16, 2010
Northwestern's Big Ten Championships Notes (PDF Format) 
Official Big Ten Championships Page (Purduesports.com)
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After another successful dual-meet season, No. 24 Northwestern enters this week's Big Ten Championships hosted by Purdue with lofty expectations both for a high conference finish and for qualifying a large group of Wildcats for the 2010 NCAA meet.
Action kicks off at 5:30 p.m. CT Wednesday night, Feb. 17, with the 200 medley relay and the 800 free relay. The bulk of the meet then begins with preliminary heats at 10 a.m. CT Thursday morning, Feb. 18. For the complete schedule, links to live results and more information on the 2010 Big Ten Championships, link to Purduesports.com.
NU went 8-3 in dual competition in 2009-10, showcasing its talent and depth across the board in all strokes and distances. Eleven different Wildcats have earned top-16 seeds in 11 different individual events for this week, while Northwestern's relays all are seeded in the top half of the league.
Leading the way in the sprint free is senior Emily Wong, who is seeded in the top three at all three sprint distances. Junior Teisha Lightbourne and freshman Taylor Reynolds also will contribute mightily individually and in relays.
In the distance races, returning All-Americans Ellen Grigg and Kassia Shishkoff headline an NU squad with a legitimate shot at the Big Ten title in the 800 free relay. That duo is joined by the likes of Meredith King, Caitlin Masney, Beth Loe and Jenn Kocsis.
Backstroke school-record holders Liza Engstrom (100) and Genny Szymanski (200) pace that stroke's hopes at Big Tens, with Katie Eschenburg and freshman Meaghan Fenn providing scoring threats.
In the breaststroke, sophomore Jenny Wilson put together another very strong season, and already has an NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time in the 200. She is joined by Kathleen Patterson at both distances and Hannah Points in the 200.
Meghan Cavanaugh and Alex Kraus both are top-16 seeds in the 100 fly while Shishkoff and Points hold that distinction in the 200. Patterson, Points, Shishkoff, King and Jacquie Godbe have individual medley glory in their sights.
Freshman Felicitas Lenz enters her first Big Ten meet as NU's biggest scoring threat on the boards since 2006.