DAY ONE RESULTS | Thursday Prelim Heat Sheets
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Northwestern women's swimming and diving team opened the 2017 Big Ten Championships with a school record in the 800 freestyle relay Wednesday night at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
Seniors Annika Winsness and Melissa Postoll - who led off and anchored the race - and freshmen Krystal Lara and Valerie Gruest Slowing won the first heat of the event with a time of 7:06.64 to finish sixth overall and earn Chicago's Big Ten Team 48 team points.
The time broke the previous school record of 7:08.52 set by Ellen Grigg, Emily Wong, Andrea Hupman and Kassia Shishkoff in 2008.
Winsnes opened the relay with a season and career-best split in the opening 200, setting the pace with a 1:46.16. Her split broke her own mark for the fourth spot on the NU Top-10 performers list all time. Gruest Slowing posted a split time of 1:47.13, Lara came in at 1:46.94 and Postoll closed the school record relay with a split of 1:46.41.
The Wildcats hit the NCAA 'B' cut standard of 7:08.93 and were just shy of the 'A' cut mark of 7:05.68.
Northwestern sits in seventh place with 80 team points following the opening night of competition that featured just the 200 medley and 800 free relays. The team of Lacey Locke, Lindsay Adamski, Mary Warren and Malorie Han swam a season-best time of 1:40.92 in the 200 medley relay, but picked up just 32 team points with an 11th-place finish.
The Big Ten Championships will continue Thursday at 10 a.m. CT with prelims in the 500 free, 200 individual medley, 50 free and 1-meter dive. Gruest Slowing is seeded seventh in the 500 free, Postoll is also seventh in the 200 IM and sophomore Olivia Rosendahl finished eighth in the 1-meter diving competition last season.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Northwestern women's swimming and diving team opened the 2017 Big Ten Championships with a school record in the 800 freestyle relay Wednesday night at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
Seniors Annika Winsness and Melissa Postoll - who led off and anchored the race - and freshmen Krystal Lara and Valerie Gruest Slowing won the first heat of the event with a time of 7:06.64 to finish sixth overall and earn Chicago's Big Ten Team 48 team points.
The time broke the previous school record of 7:08.52 set by Ellen Grigg, Emily Wong, Andrea Hupman and Kassia Shishkoff in 2008.
Winsnes opened the relay with a season and career-best split in the opening 200, setting the pace with a 1:46.16. Her split broke her own mark for the fourth spot on the NU Top-10 performers list all time. Gruest Slowing posted a split time of 1:47.13, Lara came in at 1:46.94 and Postoll closed the school record relay with a split of 1:46.41.
The Wildcats hit the NCAA 'B' cut standard of 7:08.93 and were just shy of the 'A' cut mark of 7:05.68.
Northwestern sits in seventh place with 80 team points following the opening night of competition that featured just the 200 medley and 800 free relays. The team of Lacey Locke, Lindsay Adamski, Mary Warren and Malorie Han swam a season-best time of 1:40.92 in the 200 medley relay, but picked up just 32 team points with an 11th-place finish.
The Big Ten Championships will continue Thursday at 10 a.m. CT with prelims in the 500 free, 200 individual medley, 50 free and 1-meter dive. Gruest Slowing is seeded seventh in the 500 free, Postoll is also seventh in the 200 IM and sophomore Olivia Rosendahl finished eighth in the 1-meter diving competition last season.