NCAA Championships on Deck for No. 10 IU Women

Wednesday, March 15

Knoxville, Tenn.

6 p.m.

Indiana University

NCAA Championships - Finals

3/14/2023 8:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

Watch Live Results (Swimming)Live Results (Diving)NCAA Championships Central

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A year ago, Indiana women's swimming and diving finished 11th nationally ahead of CSCAA and psych sheet projections with a young roster. It was the program's 14th consecutive top-15 placement.

This week, the No. 10-ranked Hoosiers will look to build on its momentum with 12 qualified student-athletes and all five relays competing at the 2023 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships inside the Allan Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The action kicks off Wednesday night and runs through Saturday (March 15-18). Streaming is available via the ESPN Plus digital platform.

The meet starts with the 200-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay on opening night. Indiana is seeded within All-America position in both at No. 15 in the 200 medley relay (1:35.98) and No. 7 in the 800 freestyle relay (6:58.44). IU's quartet of sophomore Anna Peplowski, sophomore Ching Hwee Gan, senior Mackenzie Looze and freshman Kristina Paegle set the program record in the 800 to win the Big Ten title a month ago.

Thursday marks the first full day of events, and IU has at least one athlete in each event. In the 500 free, Big Ten silver medalist Gan (4:38.96) is the 12th-fastest coming into the meet, while fellow sophomore Mariah Denigan comes in with a time of 4:40.52. Two seniors will compete in the 200 IM, with Noelle Peplowski taking the No. 24 seed (1:55.89) and Mackenzie Looze the No. 35 spot (1:56.52), though her personal best is a 1:55.68. Paegle's 21.91 in the 50 free sits just a hundredth of a second off IU's program record as she and senior Ashley Turak (22.00) race in the final individual swimming event of the day.

Diving enters the conversation on Thursday, beginning with IU's most loaded event on the 1-meter springboard. Two-time Big Ten 1-meter Champion and junior Anne Fowler will lead the way, though sophomore Megan Carter has the team's highest score in the event this season with a 351.60 at midseason. Fellow sophomore Skyler Liu joined Fowler and Carter on the podium at Big Tens, her first of three top-eight finishes that week. Carter, Liu and another sophomore, Alaina Heyde, are competing in their first NCAA Championships.

Thursday will conclude with the 200-yard freestyle relay, another program record set this season. Anna Peplowski, Paegle, Turak and junior Elizabeth Broshears won silver at Big Tens, going 1:27.70. The reordered lineup went .05 seconds faster than its previous program-best time at midseason.

Friday kicks off with three Hoosiers in the 400 IM; Looze (4:09.67), Mariah Denigan (4:11.25) and Ching Hwee Gan (4:14.00), who have all gone faster than their seed times. Anna Peplowski, a top-15 seed in all three of her events, will race her highest seeded event in the 200-yard freestyle. The Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships set a program record in 1:43.33 to win gold at the conference meet and capture the No. 7 slot entering this week. Freshman Kristina Paegle (1:46.69) will also race the event.

Peplowski will swim again Friday in the 100 back, where she is the No. 14 seed with a time of 51.62. The current program record sits at 51.05. Between those events, Anna's sister, senior Noelle Peplowski, and fellow sophomore Brearna Crawford will compete in the 100-yard breaststroke, boasting seed times of 59.10 and 59.86, respectively.

Fowler and Liu will return for the 3-meter dive competition after both medaled at the conference meet. Matching their medal finishes, Fowler and Liu were the Nos. 1 and 3 qualifiers out of Zone C.

Indiana is the No. 8-seed in the 400-yard medley relay, Friday's final event. The Peplowski sisters led off the Big Ten silver medal swim, anchored by Broshears and Paegle. The group went 3:29.82.

The final day projects to be IU's most rewarding with five top-15 seeded swims. A year ago, the Hoosiers jumped four spots on Saturday.

In the 1,650-yard freestyle, Gan (15:56.55) and Denigan (15:57.82) are the Nos. 8 and 10 seeds. Then, Peplowski will close her meet as the No. 13 seed in the 200 back, going 1:51.81 in her Big Ten title swim. In the 100 free to follow, Paegle (48.15) and Turak (48.66) will swim with the program record 47.84 in sight.

Noelle Peplowski became the second-fastest 200 breaststroke swimmer in program history when she touched in 2:05.52 at midseason. The Big Ten champ is one of three Hoosiers in the 200 breast, joined by Looze (2:08.58) and Crawford (2:06.86). Both Looze and Crawford have career-best times faster than their seeds.

Fowler and Liu will finish in the platform diving event. Liu was spectacular in her platform performance at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships on Saturday, finishing as the top qualifier. The sophomore totaled a 690.60 scored over her 10 dives, 40.25 better than the runner-up.

The meet ends with the 400 freestyle relay, IU's third program record in a relay this season. Anna Peplowski, Turak, sophomore Ella Ristic and Paegle went 3:13.45 at midseason before going 3:14.71 with Paegle and Looze anchoring at Big Tens.

MEET INFO
Wednesday, March 15 – Saturday, March 18 • 10 a.m. ET (prelims), 6 p.m. ET (finals)
Allan Jones Aquatic Center • Knoxville, Tenn.
Live Results (Swimming): https://bit.ly/3yBDhkI/Meet Mobile App
Live Results (Diving): divemeets.com
Live Stream: espn.com/watch

SCHEDULED EVENTS (Finals)
Wednesday (6 p.m. ET) – 200 Medley Relay, 800 Freestyle Relay
Thursday (6 p.m. ET) – 500 Freestyle, 200 IM, 50 Freestyle, 1-Meter Dive, 400 Medley Relay
Friday (6 p.m. ET) – 100 Butterfly, 400 IM, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, 3-Meter Dive, 200 Freestyle Relay
Saturday (6 p.m. ET) – 1,650 Freestyle, 200 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle, 200 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly, Platform Dive, 400 Freestyle Relay

WOMEN'S QUALIFIERS
Megan Carter – 1-Meter
Brearna Crawford – 100 Breaststroke, 200 Breaststroke
Mariah Denigan – 500 Freestyle, 1,650 Freestyle, 400 IM
Anne Fowler – 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform
Ching Hwee Gan – 500 Freestyle, 1,650 Freestyle, 400 IM
Alaina Heyde – 1-Meter
Skyler Liu – 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform
Mackenzie Looze – 200 Breaststroke, 200 IM, 400 IM
Kristina Paegle – 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle
Anna Peplowski – 200 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke, 200 Backstroke
Noelle Peplowski – 100 Breaststroke, 200 Breaststroke
Ashley Turak – 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle
Relays: 200 Freestyle Relay, 400 Freestyle Relay, 800 Freestyle Relay, 200 Medley Relay, 400 Medley Relay

OF NOTE…
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
Indiana is amidst its most successful NCAA Championships run in the women's program history, finishing inside the top-15 in 14 straight seasons.

The Hoosiers have totaled 12 individual titles over the last eight championships, the most prolific stretch authored by a Big Ten team in league history. IU is also the first team in conference history to win an individual title in eight consecutive seasons, an active streak.

A year ago, Indiana finished 11th nationally. Twelve different student-athletes totaled 20 All-America honors. Seven All-America awards came from diving, where IU scored 84 points and Tarrin Gilliland captured her second consecutive platform diving title.

2023 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Hoosiers finished second at the 2023 Big Ten Women's Swimming Championships as the four-day event concluded Saturday (Feb. 18) night inside Canham Natatorium. IU was bested only by No. 6-ranked Ohio State, which tallied 1,425 points to IU's 1,291.5 over the four days.

Indiana earned its 17th-straight top-three at the conference championships and its 12th championship or runner-up finish during the stretch. The Hoosiers tallied 15 medals, the program's highest total since 16 in 2016. This year's haul included six gold, four silver and five bronze medals, and the Hoosiers medaled in all five relays. IU six conference title are the most since the program's nine in 2017.

During the week, Indiana set program records in the 800-yard freestyle relay (6:58.44), 200-yard freestyle relay (1:27.70) and 200-yard freestyle (Anna Peplowski – 1:43.33).

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