Indiana Boasts Five Top Seeds Friday

Friday, February 23

West Lafayette, Ind.

10 a.m.

Indiana University

Big Ten Championships - Prelims

2/23/2024 3:18:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Indiana swimming and diving posted four top qualifiers in six events during the preliminary session of day three at the 2024 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships inside the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center on the campus of Purdue University.

IU will send 10 Hoosiers to championship finals and nine more to B finals. The Hoosiers also have the top seeded 200-yard freestyle relay, set to conclude Friday night's session. Indiana sits third with 426 points, 18 points behind leader Ohio State going into the third of four evening sessions.

For the second straight day, diving will send three Hoosiers to the championship and another to the consolation final. Senior and two-time Big Ten 3-meter champion Anne Fowler will be the top-seeded diver in Friday's final, posting a 337.35 in the prelim. Junior Skyler Liu (316.90) is back in an A final after taking maximum points from Thursday's B final. Freshmen Lily Witte (306.50) is 2-for-2 qualifying for championships, taking the last A final spot. Thursday's silver medalist, freshman Ella Roselli (299.90) placed 10th in the prelim and will represent IU in the consolation round.

Senior Anna Freed posted Indiana's fastest 400-yard IM swim since 2019, going 4:08.37 to earn the top seed. That time crushed her previous personal best by 2.57 seconds. Coming into the season, Freed had never been faster than 4:13.49 – set at the 2022 conference championships. Juniors Ching Hwee Gan (4:12.57) and Mariah Denigan (4:12.84) and freshman Reese Tiltmann (4:13.84) qualified for the consolation final.

Junior Anna Peplowski cruised through the 200-yard freestyle prelim in 1:43.90 and will swim in lane four in tonight's championship final. Peplowski has already broken the 200 free program record in 1:42.04 on opening night of championships and will get the chance to do so again Friday night. Peplowski is the reigning Big Ten Champion in the event and took silver as a freshman. Sophomore Kristina Paegle (1:45.59) and senior Ella Ristic (1:46.19) will join Peplowski in the A final, while junior Elyse Heiser will swim in the B final (1:46.59).

Junior Kacey McKenna captured the top seed in the 100-yard backstroke by one hundredth of a second, beating out Wisconsin senior and 2023 bronze medalist Phoebe Bacon with a time of 51.53. McKenna swam a 50.76 to lead off the 400-yard medley relay Thursday night, though the relay was disqualified for an early takeoff later in the race. Sophomore Mya DeWitt will race in her second straight 100 back A final as she placed eighth as a freshman.

Four Hoosiers earned spots in 100-yard breaststroke finals. Junior Brearna Crawford (59.64) was third-fastest this morning, and senior Ashley Turak (1:01.22) and MacKenna Lieske (1:01.58) both posted personal bests to climb into the B final.

TEAM SCORES
1. Ohio State – 444
2. Michigan – 433
3. Indiana – 426
4. Wisconsin – 381.5
5. Minnesota – 286.5
6. Purdue – 199
7. Nebraska – 170
8. Penn State – 153
9. Iowa – 152
10. Northwestern – 148
11. Rutgers – 123
12. Illinois - 86

RESULTS (PRELIMS)
100 BUTTERFLY
9. Chiok Sze Yeo – 53.24 (Consolation Final, NCAA B Cut)
11. Ava Whitaker – 53.40 (Consolation Final, NCAA B Cut)
28. Katie Forrester – 54.74
X. Lily Hann – 54.29 (Exhibition)
X. Cat Minic – 55.30 (Exhibition)
X. Sydney Turner – 56.34 (Exhibition)

400 IM
1. Anna Freed – 4:08.37 (Championship Final Top Qualifier, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
10. Ching Hwee Gan – 4:12.57 (Consolation Final, NCAA B Cut)
11. Mariah Denigan – 4:12.84 (Consolation Final, NCAA B Cut)
13. Reese Tiltmann – 4:13.85 (Consolation Final, NCAA B Cut)
28. Katie Forrester – 4:20.83
X. Cat Minic – 4:19.98 (Exhibition)

200 FREESTYLE
1. Anna Peplowski – 1:43.90 (Championship Final Top Qualifier, NCAA B Cut)
6. Kristina Paegle – 1:45.59 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)
8. Ella Ristic – 1:46.19 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)
11. Elyse Heiser – 1:46.59 (Consolation Final, NCAA B Cut)
X. Katie Carson – 1:49.52

100 BREASTSTROKE
3. Brearna Crawford – 59.64 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)
10. Ashley Turak – 1:01.22 (Consolation Final, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
13. MacKenna Lieske – 1:01.58 (Consolation Final, Career Best)
X. Kabria Chapman – 1:01.14 (Exhibition, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
X. Catherine Graham – 1:01.85 (Exhibition)
X. Caroline Foltz – 1:02.85 (Exhibition)

100 BACKSTROKE
1. Kacey McKenna – 51.53 (Championship Final Top Qualifier, NCAA B Cut)
6. Mya DeWitt – 52.46 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

3-METER DIVING
1. Anne Fowler – 337.35 (Championship Final Top Qualifier, NCAA Zone Qualifier)
4. Skyler Liu – 316.90 (Championship Final, NCAA Zone Qualifier)
8. Lily Witte – 306.50 (Championship Final, NCAA Zone Qualifier)
10. Ella Roselli – 299.90 (Consolation Final, NCAA Zone Qualifier)
19. Morgan Casey – 253.60

UP NEXT
Indiana will look to take advantage of its finalists in Friday's scoring session, set to start at 5 p.m. ET.

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