Hoosier Trio Ready for Friday Finals

Friday, March 22

Athens, Ga.

10 a.m.

Indiana University

NCAA Championships - Prelims

3/22/2024 3:21:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

ATHENS, Ga. – Indiana will have two top-two seeds in Friday (March 22) night's finals session, set to begin at 6 p.m. ET inside the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the campus of the University of Georgia.

The Hoosiers will have three total finalists Friday night, all three coming in championships finals. Indiana will also race the 400-yard medley relay, the final event of the evening.

Junior Anna Peplowski continued her historic meet, having already set three program records in the first two days. Friday morning, she set the pace in the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:41.85, her career-best non-relay swim, to claim the top qualifier spot. She'll race in lane four next of the championship final next to Florida star freshman and 2020 Olympian Bella Sims, who she out-touched by two hundredths.

Peplowski went 1:41.16 to lead off the 800-yard freestyle relay Wednesday, breaking her own program record. On Thursday, she earned her first-career NCAA medal with a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle in a program record 4:34.06.

Junior Kacey McKenna continues to drop time in the 100-yard backstroke and set the No. 2 time in preliminary heats with a program record 50.23. The junior won the Big Ten title in 50.49, good for the No. 3 time in the country coming into the week, despite finishing 16th last season and not qualifying for that national meet. McKenna's career-best 100 back finish at the NCAA Championships is 34th, done as a freshman two years ago.

Senior Anne Fowler will dive in her last championship final Friday night as the eighth of as many qualifiers from the prelim. Fowler earned a score of 305.95 – four tenths of a point better than the ninth-place finisher – thanks to a 63.00 final dive score. Fowler will score in her second-straight event after finishing second on 1-meter Thursday night. She was the silver medalist on 3-meter a year ago.

RESULTS (Prelims)
400 IM
20. Anna Freed – 4:09.75

200 FREESTYLE
1. Anna Peplowski – 1:41.85 (Championship Final Top Qualifier, All-America)
40. Elyse Heiser – 1:45.96 (Career Best)

100 BREASTSTROKE
32. Brearna Crawford – 59.90
37. Ashley Turak – 1:00.05 (Career Best)

100 BACKSTROKE
2. Kacey McKenna – 50.23 (Championship Final, All-America, Program Record, Career Best)

3-METER DIVING
8. Anne Fowler – 305.95 (Championship Final, All-America)
24. Lily Witte – 275.30
32. Ella Roselli – 264.00

HOOSIER ALL-AMERICANS
Brearna Crawford (200 medley relay*)
Ching Hwee Gan (800 freestyle relay)
Anne Fowler (1-meter*, 3-meter)
Kacey McKenna (200 medley relay*, 200 freestyle relay, 100 backstroke)
Kristina Paegle (200 medley relay*, 800 freestyle relay, 50 freestyle*, 200 freestyle relay)
Anna Peplowski (800 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, 200 freestyle)
Ella Ristic (800 freestyle relay)
Chiok Sze Yeo (200 medley relay*)
Ashley Turak (50 freestyle*, 200 freestyle relay)

UP NEXT
Indiana will look to set the tone for a great night when they open day three with the morning preliminary session on Friday beginning at 10 a.m. ET. The 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 3-meter dive and 400 medley relay will be contested.

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