Huskers Set to Compete at First Big Ten Championships

Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships
Feb. 15-18
11 a.m. Prelims, 6:30 p.m. Finals
Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, University of Iowa

The Nebraska swimming and diving team will be competing at its first Big Ten Championships from Feb. 15-18. The championships will be hosted by the Iowa Hawkeyes at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center in Iowa City, Iowa. The Huskers finished the season 3-2 with wins over South Dakota State (193-99), UNO (192-100) and Iowa State on senior day (200-100). The Huskers notched three dual wins for the tenth-straight year. This year also marks the third-straight winning or .500 season for Head Coach Pablo Morales' squad.

The Big Ten Championships will begin on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 6:30 p.m. with the 200-yard medley relay finals, 3M synchronized diving exhibition and the 800-yard freestyle relay. Preliminaries for individual events will begin at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16, with finals taking place each evening at 6:30. The Big Ten is home to twelve swimming and diving squads instead of the five squads of the Big 12 after Nebraska's departure. Last year's Nebraska squad set a school record in the 200-yard medley relay at 1:41.08. The team consisted of Ellan Dufour, Shannon Guy, Kelsey Grushecky and Ariel Weech.

Live statistics for the Big Ten Championships and results can be found at http://live.iowaswimming.com/swimming/.  Huskers.com will also provide coverage at the finale of each session.

The Cornhuskers' first trip to the Big Ten Championships will take place at the newly opened Campus Recreation and Wellness Center in Iowa City, Iowa. The $69 million state-of-the-art facility boasts a 50-meter competition pool and separate diving well. Iowa City is hosting the Big Ten Championships for the first time since 1985 when it was hosted at the UI Fieldhouse.

Ticket information is available at 1-800-IA-HAWKS or at hawkeyesports.com

The Big Ten Championships will be the final time that NU's five seniors compete with the team. The meet will serve as Bobbi Balogh, Mailene Leslie, D'Arcy Schmidt, Caroline Shea and Riley Seidel's final competition with NU. This senior class has contributed to 15 dual wins and 13 individual event wins. In total, the seniors have contributed 101 top-five finishes.

Big Ten Championships Schedule of Events:
Wednesday, Feb. 15
FINALS - 6:30 p.m.

200 Medley Relay
3M Synchronized Diving (Exhibition)
800 Freestyle Relay

Thursday, Feb. 16
PRELIMS - 11 a.m.

500 Freestyle
200 Individual Medley
50 Freestyle
1 Meter Diving - Trials (1 p.m.)
1 Meter Diving - Consolation Finals

FINALS - 6:30 p.m.

200 Freestyle Relay
500 Freestyle
200 Individual Medley
50 Freestyle
1 Meter Diving

Friday, Feb. 17

PRELIMS - 11 a.m.

400 Individual Medley
100 Butterfly
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
3 Meter Diving - Trials (1 p.m.)
3 Meter Diving - Consolation Finals

FINALS - 6:30 p.m.

400 Medley Relay
400 Individual Medley
100 Butterfly
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
3 Meter Diving

Saturday, Feb. 18
PRELIMS - 11 a.m.

200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving - Trials (1 p.m.)
Platform Diving - Consolation Finals
1,650 Freestyle

FINALS-6:30 p.m.

1,650 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving
400 Freestyle Relay
Awards Ceremony

Review: Seniors Honored as Huskers Defeat Cyclones, 200-100

Five seniors were honored on Saturday afternoon as the Nebraska swimming and diving team finished its regular season on a high note by defeating the Iowa State Cyclones, 200-100. It was the final dual at the Devaney Natatorium for Nebraska's Bobbi Balogh, Mailene Leslie, D'Arcy Schmidt, Riley Seidel and Caroline Shea.

The Cyclones won the first event of the afternoon in the 200-yard medley relay with the team of Rebekah Land, Shannon Guy, Hayley Martin and Ariel Weech coming in second for NU. Bailey Pons (10.12.88), Morgan Flannigan and Mailene Leslie then got the Huskers started in their winning ways by sweeping the next event, the 1,000-yard freestyle. Pons shattered her previous season-best time (10:19.68) in the event by nearly seven seconds. It was the first of two straight swept events for the Huskers as Martin, Shea and Kelly Dunn followed up in the 200-yard freestyle in the third event of the dual.

Ellan Dufour gave the Huskers a third win in the 100-yard backstroke (57.75). Dufour set a season-best time in the race, eliminating her previous best against Kansas at 58.24. ISU's Dani Harris and and Sarah Norris finished second and third in the event, respectively. NU's Natalie Morris and Katie Davis earned back-to-back finishes in the 200-yard butterfly before Ariel Weech and Dunn added second and third place finishes in the seventh event of the day, the 50-yard freestyle.

Payton Michaud closed out the regular season on a high note, sweeping both the 1-meter (290.02) and 3-meter diving (308.67) events. It was a a season-best for Michaud in the 3-meter, besting her previous score of 306.05 set at the Iowa Invitational. Alyson Ramsey added a season-best 303.07 score in the 3-meter for a second-place finish in the event. Kaitlan Walker also tallied third-place finishes in both diving events.

Weech, Dunn and Martin took the top three spots in the 100-yard freestyle before Dufour won the tenth event of the day in the 200-yard backstroke. Pons (5.01.62), Flannigan and Shea swept the 500-yard freestyle in the twelfth event of the afternoon. Guy and Davis added two more wins for the Huskers in the 100-yard butterfly and 400 IM, respectively, to close out the individual swims on the afternoon. The team of Martin, Weech, Land and Dunn won the final relay of the afternoon, the 400-yard freestyle, in 3:29.39.