Huskers Primed for Big Ten Championships

Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships
Date: Feb. 20-23
Location: University of Minnesota Aquatic Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
Time: 6:30 p.m. (Wed.) 11 a.m. / 6:30 p.m. (Thu.-Sat.)

The Nebraska swimming and diving team travels to Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, Feb. 20, to compete at its second Big Ten Championships. The event, featuring seven sessions over four days, will be held at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. The opening session is set for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., while the following three days will have preliminary sessions at 11 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m. All 12 Big Ten schools will be competing at the meet.

The Huskers are looking to improve on last year's 11th place finish at their first Big Ten Championships. Ellan Dufour, Amy Herman, Hayley Martin, Ariel Weech, Shannon Guy, Payton Michaud, Bailey Pons, and Kelly Dunn are the eight returning top-24 finishers from last season's meet.

The Cornhuskers' second trip to the Big Ten Championships will be held at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. The state-of-the-art facility is nearly two acres in size, boasting a 50-meter competition pool and separate diving well. The venue has hosted nine Big Ten Championships and six NCAA Championships along with many other national and international competitions.

Ticket information is available at MyGopherSports.com or over the phone at 1-800-846-7437.

The Big Ten Championships will be the final time that NU's nine seniors compete with the team. The meet will serve as the Husker career finales for Katie Davis, Ellan Dufour, Kailey Harmon, Amy Herman, Kelsey Larson, Hayley Martin, Ashley Reiter, Ariel Weech, and Sara Weinberg. This senior class has contributed to 25 dual wins and 67 individual event wins. In total, the seniors have contributed 338 top-five finishes.

Nebraska ended the regular season with an impressive 12-3 mark, setting a school record for dual meet wins in a season. The Huskers also posted a winning record for the third consecutive season under Head Coach Pablo Morales. Coach Morales is pleased with the way that the team has performed this season, and he is excited for the Big Ten Championships that they have been working toward all season.

"Our goals that we laid out at the beginning of the season are still on the table, and we hope to see some great performances in both the swimming pool and the diving well so that we can move up a couple places from last year," Morales said. "We've set the table. Now we just have to sit down and eat."

Live results and video for the Big Ten Championships can be found at http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-swim/spec-rel/2013-Big-Ten-Championship.html. Huskers.com will also provide coverage following each session.

2013 Big Ten Championships Schedule of Events:
Wednesday, Feb. 20
FINALS - 6:30 p.m.

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

Thursday, Feb. 21
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. 22                                                                                                                                 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. 23
PRELIMS - 11 a.m.

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200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Freestyle                                                                                                                                       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

2012 Final Big Ten Championships Team Results:

1. University of Minnesota 680.5
2. Indiana University 651
3. Ohio State University 560
4. Wisconsin, University of 411
5. Pennsylvania State University 379.5
6. Purdue University 285
7. Northwestern University 258
8. Michigan, University of 241
9. Iowa, University of 201
10. University of Illinois 84
11. Nebraska, University of 82
12. Michigan State University 65

Last Time Out: Huskers Win One, Set Record at Northwestern (2/2/13)

The Nebraska swimming and diving team ended its regular season on Saturday with one win and two losses at the Northwestern Invitational held at Northwestern's Norris Aquatics Center. The Huskers won their dual meet against Northwestern by a score of 198-171 but fell to No. 15 Ohio State and Iowa by respective scores of 224-134 and 191-179.

With Saturday's results, Nebraska finished the regular season with a dual meet record of 12-3. Their 12 victories are a new school record, surpassing the 1986-87 and 1989-90 squads that finished with 11 wins. Eight was the previous season-best win total for Head Coach Pablo Morales.

The Huskers began the morning session with a second place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Hayley Martin, Shannon Guy, Natalie Morris, and Taryn Collura finished in a time of 1:43.01, less than a second behind Ohio State.

Shannon Guy then took second place in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing in a time of 56.22 seconds. Morris, Collura and Bria Deveaux finished seventh, 11th and 12th, respectively, in the event. Guy would later add a sixth place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke.

The squad also got a standout performance from Hayley Martin, as she took first place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 55.33 seconds. Earlier, Martin placed third in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing in 1:51.17.

Nebraska concluded the morning session with a third place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The team of Martin, Morris, Bailey Pons, and Ellan Dufour finished behind two Ohio State squads.

In the evening session, Bailey Pons got things started with a runner-up finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Pons finished the race in a time of 17:03.95.

Martin and Morris captured a pair of fourth place finishes in the middle events to keep up the scoring for the Huskers. Martin finished the 200-yard backstroke in 2:03.31, while Morris swam the 200-yard butterfly in 2:05.36.

The Huskers got their second and final win of the day from Taryn Collura in the 100-yard freestyle. The redshirt freshman finished in a time of 50.56 seconds.

In the diving well, Payton Michaud, Amy Herman and Kailey Harmon finished sixth, eighth and tenth, respectively, in the one-meter dive.

In the meet's final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Nebraska earned second place. The team of Martin, Guy, Deveaux, and Collura finished 65 hundredths of second behind Ohio State with a time of 3:25.67.

Katie Davis, Morgan Flannigan, Ashley Reiter, Ellan Dufour, Kristin Strecker, Kelsey Larson, and Melisa Mexia were the other top-ten finishers for the Huskers on Saturday. Overall, the Huskers produced 35 top-ten finishes and two victories over the two days at the invitational.