Huskers Finish Day Two at Big Ten Championships

Minneapolis, Minn. - The Nebraska swimming and diving team completed its first full day of competition at the Big Ten Championships on Thursday evening at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. The Huskers had three individual swimmers, four divers, and the 200-yard freestyle relay team competing in final rounds during the meet's third session.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Hayley Martin, Taryn Collura, Shannon Guy, and Ariel Weech got the Huskers off to a fast start, breaking another school record and finishing in fifth place with a time of 1:30.11. Their time bested the previous record of 1:31.06 set in 1998 by Helene Muller, Beth Karaica, Anna Windsor and Therese Alshammar.

In the evening's first individual event, Bailey Pons finished fourth in the C Final of the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:50.18. Pons finished 20th overall in the event, 17 places higher than her finish at last season's Big Ten Championships.

Taryn Collura and Ariel Weech, the other two Husker swimmers who qualified for Thursday evening finals, finished sixth and 12th, respectively, in the 50-yard freestyle. Collura's sixth place finish was the highest ever by a Husker individual at the Big Ten Championships.

The evening's final event saw Amy Herman compete in the finals of the one-meter diving competition. Her score of 291.60 earned her a 15th place finish in the event. The senior finished 31st in the one-meter dive at last season's Big Ten Championships.

Earlier in the day, Payton Michaud, Nicole Schwery, and Kailey Harmon participated in the preliminary one-meter diving competition. The three Huskers finished 19th, 21st, and 30th, respectively.

One-Meter Diving Results

15th - Amy Herman, 291.60

19th - Payton Michaud, 265.60

21st - Nicole Schwery, 265.00

30th - Kailey Harmon, 248.85

Following the one-meter dive, Nebraska's 200-yard freestyle relay team unsuccessfully attempted to earn an NCAA A Cut by participating in a time trial. Their finals time of 1:30.11, which had earned them an NCAA B Cut, had been just 31 hundredths of a second off the cut of 1:29.80.

Head Coach Pablo Morales commented on the success his team had in both the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 50-yard freestyle on Thursday.

"It's great that we're getting up there and competing against the top of the conference," Morales said. "It's a tribute to what the sprinters have done this year and to the work that Pat (Rowan) has done with them. The fact that Taryn (Collura) was our first individual finalist in the Big Ten was a great accomplishment and a great way to conclude our second day here."

The Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships will resume on Friday morning at 11 a.m. The session will feature the preliminary rounds of the 400-yard IM, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, and 100-yard backstroke. Check back in to Huskers.com and follow @HuskerSwim on Twitter for updates.

Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 7

1. University of Minnesota                  303.5

2. Indiana University                          211.5

3. Pennsylvania State University        175

4. Purdue University                          142.5

5. Ohio State University                     132

6. Wisconsin, University of                 116.5

7. Michigan, University of                   116

8. University of Nebraska-Lincoln      90

9. Northwestern University                   79

10. University of Iowa                          58

11. Michigan State University               34

 12. University of Illinois                       32