Huskers Gain Momentum Heading into Final Day

Minneapolis, Minn. - Five Husker swimmers set career-best times and Anna Filipcic earned the third-best three-meter dive score of the championships, as the Nebraska swimming and diving team completed its second full day of competition at the 2014 Big Ten Championships. The Huskers had eight individual swimmers, one diver and the 400-yard medley relay team competing in final rounds on Friday evening at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

The Huskers began the evening with the third-fastest 400-yard medley relay in school history. The team of Rebekah Land, Taryn Collura, Shannon Guy and Katie Ditter finished in a time of 3:41.93, earning ninth place.

Nebraska's first individual competitor, Julia Roller, won the C Final of the 400-yard IM, taking 17th with a career-best time of 4:19.47. Roller had set a then-personal-best of 4:22.50 in the prelims, but her finals time earned her a place in NU's all-time top five in the event.

In the B final of the 100-yard butterfly, Taryn Collura took 15th with a time of 54.30. Bria Deveaux, Shannon Guy and Natalie Morris finished 19th, 20th and 22nd in the event, competing in Friday evening's C final. Morris' time of 54.88 was a career best for the junior. 

Samantha Hardewig, Shannon Guy and Katie Ditter placed 18th, 19th and 20th in the 100-yard breaststroke. Hardewig and Guy swam respective career-best times of 1:02.88 and 1:02.95 for the Huskers.

The final swimming event of the day saw Rebekah Land beat the career-best time she set in the prelims, winning the C final of the 100-yard backstroke in 54.94. Land's time earned her an NCAA B cut in the event. 

In the diving well, Anna Filipcic exploded for a career-best 348.50 in the consolation final of the three-meter dive, earning ninth place overall. The freshman's finals score was the third best by any diver in the championships. 

Commenting on Filipcic's performance, Head Coach Pablo Morales said, "Anna basically didn't miss anything in her finals round, beating everyone by about 30 points. Her score would've held up for the second best overall, but Purdue's Casey Matthews killed her last dive. Anna has the ability and probably has a good shot at making the NCAA Championships in a few weeks."

Three-Meter Diving Results
9th - Anna Filipcic, 348.50 (Career Best)
19th - Payton Michaud, 272.75
23rd - Kaitlan Walker, 262.55
27th - Nicole Schwery, 252.40

Following the session, Coach Morales commented on his team's performance and looked ahead to the final day of the Big Ten Championships.

"Tonight was off the hook," Morales said. "We won nearly every heat we were in, and everyone dropped time. Julia Roller took three seconds off her prelim time and won the first heat of the 400 IM. In Shannon Guy's sixth swim (yes, her sixth swim), she swam a lifetime best in the 100-yard breaststroke. That was awesome. It was a great, great evening. I wish we had more scoring swims, but this will be some great momentum heading into our final day."

The 2014 Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships will resume on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. with the preliminary rounds of the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard butterfly. Check back in to Huskers.com and follow @HuskerSwim on Twitter for updates.

Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 14

1. University of Minnesota                 526

2. Indiana University                         397

3. Pennsylvania State University       314

4. Michigan, University of                  272

5. Ohio State University                    261

6. Purdue University                         253

7. Wisconsin, University of                230

8. University of Iowa                         142

9. University of Nebraska-Lincoln    110

10. Michigan State University             70

11. Northwestern University                68

12. University of Illinois                      57