Feb. 9, 2007

Thursday's Big Ten Championships Results in PDF Format
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MINNEAPOLIS -- After the first day of action at the Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, Northwestern currently is in sixth place thanks to a strong 400 medley relay effort to close out Thursday's events.

The Wildcats have 88 points, trailing fifth-place Wisconsin's total of 118.5. NU is 13 points ahead of seventh-place Purdue, which has 75 points. Michigan leads the meet with 215.

Freshman Kassia Shishkoff (Raleigh, N.C./St. David's School) took fourth in the 500 free relay prelims, swimming a season-best and NCAA `B' provisional qualification time of 4:46.96 to get Northwestern's day started.

Classmate Mary Beth Francis (San Diego, Calif./Mission Viejo) ended up 27th in the 500 free prelims with a 4:55.96, while Jenn Kocsis (Omaha, Neb./Marian) was 29th with a 4:56.66. Backstroker Genny Szymanski (Haines, Alaska/Haines) also participated in the 500 free prelims, turning in a 5:07.95.

In the 200 IM prelims, junior Katie Braun (Edina, Minn./Edina) dropped more than two seconds off her seed time to finish 22nd with a 2:05.14. Freshman Rachel Rys (Goleta, Calif./Dos Pueblos) also swam the 200 IM prelims for Northwestern, turning in a time of 2:09.59, while sophomore Jill Forster (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) had a 2:16.70.

In the 50 free prelims, junior Andrea Hupman (Lawrenceville, Ga./Brookwood) blazed to a 22.92 `B' cut time to qualify for the championship heat in a fifth-place tie. The time was just .05 seconds off her career-best in the event.

Freshman Emily Wong (Neapean, Ontario/St. Joseph's) earned a `B' cut with a season-best time of 23.15 in the 50 free prelims, ending up in 11th to qualify for the night swim in the consolation final.

Junior Jessie Bailis (Omaha, Neb./Millard North) was 27th during the 50 free prelims with a season-best 23.70. Sophomore Hayley Fry (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) also turned in a season-best with a 23.95 in the event to finish 37th. Freshman Stacy Congdon (Windermere, Fla./Lake Highland Prep) added another season-best to NU's total in the event with a 24.48.

In diving preliminaries, junior Beth Campbell (Burr Ridge, Ill./Fenwick) was NU's top finisher, scoring 228.30 to take 19th place. Freshman Tania Lyerly (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) was 31st with a score of 216.70.

Northwestern took sixth in the 200 free relay to kick off the evening's finals session, turning in an NCAA `B' time of 1:32.11. Wong, Hupman, Bailis and Shishkoff comprised the relay.

In Shishkoff's finals swim in the 500 free, she ended up in seventh place for the 'Cats with a time of 4:48.70. Hupman then took sixth in her championship final appearance in the 50 free, swimming a 22.97. Wong was fourth in the consolation final -- 12th overall -- with a 23.19.

In the final event of Thursday's action, Hupman, Bailis, Braun and Wong combined to take third place in the 400 medley relay with an NCAA `B' time of 3:42.96.

"We put together a very strong effort in the 400 medley relay to close Thursday with some momentum," head coach Jimmy Tierney said. "Jessie swam a great breaststroke split and Katie had a very fast fly leg for us. Hopefully this performance will set the stage for more good things Friday."

The second day of action gets underway at 11 a.m. CT Friday morning, Feb. 9, with preliminary heats. Friday's finals will start at 7 p.m. CT.