COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Kaersten Meitz's new program record in the 500 freestyle highlighted the first full day of action at the Big Ten Championships for No. 21 Purdue women's swimming and diving.
Meitz broke Caitlin Hamilton's freshman record from 2010 in the preliminaries and then clipped one hundredth of a second off Lauren Roth's 2012 Purdue record in the finals, finishing second in the B final with a time of 4:42.11. Her prelim time in the morning session was 4:42.44.
Divers MacKenzie Tweardy and Mary Beth Dunnichay placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in the championship final of 1-meter diving to account for a combined 27 team points. Dunnichay posted a team season-best score of 317.10 in the prelims.
Meitz was one of four Boilers to qualify for the B final of the 500 free, thus scoring team points. Allie Davis (3rd place, 4:43.06), Abby Jagdfeld (5th, 4:43.40) and Nika Karlina Petric (8th, 4:43.13 in prelims) all posted career-best times to improve their marks on the Purdue all-time Top 10 list. The quartet combined to account for 18 team points in the event.
The Boilermakers had a scoring finish in all four individual events Thursday. They're in sixth place with two days of events remaining, trailing fifth-place Penn State by 24 points and leading seventh-place Ohio State by 14.
Kylie Vogel placed fourth in the 50 free to account for five team points after improving on her fourth-fastest time in program history with a mark of 22.65 in the prelims.
Hannah Manger moved into third place in program history in the 200 IM with a career-best time of 2:00.01. She placed sixth in the B final to account for three team points. Meagan Lim was the runner-up in the C final of the event with a personal-best time of 2:00.66, elevating her into fifth place in the record book.
The 200 free relay team of Vogel, Anji Li, Carly Marshall and Rhiannon Sheets accounted for the fifth-fastest time in program history while finishing in 1:30.99. However, that was only good for 10th place Thursday evening.
Action continues Friday with preliminaries at 11 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m. The 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 3-meter diving and 400 medley relay are on the schedule for Friday.
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Team Scoring
1. #14 Minnesota, 232.5
2. #17 Michigan, 196.5
3. #15 Indiana, 179
4. #24 Wisconsin, 162
5. Penn State, 147
6. #21 Purdue, 123
7. #22 Ohio State, 109
8. Iowa, 102
9. Northwestern, 74
10. Nebraska, 66
11. Illinois, 46
12. Rutgers, 43
13. Michigan State, 34
Purdue's Top Finishers & Notables
* - New Purdue Season-Best Time
^ - New Personal Season-Best Time
(B) - NCAA Provisional Qualifying Time
(Z)-- NCAA Zone Qualifying Score
1-Meter Diving
MacKenzie Tweardy, 315.05^ (Z) - Finished in 5th A Final (14 Points)
Mary Beth Dunnichay, 317.10* (Z, Prelim Score) - Finished 6th in A Final (13 Points)
50 Free
Kylie Vogel, 22.65* (B, Prelim Time) - Finished 4th in B Final (5 Points); Improved on Her 4th Fastest Time in Program History
Carly Marshall, 22.98^ (B, Prelim Time) - Finished 8th in C Final; Improved on Her 10th Fastest Time in Program History
500 Free
Kaersten Meitz, 4:42.11* (B) - Finished 2nd in B Final (7 Points); NEW PROGRAM & FRESHMAN RECORD
Allie Davis, 4:43.06^ (B) - Finished 3rd in B Final (6 Points); 3rd Fastest in Program History
Abby Jagdfeld, 4:43.40^ (B) - Finished in 5th in B Final (4 Points); 6th Fastest Time in Program History
Nika Karlina Petric, 4:43.13^ (B, Prelim Time) - Finished 8th in B Final (1 Point); 5th Fastest Time in Program History
Lizzy Lyon, 4:50.13^ (Prelim Time) - Finished 8th in C Final
200 IM
Hannah Manger, 2:00.01* (B) - Finished in 6th B Final (3 Points); 3rd Fastest in Program History
Meagan Lim, 2:00.66^ (B) - Finished 2nd in C Final; 5th Fastest in Program History
Francesca Marr, 2:01.47^ (B, Prelim Time) - Finished 7th in C Final; 7th Fastest in Program History
200 Free Relay
Vogel, Li, Marshall & Sheets, 1:30.99* - Finished 10th (14 Points); 5th Fastest in Program History
New Purdue Records Set at 2015 Big Tens
500 Free (Thursday)
Kaersten Meitz, 4:42.11 (Program & Freshman Record)
200 Free (Wednesday)
Rhiannon Sheets, 1:45.16
200 Medley Relay (Wednesday)
Manger, Fogle, Vogel & Li, 1:39.03
800 Free Relay (Wednesday)
Sheets, Jagdfeld, Petric & Davis, 7:03.15