Saturday Results | Dive-by-Dive Scoring | Complete 4-Day Results
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A quartet of top four finishes in A finals of individual events highlighted the final day of action at the Big Ten Championships for No. 21 Purdue women's swimming and diving.
After scoring 25-plus points in three events -- platform diving (31 points), the 200 breast (28) and the 200 butterfly (28) -- Saturday, the Boilermakers held on to fifth place in the final team standings with 388 points. They improved two spots on their seventh-place finish last year and matched the program's top showing since placing fourth (Purdue's best-ever finish) as the meet host 2010.
The seniors led the way Saturday, accounting for all five of the Boilers' A finals qualifications. MacKenzie Tweardy took third in the championship final of platform diving to account for the top individual showing by a Purdue athlete this week. She scored in all three diving events for the third year in a row.
Mary Beth Dunnichay competed from the platforms at Big Tens for the first time and placed fourth in the championship final with the fifth-best score (318.20) in program history. She scored in the championship final of all three diving events this week and led the way by accumulating 43 team points in the individual events.
Rhiannon Sheets, Emmy Rawson and Meagan Lim teamed up to give the Boilers three scoring finishes in the 200 butterfly. Sheets took fourth in the A final to match Emily Fogle (200 breast) for the top individual finish by a Purdue swimmer this week. Emmy Rawson won the B final with a career-best time of 1:58.53 that ranks third in program history and would be a freshman record if Sheets had not set the school record that still stands as freshman back in 2011-12. Meagan Lim took fifth in the B final of the 200 fly and improved on her seventh-fastest time (1:59.48) in program history.
Fogle and Francesca Marr each qualified for the A final of the 200 breaststroke, one of two swimming events this week in which Purdue had two representatives in the A final. Fogle took fourth and Marr sixth. Marr was selected as the Boilers' Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree after the meet.
After breaking the 500 freestyle program record Thursday, Kaersten Meitz capped her first Big Tens with the second-fastest time (16:13.83) in program history in the mile. Allie Davis also had a career-best time (16:20.94) in the mile to move up to fourth place in the Purdue record book.
Hannah Manger also posted a second-best time in program history, finishing the 200 backstroke in 1:56.81 to clip nearly two seconds off her personal record.
Selected swimmers will compete Saturday, Feb. 28 at the annual Boiler-Make-It NCAA Last Chance Meet. Berths in the NCAA Championships for the swimmers are typically announced the first week of March. The divers will look to punch their tickets to the national championship meet at the Zone C Championships. Purdue will be competing in the Zone C meet the weekend of March 12-14 back in Columbus.
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Team Scoring
1. #14 Minnesota, 618.5
2. #15 Indiana, 591
3. #17 Michigan, 478.5
4. #24 Wisconsin, 448
5. #21 Purdue, 388
6. #22 Ohio State, 350
7. Penn State, 334
8. Iowa, 223
9. Nebraska, 143
10. Northwestern, 138
11. Rutgers, 112
12. Illinois, 73
13. Michigan State, 65
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
Platform Diving
MacKenzie Tweardy, 337.60* (Z) - Finished 3rd in A Final (16 Points)
Mary Beth Dunnichay, 318.20^ (Z) - Finished 4th in A Final (15 Points); 5th Best in Program History
100 Free
Abby Jagdfeld, 50.08 (Prelim Time) - Finished 5th in C Final
Kylie Vogel, 50.08* (Prelim Time) - Finished 22nd in Prelims; Scratched From C Final
1650 Free
Kaersten Meitz, 16.13.83* (B) - Finished 11th (6 Points); 2nd Fastest in Program History
Allie Davis, 16:20.94^ (B) - Finished 13th (4 Points); 4th Fastest in Program History
200 Back
Hannah Manger, 1:56.81* (B) - Finished 3rd in B Final (6 Points); 2nd Fastest in Program History
Trish Regan, 1:58.31^ (B, Prelim Time) - Finished 7th in C Final; Improved on Her 4th Fastest Time in Program History
200 Breast
Emily Fogle, 2:10.26* (B) - Finished 4th in A Final (15 Points)
Francesca Marr, 2:11.37^ (B) - Finished 6th in A Final (13 Points)
200 Fly
Rhiannon Sheets, 1:56.82* (B) - Finished 4th in A Final (15 Points)
Emmy Rawson, 1:58.53^ (B) - Won B Final (9 Points); 3rd Fastest in Program History
Meagan Lim, 1:59.48^ (B) - Finished 5th in B Final (4 Points); Improved on Her 7th Fastest Time in Program History
400 Free Relay
Rhiannon Sheets, Abby Jagdfeld, Kylie Vogel & Allie Davis, 3:19.95^ - Finished 7th (24 Points)
New Purdue Records Set at 2015 Big Tens
200 Free (Friday)
Abby Jagdfeld, 1:46.22 (Broke Her Own Freshman Record)
100 Fly (Friday)
Alex Todd, 53.24 (Broke Her Own Record)
400 IM (Friday)
Nika Karlina Petric, 4:13.97
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