Thursday Results / Dive-by-Dive Scoring / Meet Central
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Kaersten Meitz's fifth-place finish in the championship final of the 500 freestyle headlined the three All-America honors earned by Purdue women's swimming & diving on the first full day of the NCAA Championships.
Samm Reese and Morgan Meixner both qualified for the consolation final of 1-meter diving to earn honorable mention All-America accolades. They finished sixth and eighth in the consolation final, 14th and 16th overall among a field of 49 divers.
The Boilermakers are tied for 20th place in the team scoring with 18 points.
Meitz broke her own program record in the 500 free prelims, clinching her third career All-America award in the event with a time of 4:35.82. She became the first Boilermaker to eclipse 4:36 in the 500. She will graduate having lowered the Purdue record in the event by 4.69 seconds.
Meitz is only the third swimmer in program history to be an All-American in an individual event three years in a row, joining Lindsay Lange (2001-03) and Kim Fritsch (1992-94). It was Meitz's first full-fledged All-America accolade after she was honorable mention as a consolation finalist each of the last two seasons.
Reese was an honorable mention All-American on 1-meter for the second year in a row. Meixner claimed her first career All-America honor in her second appearance at the national championship meet. The Purdue women have had at least one All-American diver in 14 of the last 15 years.
Taite Kitchel posted a career-best time of 1:59.57 in the prelims of the 200 individual medley, moving up to third place in program history with a Purdue season-best mark. Emmy Rawson also raced in the 200 IM on Thursday. They qualified for NCAAs via the 200 butterfly, which is set for Saturday.
Freshman Emily Bretscher made her debut at the NCAA Championships, competing on 1-meter. She'll join Emily Meaney and Lexi Vincent in Saturday's platform event.
Meitz was seeded third in the championship final, swimming in lane 3 next to Olympic gold medalist and multi-year NCAA champion Katie Ledecky of Stanford.
The Boilermakers are slated to have entries in four events Friday at NCAAs. Jinq En Phee is set to make her debut at the national championship meet in her premier event, the 100 breaststroke.
2018 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
March 14 to 17 / Columbus, Ohio
Purdue's Thursday Results
* -- Program Record Time/Score
^ -- Purdue Season-Best Time/Score
500 Free
Kaersten Meitz, 4:35.82* (Prelim Time) -- 5th in Championship Final (14 pts); ALL-AMERICA
1-Meter Diving
Samm Reese, 290.10 (Prelim Score) -- 6th in Consolation Final (3 pts); H.M. ALL-AMERICA
Morgan Meixner, 285.45 (Prelim Score) -- 8th in Consolation Final (1 pt); H.M. ALL-AMERICA
Emily Bretscher, 255.60 (Prelim Score) -- 39th in Prelims
200 IM
Taite Kitchel, 1:59.57^ (Prelim Time) -- 50th in Prelims; 3rd Fastest in Program History
Emmy Rawson, 2:00.39 (Prelim Time) -- 56th in Prelims
Friday, March 16 -- 9 a.m. Swimming Prelims, 11:30 a.m. Diving Prelims // 6 p.m. Finals
100 Fly -- Taite Kitchel, Emmy Rawson
100 Breast -- Jinq En Phee
200 Free -- Kaersten Meitz
3-Meter Diving -- Morgan Meixner, Samm Reese
Saturday, March 17 -- 10 a.m. Swimming Prelims, 12:15 p.m. Diving Prelims // 6 p.m. Finals
1650 Free (3:45 p.m.) -- Kaersten Meitz
200 Breast -- Jinq En Phee
200 Fly -- Taite Kitchel, Emmy Rawson
Platform Diving -- Emily Bretscher, Emily Meaney, Lexi Vincent