Friday Results / Dive-by-Dive Scoring / Meet Central
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Jinq En Phee placed eighth in the championship final of the 100 breaststroke on the national stage, giving Purdue women's swimming & diving an All-America honoree for the second day in a row at the NCAA Championships.
Phee was seeded 20th in the event, but finished sixth in the prelims with a career-best time of 59.32 to clinch All-America honors in her debut appearance at the national championship meet.
Thursday, Kaersten Meitz was an All-American via a fifth-place in the 500 freestyle. Meitz and Phee have made program history, marking the first time the Purdue women have ever had two full-fledged All-Americans in swimming events in the same year. Full All-America honors are bestowed upon student-athletes that finish among the top eight as championship final qualifiers at NCAAs.
The Boilermakers are in 23rd place in the team scoring with 29 points.
Purdue has had a championship finalist in the 100 breast two of the last three years at Big Tens. Emily Fogle was an All-American in the event in 2016 and remains the program record holder in both breaststroke events. Fogle and Phee are the only women in Purdue history to eclipse one minute in the 100 breast.
Phee improved on her second-fastest time in program history in Friday's prelims. She was an Olympian for Malaysia in 2016 and won the 100-meter breaststroke at the Southeast Asian Games in August 2017.
Samm Reese (18th) and Morgan Meixner (19th) both placed in the top 20 among a field of 48 divers in the 3-meter prelims. But they came up just short of advancing to the consolation final as they did Thursday on 1-meter en route to honorable mention All-America accolades. Reese finished just 2.15 points behind 16th place, which is the final spot that advances to the finals.
Reese closed her career as a two-time NCAA Championships qualifier and two-time honorable mention All-American on 1-meter. Purdue's platform specialists Emily Bretscher, Emily Meaney and Lexi Vincent are set to compete Saturday from the tower.
Taite Kitchel (53.02) and Emmy Rawson (53.24) raced for the second day in a row, competing in the prelims of the 100 butterfly. Their times were just off their season bests. They'll race again Saturday in the 200 fly, the event in which they clinched their second career berths at NCAAs.
Meitz had the option of competing in the 200 free Friday, but chose to scratch from the race to concentrate on Saturday's 1,650 free.
Action at the NCAA Championships concludes Saturday with swimming prelims at 10 a.m. ET, diving prelims at 12:15 p.m. and finals at 6 p.m. The finals will be live on ESPN3/WatchESPN.
So grateful for everything that @PurdueDivers and this sport has given me! I'm officially a dover! 🚂💛 pic.twitter.com/p7AIx0vn7P
-- Samm Reese (@sammreese11) March 16, 2018
2018 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
March 14 to 17 / Columbus, Ohio
Purdue's Friday Results
^ -- Purdue Season-Best Time/Score
100 Breast
Jinq En Phee, 59.32^ (Prelim Time) -- 8th in Championship Final (11 Points); ALL-AMERICA
Improved on her 2nd-fastest time in program history
3-Meter Diving
Samm Reese, 313.20 (Prelim Score) -- 18th in Prelims
Morgan Meixner, 310.85 (Prelim Score) -- 19th in Prelims
100 Fly
Taite Kitchel, 53.02 (Prelim Time) -- 35th in Prelims
Emmy Rawson, 53.24 (Prelim Time)-- 38th in Prelims
200 Free
Kaersten Meitz -- Scratched from Prelims
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