WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Daryn Wright won bronze as the Boilermakers accounted for four of the top nine finishers in platform diving, headlining the final day of action at the Big Ten Championships for Purdue women's swimming & diving.
The Boilermakers racked up 97 team points on the tower, helping Purdue finish in sixth place in the team scoring with 572.5 points. Amassing 80 additional points this season allowed the Boilers to move up one spot in the team standings from a year ago.
Watch Highlights from Saturday
Platform Championship Final / McAfee Wins Platform Consol / Platform Prelim
Marcukaitis Wins C Final of 200 Back / Purdue Wins 3 Heats of 100 Free
Wright won her first career medal at Big Tens, capping a big week in which she was also seventh on 1-meter and sixth on 3-meter – accounting for a team-high 74 points. She helped extend Purdue's seven-year streak of having at least one medalist on platform at Big Tens. The sophomore became the Boilermakers' first female diver since Emily Bretscher in 2020 to be a championship finalist in all three events at Big Tens. Wright is also 6-for-6 in top-10 finishes in her career at Big Tens.
Maycey Vieta and Jaye Patrick joined Wright in the championship final Saturday, placing fourth and sixth. Vieta finished no lower than fourth on the tower in each of her five years at Big Tens, winning the conference title last season and two silver medals along the way. Patrick's sixth-place showing was the best of her five-year career at Big Ten, which included four years at Northwestern.
Sophie McAfee won the platform consolation final Saturday after placing ninth in the prelim. She scored in all three diving events at Big Tens for the third year in a row and is now 9-for-9 in top-10 finishes at Big Tens in her career. The junior accounted for a career-high 71 team points this week and surpassed the 200-point mark (203) at Big Tens in just three years.
In the swimming events Saturday, four Boilermakers moved up the program's all-leaderboards with lifetime bests. Abby Marcukaitis won the C final of the 200 backstroke with an NCAA provisional qualifying time (B Cut) of 1:56.96 that moved the sophomore into fourth place in program history. It was Purdue's fastest time in the event since Jackie Smailis set the Purdue record at the 2019 Big Ten Championships.
Kendra Bowen also doubled up with a B Cut that moved the fifth-year Boilermaker into fourth place in the record book. She posted a time of 49.26 while winning heat 6 of the 100 freestyle, posting Purdue's fastest mark since Carly Mercer set the team record at the Ohio State Invitational in the fall of 2013. Kendal Schreder (50.27, heat 5) and Kate Beavon (51.99, heat 2) also won their heats of the event with lifetime bests. Senior Kali Sayovitz (50.57) had a lifetime best as well in the event. For Beavon, it proved to be her final race as the South African World Championships qualifier announced her retirement on Instagram on Saturday afternoon.
Freshman Kate Mouser posted a lifetime best to qualify for a B final for the second day in a row, accomplishing the feat in the 200 breaststroke (2:14.72) Saturday. She moved into 10th place in program history and became Purdue's first swimmer to score in all three of her individual events at Big Tens since 2019. She also joined Alex Clarke as the Boilermakers' only freshman swimmers to score in all three of their events since the Big Ten went to its current 24-place scoring format in 2016.
Sophomore Reagan Mattice posted her third lifetime best in as many days this week, finishing 18th overall in the 1650 free with a time of 16:36.27 to move into 13th place in team history. It was Purdue's best time in the event since the 2021 Big Ten Championships.
Mahala Erlandson (200 breast) and Cecilie Wiuff (200 fly) joined Bowen as B finalists Saturday, accounting for a combined 26.5 team points.
Wright's list score of 318.10 in the final was just .45 points shy of her career best as a Boilermaker, which she posted while winning bronze in the event at the USA Diving Winter Nationals in December. It was that performance that qualified her for the World Championships earlier this month in Qatar. Wright earned an award of at least 60 points in all five rounds of the championship final Saturday.
Vieta and Patrick both improved on their prelim list scores, moving up two spots each after being sixth and eighth in the prelim. Vieta ripped a 70-point dive in round 4, but she had missed her previous dive and it ultimately took her out of medal contention. Patrick's list score of 298.20 was her best since the 2022 Big Ten Championships.
In the team scoring, the Big Ten conference champion was determined in historically tight fashion. Indiana topped Ohio State by just a half point – 1359 to 1358.5. The Hoosiers trailed 1241.5-1232 entering platform diving. IU's Skyler Liu won the event by just four tenths of a point over Minnesota's Viviana Del Angel after Liu ripped a final-round armstand for a big score of 79.20 on the final dive of the night. Del Angel held a two-point lead entering the final round and executed her final dive for a big score of 76.80 as well. Even though Michigan won the final event of the meet – the 400 freestyle relay – IU finished second to OSU's third and the two-point difference in the relay scoring was enough to overcome the 1.5-point deficit.
Selected swimmers will compete in Sunday's long course time trials at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center, chasing Olympic Trials qualifying times in the process. Purdue will host the annual two-day Boiler-Make-It NCAA last chance meet next weekend (March 2-3). Championship season continues with the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships (March 14-16 at Louisville), CSCAA National Invitational Championships (March 14-16 in Ocala, Fla.) and NCAA Championships (March 20-23 at Georgia).
The men's Big Ten Championships begin Wednesday evening at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus.
The Boilermakers racked up 97 team points on the tower, helping Purdue finish in sixth place in the team scoring with 572.5 points. Amassing 80 additional points this season allowed the Boilers to move up one spot in the team standings from a year ago.
Watch Highlights from Saturday
Platform Championship Final / McAfee Wins Platform Consol / Platform Prelim
Marcukaitis Wins C Final of 200 Back / Purdue Wins 3 Heats of 100 Free
Wright won her first career medal at Big Tens, capping a big week in which she was also seventh on 1-meter and sixth on 3-meter – accounting for a team-high 74 points. She helped extend Purdue's seven-year streak of having at least one medalist on platform at Big Tens. The sophomore became the Boilermakers' first female diver since Emily Bretscher in 2020 to be a championship finalist in all three events at Big Tens. Wright is also 6-for-6 in top-10 finishes in her career at Big Tens.
Maycey Vieta and Jaye Patrick joined Wright in the championship final Saturday, placing fourth and sixth. Vieta finished no lower than fourth on the tower in each of her five years at Big Tens, winning the conference title last season and two silver medals along the way. Patrick's sixth-place showing was the best of her five-year career at Big Ten, which included four years at Northwestern.
Sophie McAfee won the platform consolation final Saturday after placing ninth in the prelim. She scored in all three diving events at Big Tens for the third year in a row and is now 9-for-9 in top-10 finishes at Big Tens in her career. The junior accounted for a career-high 71 team points this week and surpassed the 200-point mark (203) at Big Tens in just three years.
In the swimming events Saturday, four Boilermakers moved up the program's all-leaderboards with lifetime bests. Abby Marcukaitis won the C final of the 200 backstroke with an NCAA provisional qualifying time (B Cut) of 1:56.96 that moved the sophomore into fourth place in program history. It was Purdue's fastest time in the event since Jackie Smailis set the Purdue record at the 2019 Big Ten Championships.
Kendra Bowen also doubled up with a B Cut that moved the fifth-year Boilermaker into fourth place in the record book. She posted a time of 49.26 while winning heat 6 of the 100 freestyle, posting Purdue's fastest mark since Carly Mercer set the team record at the Ohio State Invitational in the fall of 2013. Kendal Schreder (50.27, heat 5) and Kate Beavon (51.99, heat 2) also won their heats of the event with lifetime bests. Senior Kali Sayovitz (50.57) had a lifetime best as well in the event. For Beavon, it proved to be her final race as the South African World Championships qualifier announced her retirement on Instagram on Saturday afternoon.
Freshman Kate Mouser posted a lifetime best to qualify for a B final for the second day in a row, accomplishing the feat in the 200 breaststroke (2:14.72) Saturday. She moved into 10th place in program history and became Purdue's first swimmer to score in all three of her individual events at Big Tens since 2019. She also joined Alex Clarke as the Boilermakers' only freshman swimmers to score in all three of their events since the Big Ten went to its current 24-place scoring format in 2016.
Sophomore Reagan Mattice posted her third lifetime best in as many days this week, finishing 18th overall in the 1650 free with a time of 16:36.27 to move into 13th place in team history. It was Purdue's best time in the event since the 2021 Big Ten Championships.
Mahala Erlandson (200 breast) and Cecilie Wiuff (200 fly) joined Bowen as B finalists Saturday, accounting for a combined 26.5 team points.
Wright's list score of 318.10 in the final was just .45 points shy of her career best as a Boilermaker, which she posted while winning bronze in the event at the USA Diving Winter Nationals in December. It was that performance that qualified her for the World Championships earlier this month in Qatar. Wright earned an award of at least 60 points in all five rounds of the championship final Saturday.
Vieta and Patrick both improved on their prelim list scores, moving up two spots each after being sixth and eighth in the prelim. Vieta ripped a 70-point dive in round 4, but she had missed her previous dive and it ultimately took her out of medal contention. Patrick's list score of 298.20 was her best since the 2022 Big Ten Championships.
In the team scoring, the Big Ten conference champion was determined in historically tight fashion. Indiana topped Ohio State by just a half point – 1359 to 1358.5. The Hoosiers trailed 1241.5-1232 entering platform diving. IU's Skyler Liu won the event by just four tenths of a point over Minnesota's Viviana Del Angel after Liu ripped a final-round armstand for a big score of 79.20 on the final dive of the night. Del Angel held a two-point lead entering the final round and executed her final dive for a big score of 76.80 as well. Even though Michigan won the final event of the meet – the 400 freestyle relay – IU finished second to OSU's third and the two-point difference in the relay scoring was enough to overcome the 1.5-point deficit.
Selected swimmers will compete in Sunday's long course time trials at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center, chasing Olympic Trials qualifying times in the process. Purdue will host the annual two-day Boiler-Make-It NCAA last chance meet next weekend (March 2-3). Championship season continues with the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships (March 14-16 at Louisville), CSCAA National Invitational Championships (March 14-16 in Ocala, Fla.) and NCAA Championships (March 20-23 at Georgia).
The men's Big Ten Championships begin Wednesday evening at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus.