University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Send Nine to Tonight's Championship Finals
2/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
The University of Minnesota will have nine compete in the championship final tonight, in Columbus, Ohio. The Golden Gophers hold a narrow lead over Michigan for the championship title, 420.5 to 407.
Minnesota will have two swimmers in the 200 backstroke championship final, while an additional two will compete in the B final. Roxane Akradi finished the prelims in fourth overall with a provisional qualifying time of 1:57.75, while Jenny Shaughnessy also made the 200 back finals with a seventh-place finish (1:58.28). Deidre DeWall and Castina Wabeke will compete in tonight's B final when they finished 11th and 12th overall in 1:59.16 and 1:59.57.
Stacy Busack and Meredith McCarthy led the Gophers in the 100 free prelims. Busack added a prelim time of 48.96 to finish second overall and held an NCAA automatic qualifying time. McCarthy followed with an eighth-place finish and a time of 50.35. Erin Holtmeyer will compete in tonight's B final when she clocked a prelim time of 50.91.
Minnesota dominated the 200 breaststroke, placing three in the A final. Jillian Tyler held the fastest time in the prelims with a meet record and an automatic time of 2:10.70. Kait Strickland placed third in the prelims with a provisional time of 2:14.43, while Alicia Jensen chipped in a sixth-place time of 2:15.09. Kimberly Kazika will also compete in the B final when she held a time of 2:17.07 and 12th overall.
Freshmen Molly Belk and Megan Braun will lead the Gophers in tonight's 100 fly. Braun finished with a school record time of 1:58.30 and third overall in the prelims. Braun's time was also an NCAA automatic qualifying time. Belk followed right behind her teammate when she placed fourth overall in an automatic qualifying time of 1:58.78.
Minnesota will also have Yuen Kobayashi and Christine Jennings each compete in the 1,650 freestyle. The Gophers will also compete in the 400 free relay to close out the meet.
Players Mentioned
