University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Finish Second at Big Ten Championships
2/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
The No. 10 University of Minnesota women’s swimming and diving team added another two event titles as the Golden Gophers finished second at the Big Ten Championships, which concluded today in West Lafayette, Ind. Although the Gophers had a great meet and put up 572.5 points, the Indiana Hoosiers posted 758 points for their second-straight Big Ten title. Michigan was third with 462.5, while host Purdue was fourth with 460.
In all, the Gophers had seven event titles in the championship and had seven on the All-Big Ten First Team. Diver Kelci Bryant was named the Big Ten Diver of the Year and of the Championship, while diving coach Wenbo Chen was named the Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year. Along with the event title accomplishments, Megan Braun was the Gophers’ sportsmanship award recipient.
“Ashley had a great meet and her swim in the 1,650 free tonight was just awesome,” co-head coach Terry Nieszner said. “Haley and Jill created a great 1,2 finish in the 200 breast and it was a great highlight of the meet for us. And to top it off with Kelci and Wenbo earning conference awards at the end really topped off a great championship for us. We will only graduate one senior who earned us points from this year and with a young and talented team and the recruiting class we have coming in, we hope it sets us up well for the future.”
Ashley Steenvoorden started the Gophers off in the right direction when she won the 1,650 freestyle when she clocked a season-best time of 16:01.02. It is Steenvoorden’s second-straight Big Ten title in her two years at the U of M. Loren Brandon followed in fourth place in the same event with a time of 16:21.85.
“It’s great to come in and defend my title,” Steenvoorden said. “But usually I don’t think about stuff like that because it doesn’t really matter if I defend or not, I just wanted to come in here and get a lot of points for Minnesota. I couldn’t be happier with the results.”
Haley Spencer and Jillian Tyler combined for a great one-two punch in the 200 breaststroke when Haley Spencer won the event. It is her first Big Ten title as she swam the event in 2:08.48, which was an automatic qualifying time and a facility record. The previous record was held by Caroline Bruce at the NCAA Championships in 2005. Tyler followed right behind the Minnesota rookie when she touched the wall in 2:08.85. Paige Bradley also competed in the championship final when she was seventh overall in a time of 2:15.96.
“I didn’t know (that I broke the facility record) until I got up on the podium so it’s really cool,” Spencer said. It means a lot, especially having three people in the top eight for Minnesota so that was more of the victory.”
Megan Braun and Kaylee Jamison led the Gophers in the 200 fly finals when they both competed in the championship final. Braun finished the 200 fly in sixth with a provisional time of 1:58.74, while Jamison was seventh overall in 1:59.48, also a provisional qualifying time.
Minnesota closed out the championship with a seventh-place finish in the 400 free relay. The Gopher relay of Alison Eggers, Marissa Davies, Meagan Radecke and Megan Braun combined for a time of 3:20.55.
2010 BIG TEN AWARDS
DIVER OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS - Kelci Bryant, Minnesota
DIVER OF THE YEAR - Kelci Bryant, Minnesota
DIVING COACH OF THE YEAR - Wenbo Chen, Minnesota
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR - Taylor Wohrley, Indiana
SWIMMER OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS - Kate Fesenko, Indiana
SWIMMER OF THE YEAR - Kate Fesenko, Indiana
SWIMMING COACH OF THE YEAR - John Klinge, Purdue
2010 ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM
Gabby Agostino, Indiana
Margaux Farrell, Indiana
Kate Fesenko, Indiana
Donna Smailis, Indiana
Brittany Strumbel, Indiana
Allysa Vavra, Indiana
Nikki White, Indiana
Taylor Wohrley, Indiana
Margaret Kelly, Michigan
Kelci Bryant, Minnesota
Alison Eggers, Minnesota
Kaylee Jamison, Minnesota
Haley Spencer, Minnesota
Ashley Steenvoorden, Minnesota
Jillian Tyler, Minnesota
Hannah Whitehead, Minnesota
Kelsey Gergen, Wisconsin
Karlyn Hougan, Wisconsin
Ruby Martin, Wisconsin
Margaret Meyer, Wisconsin
Rebecca Thompson, Wisconsin
Ashley Wanland, Wisconsin
2010 ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM
Britt Barwegen, Indiana
Ashley Jones, Indiana
Ashley Specht, Indiana
Emily Brunemann, Michigan
Leigh Cole, Michigan
Alexa Mehesan, Michigan
Natasha Moodie, Michigan
Bianca Alvarez, Ohio State
Lisa Butler, Purdue
Kara Cook, Purdue
Caitlin Hamilton, Purdue
Leah Henninger, Purdue
Ariel Martin, Purdue
Lauren Roth, Purdue
Laura Miller, Wisconsin
Rose Morahan, Wisconsin
TEAM HIGH-POINT SCORERS
Illinois - Britini Fisher
Indiana - Donna Smailis
Iowa - Veronica Rydze
Michigan - Margaret Kelly
Michigan State - Sarah Clay
Minnesota - Ashley Steenvoorden
Northwestern - Kassia Shishkoff
Ohio State - Samantha Cheverton
Penn State - Kailey Morris
Purdue - Allie Smith
Wisconsin - Margaret Meyer
In all, the Gophers had seven event titles in the championship and had seven on the All-Big Ten First Team. Diver Kelci Bryant was named the Big Ten Diver of the Year and of the Championship, while diving coach Wenbo Chen was named the Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year. Along with the event title accomplishments, Megan Braun was the Gophers’ sportsmanship award recipient.
“Ashley had a great meet and her swim in the 1,650 free tonight was just awesome,” co-head coach Terry Nieszner said. “Haley and Jill created a great 1,2 finish in the 200 breast and it was a great highlight of the meet for us. And to top it off with Kelci and Wenbo earning conference awards at the end really topped off a great championship for us. We will only graduate one senior who earned us points from this year and with a young and talented team and the recruiting class we have coming in, we hope it sets us up well for the future.”
Ashley Steenvoorden started the Gophers off in the right direction when she won the 1,650 freestyle when she clocked a season-best time of 16:01.02. It is Steenvoorden’s second-straight Big Ten title in her two years at the U of M. Loren Brandon followed in fourth place in the same event with a time of 16:21.85.
“It’s great to come in and defend my title,” Steenvoorden said. “But usually I don’t think about stuff like that because it doesn’t really matter if I defend or not, I just wanted to come in here and get a lot of points for Minnesota. I couldn’t be happier with the results.”
Haley Spencer and Jillian Tyler combined for a great one-two punch in the 200 breaststroke when Haley Spencer won the event. It is her first Big Ten title as she swam the event in 2:08.48, which was an automatic qualifying time and a facility record. The previous record was held by Caroline Bruce at the NCAA Championships in 2005. Tyler followed right behind the Minnesota rookie when she touched the wall in 2:08.85. Paige Bradley also competed in the championship final when she was seventh overall in a time of 2:15.96.
“I didn’t know (that I broke the facility record) until I got up on the podium so it’s really cool,” Spencer said. It means a lot, especially having three people in the top eight for Minnesota so that was more of the victory.”
Megan Braun and Kaylee Jamison led the Gophers in the 200 fly finals when they both competed in the championship final. Braun finished the 200 fly in sixth with a provisional time of 1:58.74, while Jamison was seventh overall in 1:59.48, also a provisional qualifying time.
Minnesota closed out the championship with a seventh-place finish in the 400 free relay. The Gopher relay of Alison Eggers, Marissa Davies, Meagan Radecke and Megan Braun combined for a time of 3:20.55.
2010 BIG TEN AWARDS
DIVER OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS - Kelci Bryant, Minnesota
DIVER OF THE YEAR - Kelci Bryant, Minnesota
DIVING COACH OF THE YEAR - Wenbo Chen, Minnesota
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR - Taylor Wohrley, Indiana
SWIMMER OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS - Kate Fesenko, Indiana
SWIMMER OF THE YEAR - Kate Fesenko, Indiana
SWIMMING COACH OF THE YEAR - John Klinge, Purdue
2010 ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM
Gabby Agostino, Indiana
Margaux Farrell, Indiana
Kate Fesenko, Indiana
Donna Smailis, Indiana
Brittany Strumbel, Indiana
Allysa Vavra, Indiana
Nikki White, Indiana
Taylor Wohrley, Indiana
Margaret Kelly, Michigan
Kelci Bryant, Minnesota
Alison Eggers, Minnesota
Kaylee Jamison, Minnesota
Haley Spencer, Minnesota
Ashley Steenvoorden, Minnesota
Jillian Tyler, Minnesota
Hannah Whitehead, Minnesota
Kelsey Gergen, Wisconsin
Karlyn Hougan, Wisconsin
Ruby Martin, Wisconsin
Margaret Meyer, Wisconsin
Rebecca Thompson, Wisconsin
Ashley Wanland, Wisconsin
2010 ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM
Britt Barwegen, Indiana
Ashley Jones, Indiana
Ashley Specht, Indiana
Emily Brunemann, Michigan
Leigh Cole, Michigan
Alexa Mehesan, Michigan
Natasha Moodie, Michigan
Bianca Alvarez, Ohio State
Lisa Butler, Purdue
Kara Cook, Purdue
Caitlin Hamilton, Purdue
Leah Henninger, Purdue
Ariel Martin, Purdue
Lauren Roth, Purdue
Laura Miller, Wisconsin
Rose Morahan, Wisconsin
TEAM HIGH-POINT SCORERS
Illinois - Britini Fisher
Indiana - Donna Smailis
Iowa - Veronica Rydze
Michigan - Margaret Kelly
Michigan State - Sarah Clay
Minnesota - Ashley Steenvoorden
Northwestern - Kassia Shishkoff
Ohio State - Samantha Cheverton
Penn State - Kailey Morris
Purdue - Allie Smith
Wisconsin - Margaret Meyer
Players Mentioned
Breast IM Fly
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Dist Free
/ Women's Swimming & DivingFree/Fly
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Free
/ Women's Swimming & DivingFree
/ Women's Swimming & DivingSpr Free/Fly
/ Women's Swimming & DivingSprint
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Dist Free
/ Women's Swimming & DivingBreast/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Free
/ Women's Swimming & DivingElna Widerstrom Wins B1G 1M Title
Thursday, February 26
Vivi Del Angel Wins B1G Platform Title
Thursday, February 26
Vivi Del Angel BTN Interview
Thursday, February 26
Vivi Del Angel Wins NCAA Bronze
Monday, March 24