University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Look Forward to B1G Championships
2/14/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
| BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS | |
| Dates | Wednesday, Feb. 15-Saturday, Feb. 18 |
| Time | Prelims: 10 a.m. CT / Finals: 5:30 p.m. CT |
| Location | West Lafayette, Ind. / Boilermaker Aquatic Center |
| Meet Information | Championship Central |
| Live Stats | | Diving Live Scoring |
| Live Video | BTN Plus |
| Psych Sheets | Click Here |
| Clips | Faces of Fearless: Yu Zhou |
| Social Media | @GopherSwimDive / Facebook / Instagram |
The University of Minnesota women's swimming and diving team is in West Lafayette, Ind., for the Big Ten Championships, which run Wednesday, Feb. 15-Saturday, Feb. 18. Prelims (every day except Wednesday) begin at 10 a.m. CT and finals begin at 5:30 p.m. CT each day. Every session will be streamed via BTN Plus. Saturday's finals will be televised on BTN.
BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS PAST
Minnesota has won five team conference championships in the past nine years. The swimming and diving team became the first Gopher women's program to win four consecutive Big Ten titles, with a four-year run from 2012-15.
The Gophers finished third at last year's Big Ten meet with Yu Zhou's sweep of the diving events and crowning as Big Ten Diver of the Championships highlighting the meet. Danielle Nack earned silver in the 200-yard butterfly and bronze in the 100 butterfly.
Zhou won five Big Ten titles in her first two years at Minnesota. Kierra Smith, who did not compete at least year's conference meet as she trained for the Olympics, won both breaststroke events in 2014 and 2015.
Click here for a list of all the Gophers' Big Ten champions.
SPEEDY SEED TIMES
Gophers hold the top seeds in several events, including the 200-yard medley relay which will open the meet Wednesday night. Minnesota's 1:37.71 seed time is the only NCAA "B" cut in that relay by a Big Ten team so far this season. The 400 medley (3:33.77) relay ranks second.
Freshman Tevyn Waddell has the Big Ten's fastest 100 backstroke time this season at 52.40. She is eighth in the 100 butterfly (53.78).
Kierra Smith (59.29) and Lindsey Horejsi (59.41) have two of the best seeds in the 100 breaststroke after Lilly King. Smith also has the second seed in the 200 breast with one of the Big Ten's two automatic qualifying times (2:05.83), while Horejsi is fifth.
Danielle Nack is seeded third in the 100 fly (52.84) and fourth in the 200 (1:56.83). Zoe Avestruz (22.53) and Danielle Nack (22.54) have the fifth and sixth seed times in the 50 free. Avestruz is sixth in the 100 free (49.24). Breanne Siwicki (4:11.66) has the sixth-best time in the 400 IM.
BIG TEN OUTLOOK
Minnesota is ranked 21st in the final CSCAA poll. Michigan is ranked sixth to lead the Big Ten. Wisconsin and Indiana check in at 12th and 15th, respectively, while Ohio State immediately follows the Gophers.
Players Mentioned
