University of Minnesota Athletics
Thursday, February 25
Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center
11:00 AM/6:30 PM
University of Minnesota
vs
Big Ten Championships
Players Mentioned
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Freestyle/Backstroke/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Backstroke
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Distance Freestyle
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Freestyle/Backstroke/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Sprint Freestyle
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Breaststroke/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Photo by: Brad Rempel
Gophers Improve to Sixth after Day Three of B1G Championships
2/25/2021 8:09:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
MINNEAPOLIS - With day three of the 2021 Big Ten Conference Championships in the rearview, the Gophers' have jumped two spots from day two to sit sixth overall with 289 points.
The best finish of the night belonged to senior diving captain Sarah Bacon, as she claimed fourth in the three-meter finals at the Diving Championships in West Lafayette, Ind. Her finals score of 369.00 fell only 4.90 points shy of the eventual champion and just 0.90 points short of medaling in the event. She'll look forward to Saturday's one-meter where she'll hope to add her third Big Ten Title to her already incredible resume.
Competing alongside Bacon in the three-meter finals, and her first ever Big Ten final, was freshman Megan Phillip, who placed eighth with a six-dive flight of 294.05. To make the finals session, Phillip set a lifetime best in the event earlier in the day, scoring a solid 315.50.
On the swimming side of the Championships, Minnesota's best event of the day was the 400 Individual Medley, where all four competing Gophers qualified for the night's finals session. Freshman Megan Van Berkom headed the charge for the Maroon and Gold, improving on her season best NCAA 'B' cut in both sessions to ultimately finish seventh in a time of 4:13.19.
Alongside Van Berkom in the 'A' final was junior Kelli McCarthy, who ultimately finished eighth overall in a time of 4:16.43. Her most impressive swim of the day came during the preliminary session, however, as the Edina, Minn. native recorded a season best NCAA 'B' cut time of 4:13.96. Also scoring for the Gophers in the event were sophomore Rachel Butler and senior captain Abbey Erwin, who finished 21st (4:18.31) and 22nd (4:18.77) overall, respectively.
In the 100 butterfly, junior Emma Linscott scored the Gophers only points of the event, finishing 22nd overall in a time of 54.54. Her time would have marked a personal best for the butterfly specialist, had she not already set it with her split of 54.13 during the morning's preliminary session.
Sophomore Jordan McGinty starred in her second individual finals event of the Championships, as she and fellow sophomore Maggie Summit represented Minnesota in the 200 freestyle finals. Improving upon her preliminary seed of 13th, McGinty touched the wall in 1:47.49 for a 12th place finish, while Summit gained some major traction in the finals session as well, improving an impressive six spots to finish 18th in a time of 1:48.46.
Personal Bests
Six Gophers managed to rake in a personal best performance throughout the day.
100 Fly
Emily Cook | 54.89
Emma Linscott | 54.13
200 Free
Maeve O'Driscoll | 1:52.22
Elle Niebuhr | 1:50.92
3-Meter Diving
Megan Phillip | 315.50
Susanna Fish | 236.80
Quotable
"This year is providing a lot of opportunities to discover how gritty and resilient we can be," said head coach Kelly Kremer. "Tonight was one of those nights. I'm so proud of the women who competed tonight. Leaders are developing for us and that is a very important step right now."
Notable
Sarah Bacon dominated the preliminary round of the three-meter finals, finishing nearly 45 points ahead of the nearest competitor. She ultimately finished fourth overall in the finals session for the best Minnesota finish through three days of competition.
Two freshmen made their 'A' final debuts tonight, as Megan Van Berkom and Megan Phillip scored some monumental points for the Maroon and Gold with their top-eight finishes.
Up Next
Competition will resume Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. CT with a number of events on the docket. For the swimmers, the first event of the day will be the 100 breaststroke, followed by the 100 backstroke and 200 butterfly. In the diving well, the women will tackle the Platform event, while the men will be up against the three-meter board. As is true with every session of the 2021 Big Ten Championships, all the action can be caught live on BTN+.
The best finish of the night belonged to senior diving captain Sarah Bacon, as she claimed fourth in the three-meter finals at the Diving Championships in West Lafayette, Ind. Her finals score of 369.00 fell only 4.90 points shy of the eventual champion and just 0.90 points short of medaling in the event. She'll look forward to Saturday's one-meter where she'll hope to add her third Big Ten Title to her already incredible resume.
Competing alongside Bacon in the three-meter finals, and her first ever Big Ten final, was freshman Megan Phillip, who placed eighth with a six-dive flight of 294.05. To make the finals session, Phillip set a lifetime best in the event earlier in the day, scoring a solid 315.50.
On the swimming side of the Championships, Minnesota's best event of the day was the 400 Individual Medley, where all four competing Gophers qualified for the night's finals session. Freshman Megan Van Berkom headed the charge for the Maroon and Gold, improving on her season best NCAA 'B' cut in both sessions to ultimately finish seventh in a time of 4:13.19.
Alongside Van Berkom in the 'A' final was junior Kelli McCarthy, who ultimately finished eighth overall in a time of 4:16.43. Her most impressive swim of the day came during the preliminary session, however, as the Edina, Minn. native recorded a season best NCAA 'B' cut time of 4:13.96. Also scoring for the Gophers in the event were sophomore Rachel Butler and senior captain Abbey Erwin, who finished 21st (4:18.31) and 22nd (4:18.77) overall, respectively.
In the 100 butterfly, junior Emma Linscott scored the Gophers only points of the event, finishing 22nd overall in a time of 54.54. Her time would have marked a personal best for the butterfly specialist, had she not already set it with her split of 54.13 during the morning's preliminary session.
Sophomore Jordan McGinty starred in her second individual finals event of the Championships, as she and fellow sophomore Maggie Summit represented Minnesota in the 200 freestyle finals. Improving upon her preliminary seed of 13th, McGinty touched the wall in 1:47.49 for a 12th place finish, while Summit gained some major traction in the finals session as well, improving an impressive six spots to finish 18th in a time of 1:48.46.
Personal Bests
Six Gophers managed to rake in a personal best performance throughout the day.
100 Fly
Emily Cook | 54.89
Emma Linscott | 54.13
200 Free
Maeve O'Driscoll | 1:52.22
Elle Niebuhr | 1:50.92
3-Meter Diving
Megan Phillip | 315.50
Susanna Fish | 236.80
Quotable
"This year is providing a lot of opportunities to discover how gritty and resilient we can be," said head coach Kelly Kremer. "Tonight was one of those nights. I'm so proud of the women who competed tonight. Leaders are developing for us and that is a very important step right now."
Notable
Sarah Bacon dominated the preliminary round of the three-meter finals, finishing nearly 45 points ahead of the nearest competitor. She ultimately finished fourth overall in the finals session for the best Minnesota finish through three days of competition.
Two freshmen made their 'A' final debuts tonight, as Megan Van Berkom and Megan Phillip scored some monumental points for the Maroon and Gold with their top-eight finishes.
Up Next
Competition will resume Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. CT with a number of events on the docket. For the swimmers, the first event of the day will be the 100 breaststroke, followed by the 100 backstroke and 200 butterfly. In the diving well, the women will tackle the Platform event, while the men will be up against the three-meter board. As is true with every session of the 2021 Big Ten Championships, all the action can be caught live on BTN+.
Vivi Del Angel Wins NCAA Bronze
Monday, March 24
Del Angel Earns B1G Platform Diving Silver
Saturday, February 22
Vivi Del Angel Wins NCAA Title
Monday, March 25
Megan Van Berkom Wins 400 IM
Monday, February 26