University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, February 18
Ann Arbor, Mich.
9 AM (Prelims), 4 PM (Finals)
University of Minnesota
at
Big Ten Championships
Players Mentioned
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Sprint Freestyle
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Freestyle/Backstroke/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Freestyle/Backstroke/Butterfly
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
IM/Breaststroke/Freestyle
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Backstroke/Butterfly
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Freestyle/Backstroke/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Distance Freestyle
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Breaststroke/Butterfly
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Backstroke
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
IM/Butterfly/Breaststroke
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Photo by: www.WaltMiddletonphoto.com
Golden Gophers Earn Fifth-Place Finish at Big Ten Championships
2/18/2023 8:28:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
MINNEAPOLIS – Thanks in part to two more third-place finishes, the Minnesota women's swimming and diving team finished the 2023 Big Ten Championships in fifth place as competition concluded Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich.
With 768.5 points, Minnesota remained in fifth place for the third day in a row. The result snapped a three-year stretch of sixth-place finishes and was the team's best placement since 2019 when it came in fourth.
In all, the Gophers got points from 19 individuals with 15 scoring in at least two events and seven recording points in all three events in which they competed.
Ohio State captured the Big Ten team title with 1425 and was followed by Indiana (1291.5), host-Michigan (1108) and Wisconsin (954).
The final day of competition saw Gophers junior Megan Van Berkom earn a medal for the third day in a row. After taking third in the 200 IM on Thursday and second in the 400 IM Friday, Van Berkom picked up another bronze Saturday in the 200 fly.
After finishing third in the prelims with a time of 1:56.27, Van Berkom took 1.13 seconds off her time in the finals at 1:55.14. It was a season-best time, lowering her NCAA 'B' cut in the process.
Van Berkom was the top individual swimmer of the Championships for the Golden Gophers with 82 points and earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors.
Freshman diver Vivi Del Angel delivered the other third-place finish for Minnesota on Saturday, doing so on the platform. The top seed through the prelims with a score of 328.95, Del Angel was in second place through two rounds thanks to a 73.60 score on her second dive, but stumbled to fifth after her third attempt. She recovered, though, with a 70.04 in round four, while a 65.60 in the final round earned her the bronze medal.
Del Angel became the first Gopher to medal in platform diving at the Big Tens since current diving graduate assistant Yu Zhou came in third in 2017.
Also reaching the 'A' final of their event was junior Paula Rodriguez Rivero. One night after finishing seventh in the 100 back, she duplicated the feat in the 200 back. She was seventh after the 200 back prelims thanks to a personal record 1:55.17, then came back in the finals and took .05 off it for a new best of 1:55.12.
Like Rodriguez Rivero, Minnesota's 400 free relay team also earned a seventh-place finish. Sophomore Hannah Cornish (49.77), senior captain Olivia Bloomer (48.72), senior Maggie Summit (48.75) and Van Berkom (49.68) combined for a finish of 3:16.92, the second best on the team this year.
The 200 back also saw junior Indy Jongman finish 13th (1:56.62), senior captain Rachel Butler take 17th (1:57.02) and freshman Faith Johnson place 22nd (1:58.56).
In the 100 free, Cornish earned 12th place at 49.16, while Bloomer (49.76) and Summit (49.77) came in 23rd and 24th, respectively.
Two Gophers competed in the 200 breast finals. Senior Emma Lezer was 11th at 2:13.01 while freshman Grace Drabot was four spots behind her after touching in 2:13.87.
In addition, in the 1650 free, sophomore Eliot Kennedy took nearly six seconds off her PR in the 1650 Free and finished with a time of 16:18.98, good for 11th place. Not only was that a personal record and an NCAA 'B' cut, but it also put her 14th in the event in Gophers history.
Along with Del Angel's prowess on the platform, fifth-year senior Joy Zhu came in 14th (243.35) to become the team's top-scoring diver at 66 points. Zhu was third on the 1-meter and fourth on the 3-meter board. Junior Megan Phillip (228.40) was 18th, while freshman Addie Albrecht came in 20th (222.25) and sophomore Kate LaMonica took 23rd (217.45).
Up next for Minnesota is the Zone Diving Championships, March 7-9, at Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, while the NCAA Championships is March 15-18 in Knoxville, Tenn. The selection show for the NCAAs is March 8 at 11 a.m. CT.
With 768.5 points, Minnesota remained in fifth place for the third day in a row. The result snapped a three-year stretch of sixth-place finishes and was the team's best placement since 2019 when it came in fourth.
In all, the Gophers got points from 19 individuals with 15 scoring in at least two events and seven recording points in all three events in which they competed.
Ohio State captured the Big Ten team title with 1425 and was followed by Indiana (1291.5), host-Michigan (1108) and Wisconsin (954).
The final day of competition saw Gophers junior Megan Van Berkom earn a medal for the third day in a row. After taking third in the 200 IM on Thursday and second in the 400 IM Friday, Van Berkom picked up another bronze Saturday in the 200 fly.
After finishing third in the prelims with a time of 1:56.27, Van Berkom took 1.13 seconds off her time in the finals at 1:55.14. It was a season-best time, lowering her NCAA 'B' cut in the process.
Van Berkom was the top individual swimmer of the Championships for the Golden Gophers with 82 points and earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors.
Freshman diver Vivi Del Angel delivered the other third-place finish for Minnesota on Saturday, doing so on the platform. The top seed through the prelims with a score of 328.95, Del Angel was in second place through two rounds thanks to a 73.60 score on her second dive, but stumbled to fifth after her third attempt. She recovered, though, with a 70.04 in round four, while a 65.60 in the final round earned her the bronze medal.
Del Angel became the first Gopher to medal in platform diving at the Big Tens since current diving graduate assistant Yu Zhou came in third in 2017.
Also reaching the 'A' final of their event was junior Paula Rodriguez Rivero. One night after finishing seventh in the 100 back, she duplicated the feat in the 200 back. She was seventh after the 200 back prelims thanks to a personal record 1:55.17, then came back in the finals and took .05 off it for a new best of 1:55.12.
Like Rodriguez Rivero, Minnesota's 400 free relay team also earned a seventh-place finish. Sophomore Hannah Cornish (49.77), senior captain Olivia Bloomer (48.72), senior Maggie Summit (48.75) and Van Berkom (49.68) combined for a finish of 3:16.92, the second best on the team this year.
The 200 back also saw junior Indy Jongman finish 13th (1:56.62), senior captain Rachel Butler take 17th (1:57.02) and freshman Faith Johnson place 22nd (1:58.56).
In the 100 free, Cornish earned 12th place at 49.16, while Bloomer (49.76) and Summit (49.77) came in 23rd and 24th, respectively.
Two Gophers competed in the 200 breast finals. Senior Emma Lezer was 11th at 2:13.01 while freshman Grace Drabot was four spots behind her after touching in 2:13.87.
In addition, in the 1650 free, sophomore Eliot Kennedy took nearly six seconds off her PR in the 1650 Free and finished with a time of 16:18.98, good for 11th place. Not only was that a personal record and an NCAA 'B' cut, but it also put her 14th in the event in Gophers history.
Along with Del Angel's prowess on the platform, fifth-year senior Joy Zhu came in 14th (243.35) to become the team's top-scoring diver at 66 points. Zhu was third on the 1-meter and fourth on the 3-meter board. Junior Megan Phillip (228.40) was 18th, while freshman Addie Albrecht came in 20th (222.25) and sophomore Kate LaMonica took 23rd (217.45).
Up next for Minnesota is the Zone Diving Championships, March 7-9, at Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, while the NCAA Championships is March 15-18 in Knoxville, Tenn. The selection show for the NCAAs is March 8 at 11 a.m. CT.
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