Feb. 18, 2012
• Wednesday Results | • Thursday Results | • Friday Results | • Saturday Results
Beckie Thompson ended the Big Ten Championships exactly where she started it, at the top of the standings. The senior earned another Big Ten title in the 100 free, checking in with an NCAA `B' qualifying, school-record, and pool-record time of 48.28.
"Thompson was awesome today," said head coach Whitney Hite. "This whole week she was a superstar. I can't believe she wasn't Swimmer of the Meet, because she was unbelievable."
Thompson's big day helped the Badgers hold on to fourth-place, finishing the weekend with 411 points. Minnesota took home the team title with 680.5 points, Indiana placed second with 651 points, and Ohio State took home a third-place with 560 points.
"It was a great finish for us, a vast improvement over last year," Hite said. "We scored more points and finished three spots higher, so it was really a great meet for us."
Rebecka Palm (49.28), Laura Miller (49.77), and Ivy Martin (50.05) also gained `B' qualifying times in the 100 free, finishing in ninth, 12th, and 17th places, respectively.
Thompson also led Wisconsin to first-place tie with Penn State in the 400 free relay, joining Palm, Miller, and Aja Van Hout in setting a pool-record and NCAA `B' qualifying time of 3:16.12.
Wisconsin was also well-represented in the 200 breast, with four different swimmers capturing NCAA `B' qualifying times. Leading the way were Ashley Wanland in fourth-place (2:09.26) and Brittany Kimmitt in eighth-place (2:12.36). Paulina Gralow was not far behind, finishing with a 13th-place time of 2:14.07. Rounding things out for the Badgers was Julie Calvert in 19th-place with a 2:15.05 time.
Amie Osten just missed out on qualifying for the A-final in the 200 back, but bounced back to finish ninth with an NCAA `B' qualifying time of 1:56.43. Meanwhile, Danielle Beckwith raced to an eighth-place finish in the 1650 free, taking home an NCAA `B' qualifying time of 16:18.31.
UW now turns its attention to NCAAs, where Wanland, Thompson, Osten, Palm, Ruby and Ivy Martin, Miller, and Van Hout are all locks to make it to the NCAA Championships, and Danielle Beckwith, Monika Stitski and Brittany Kimmit have to wait a little longer to find out.
"We're just going to prepare for the NCAAs," concluded Hite. "We expect big things from Ashley and Beckie, and our relays should be great as well."
The Badgers will compete at the Gopher It Invitational in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Feb. 26 before getting some time off to prepare for the NCAA Championships, beginning Mar. 15 in Auburn, Alabama.
