ANN ARBOR, Mich. – For the second straight year, the Northwestern women’s swimming team finished fourth at the Big Ten championships.
Penn State won the meet, which was held from Wednesday to Saturday at Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Although the weekend ended well for the Wildcats, who were in sixth place going into the fourth and final day of competition, it was not a happy finish for every team.
Indiana was just 1.5 points behind first place Penn State going into the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. After touching in first in the relay, it looked as if the Hoosiers had clinched the team title.
But officials informed the Indiana quartet it was disqualified. After one of the Indiana swimmers dove off the block before the previous swimmer touched the wall.
Following the event, NU head coach Jimmy Tierney and the Cats consoled and congratulated the Hoosiers, whose bench was located next to NU’s.
The Cats and Hoosiers have a strong bond since Hoosiers head coach Dorsey Tierney is Jimmy Tierney’s sister.
NU swimmer Susie Sample said the Hoosiers’ second-place finish was a shame.
“They really did win the meet in the minds of almost everyone,” Sample said.
The No. 16 Cats had hoped to finish higher than fourth. They entered the meet with the Big Ten’s second-highest national ranking, behind No. 14 Penn State.
Senior Merritt Adams was the only individual winner for the Cats, taking home a gold medal in the 200 butterfly with an NCAA qualifying time of 1:59.11. The race also gave her All-Big Ten status.
Adams said she also plans to swim the 100 fly and the 200 individual medley at the NCAA championships. She finished fourth and 13th in those events at Big Tens.
Many factors contributed to NU’s disappointing finish, according to Sample. She highlighted the severe injuries a few of the swimmers sustained in the two weeks leading up to the championships.
“Every single one of those girls really did their best, and they were really inspirational,” Sample said of her injured teammates.
Despite the injuries, the Cats had many strong performances, including five swimmers scoring points for the team in both the 100 and 200 fly events.
Carmen Cosgrove was the highest finisher for the team in the 100, touching in at 54.53 seconds to qualify for NCAAs.
Rachel Johnson is the only other NU swimmer who has qualified for the March championships. She qualified in the 200 fly earlier in the season and will compete against Adams at NCAAs in Austin, Texas.
Simmons and Vicky West helped the team improve its position on the last day, each notching a fifth-place finish. Simmons placed in the 200 breaststroke and West in the 1,650 free.
Sample admired her team’s support when she didn’t perform as well as she had hoped.
“Whenever I had a good event or a bad event – because I fluctuated a lot – the team really supported me and got me through to the end,” she said.
The Cats sported new gear throughout the meet that they received from parents as gifts on the first day, including purple plaid pajama pants and white tank tops with “Northwestern” embroidered on them.
They were also given socks, Mardis Gras beads and sunglasses.
“Everyone’s running around and showing off their stuff,” Erin Swenson said. “It’s like Christmas.”
But the party didn’t stop for NU after the first night of events. Even Saturday, after the conclusion of the meet, the Cats played music and had a dance party on the bus on the way back to the hotel for their annual Big Ten banquet.
Sample said it was an emotional time for the team as the Cats celebrated their last meet with the seniors.
“It’s always very emotional to have to say goodbye,” Sample said. “But at the same time we know they’ll be around, and we know they’ll be back.”
The NU swimmers will continue practicing together throughout the week to support those swimmers preparing for NCAAs. In addition, 10 NU swimmers have chosen to participate in next weekend’s Last Chance meet, where they will have a final opportunity to qualify for NCAAs.
