It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
The Northwestern women’s swim team was supposed to enter the four-day Big Ten Championships well rested and ready to swim better than its 2-4 conference record let on. Senior Carmen Cosgrove was supposed to make a run at first place in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly events. And just like every other year he’s been coach, Jimmy Tierney was supposed to watch as his team placed in the top four.
The Wildcats weren’t supposed to finish eighth.
After a much-needed 18 days of rest, NU traveled to West Lafayette, Ind., with high hopes. From the onset of the season, the team focused on the Big Ten Championships. After starting 0-3 against conference opponents, this week was a going to be a chance for the Cats to surprise a lot of teams.
With only 227 points, NU was 38 behind seventh-place Iowa. Indiana won the team title with 595 points. The Hoosiers were led by diver Sara Hildebrand, who won all three diving events. The senior was named first team All-Big Ten and went on to earn Big Ten Diver of the Year honors.
NU’s Ashley Carter placed seventh in platform diving.
After finishing sixth during Friday’s 100 butterfly preliminary race, Cosgrove turned it around and swam a season best 54.63 in the final that night. Her third-place finish was not only the highest any NU swimmer garnered all week, but it was also a mere .5 seconds away from an NCAA A-time.
No NU swimmer came closer to an A-time, which means an automatic invite to the NCAA Championships, to be held from March 20-22 in Auburn, Ala.
Even though Cosgrove was ranked second in the Big Ten in both butterfly events, and freshman Katie Paglini was ranked third in the 200 backstroke, the only swimmer other than Cosgrove to finish in the top five was junior Vicky West. The long-distance specialist placed fifth in 1,650 freestyle.
Fresh from rehabilitating her injured shoulder, sophomore Brielle Bovee was unable to top her season-best time in the 100 breaststroke and finished 14th. It was the first time she had lost the event all year.
“I was disappointed in myself because I couldn’t contribute to the team more,” she said. “It was kind of a long week, to say the least.”
NU started the week with seventh place finishes from their relay teams during the shorter day of competition on Wednesday. Day two produced the same results as the Cats best finish came in an eighth-place performance from West in the 500 freestyle. NU dropped to eighth overall.
It never got any better for the Cats.
Day three was by far the best day for NU swimmers, with the top-five finishes from Cosgrove and West. But Cosgrove was the only NU swimmer to reach a final on the last day of competition, finishing eighth in the 200 butterfly.
The team will be travelling to Minnesota next week for the Last Chance Meet. Tierney said he wants his team to stay optimistic since it will be their last opportunity to earn automatic entries into the NCAAs.
But the disappointment from this past weeks finish lingers.
“I’m still in shock about this weekend,” Bovee said. “But I don’t think our place represents all that we have accomplished this season.”
