Northwestern’s women’s swimming team kicked off the Big Ten championships Wednesday with a 7th-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay.
The 9th-seeded team, consisting of Katie Paglini, Katie Simmons, Kristen Kilroy and Michelle Oeser, recorded a time of 1:43:50, which was 3.20 seconds faster than their seeded time.
The only other event of the day was the 800 freestyle relay. The NU team was seeded 10th going into the meet, but it was disqualified.
After both events the Wildcats are in 9th place, in front of Illinois and Ohio State. Michigan is currently in 1st place with 74 points. The Cats have 24 points.
The meet continues tomorrow at 11 a.m, with events in the 200 free relay, 500 free, 200 individual medley, 50 free, and one-meter diving.
The championships, held in Minneapolis, run through Sunday. Last year NU finished in seventh place.
