2008 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships Preview :: Minnesota sends school-record 12 swimmers

March 19, 2008

Sixty-three student-athletes from eight different schools will represent the Big Ten Conference at the 2008 NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships on March 20-22 at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the campus of Ohio State University.

Big Ten Champion Minnesota will send a school-record 12 swimmers to the NCAA meet, including freshman Jillian Tyler who recently won Conference Freshman of the Year and also set a Big Ten Championships record in the 200-yard breastroke. Penn State boasts the next-best total with 10 swimmers qualifying.

Piloting the Nittany Lions are juniors Kelly Nelson and Caitlin Meehan as they both earned Big Ten Swimmer of the Week earlier this season.

Michigan, the conference's runner up, will send eight swimmers and one diver, including this year's Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships, Emily Brunemann. Brunemann set two conference Championships records this year in the 500- and 1650-yard freestyles. Elyse Lee will represent the Wolverines in the diving events. Wisconsin will also send nine student-athletes to Columbus, all of them being swimmers.

Look for Wisconsin's 200-yard freestyle relay squad of Kelsey Gergen, Hannah McClurg, Megan Meyer and Jackie Vavrek to make some noise as the group is fresh off a Big Ten Championships record performance.

Indiana placed third in this year's Big Ten Championships and garnered eight total qualifiers, seven of which are swimmers. Sophomore diver Brittany Feldman will represent the Hoosiers after she pulled of a double win at the conference Championships in the one- and three-meter events.

Being led by senior Andrea Hupman, Northwestern will also send eight competitors, followed by Ohio State with four and Purdue with three to round out the conference contingent.

For more information and results, check the NCAA's home page at ncaasports.com, or visit Ohio State's site at ohiostatebuckeyes.com.