Complete Lists of Individual & Relay Qualifiers
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Led by the individual invitations earned by five Boilermakers, seven Purdue women's swimmers have learned they will have an opportunity to represent the program at the NCAA Championships later this month at the three-day meet in Greensboro, N.C.
Rhiannon Sheets, Emily Fogle and Francesca Marr qualified as individuals for at least the second time in their careers. Allie Davis made it as an individual for the first time, but will races at the national championship meet for the third time overall. Kaersten Meitz is the Boilers' first freshman to qualify as an individual since Sheets in 2012.
Purdue's program-record time of 7:03.15 in the 800 freestyle relay is also a qualifying time for NCAAs. Abby Jagdfeld and Nika Karlina Petric will be part of the 800 free relay team with Davis and Sheets at the national championship meet. Petric will swim on a relay at NCAAs for the third time in her career while Jagdfeld qualified as a freshman.
The Boilermakers last had five swimmers qualify for individual events in 2011. Fogle was also part of that quintet as a true freshman. A program-record 10 individuals competed for the Purdue women at the 2014 NCAA Championships after three individuals made it, four earned relay spots and three divers qualified via Zones.
Divers earn their NCAA berths based on their performances at the Zone Championships. Purdue is competing at the Zone C meet again, set for March 12-14 in Columbus, Ohio. The national championship meet invitations for the men's swimmers will be announced next week.
Sheets is the Boilers' top qualifier thanks to school-record time (1:45.16) in the 200 freestyle that ranks 19th nationally. She's set to represent the Boilers at NCAAs for the fourth year in a row. To qualify for an individual event, a swimmer's time had to rank among the top 38 to 40 nationally, depending on the event.
Fogle earned a berth at NCAA Championships for the third time, but first since 2012 after missing the last two seasons due to injuries. She posted an A Cut qualifying time in the 100 breaststroke at the Purdue Invitational in November 2012 that would have earned her a spot at the 2013 NCAA Championships, but her season came to an end after the Purdue Invite.
Sheets and Meitz are among the top 40 in a pair of individual events. Meitz is ranked 29th in the 1650 freestyle and 31st in the 500 free. Sheets is also 36th in the 200 butterfly.
Fogle (26th) and Marr (27th) qualified via the 200 breaststroke. Davis qualified via the 200 free (26th). Purdue's 800 freestyle is ranked 11th nationally entering NCAAs.
Individual qualifiers that owned NCAA provisional qualifying times ("B Cuts") in other events also have an opportunity to compete in those races. Davis was 40th in the mile and 41st in the 500 free, meaning she was nearly an individual qualifier in both events regardless of the 200 free time that ultimately punched her ticket. The junior's B Cuts in the 500 and 1650 free allow her to race in those events.
Fogle and Marr will also have an opportunity to race in the 100 breaststroke. Meitz may choose to race in the 200 free. Marr (200 IM) and Sheets (100 fly) had B Cuts in one other event each but are unlikely to compete in those races.
Marr dropped her season-best time in the 200 breast by more than a second at Saturday's Boiler-Make-It NCAA Last Chance Meet and it vaulted her into the top 30 nationally. Her previous season best of 2:11.37 from the Big Ten Championships most likely would have left a few hundredths of a second below the cut line.
The women's national championship meet is set for March 19-21 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, which opened in the summer of 2011.
2015 Purdue Women's Swimming NCAA Qualifiers
Event, Time (National Rank)
* -- New Purdue Record Time
^ -- New Purdue Freshman Record Time
Rhiannon Sheets (NCAAs Qualifier: 2012-15)
200 Free, 1:45.16* (19th)
200 Fly, 1:56.82 (36th)
100 Fly, 53.95 (58th)
Kaersten Meitz (NCAAs Qualifier as a Freshman)
1650 Free, 16:13.83 (29th)
500 Free, 4:42.11*^ (31st)
200 Free, 1:47.91 (68th)
Allie Davis (NCAAs Qualifier: 2013-15, but First Time as an Individual)
200 Free, 1:45.56 (26th)
1650 Free, 16:20.94 (40th)
500 Free, 4:43.06 (41st)
Francesca Marr (NCAAs Qualifier: 2014-15)
200 Breast, 2:10.32 (27th)
100 Breast, 1:01.34 (46th)
200 IM, 2:01.47 (83rd)
Emily Fogle (NCAAs Qualifier: 2011-12, 2015)
200 Breast, 2:10.26 (26th)
100 Breast, 1:01.19 (45th)
Relay Qualifiers
Abby Jagdfeld (NCAAs Qualifier as a Freshman)
Nika Karlina Petric (NCAAs Qualifier: 2013-15)
Relay Ranking
800 Free Relay, 7:03.15* (11th)