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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Nine members of Purdue women's swimming and diving are set to represent the Boilermakers this week at the marquee event of the season, the three-day NCAA Championships in Greensboro, N.C.
Competition is set for Thursday through Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Morning prelims begins at 11 a.m. and evening finals are set for 7 p.m. There will be live video webcasts for all sessions, with ESPN3 and WatchESPN providing the live coverage Friday and Saturday night. N.C. State's All-Access page at GoPack.com will be offering free live video of the other sessions. ESPNU will televise highlights of the three-day meet Tuesday, March 31 at 6 p.m. ET.
Purdue will be represented in the individual events by swimmers Allie Davis (200, 500 and 1650 free), Emily Fogle (100 and 200 breast), Francesca Marr (100 and 200 breast, 200 IM), Kaersten Meitz (200, 500 and 1650 free) and Rhiannon Sheets (200 fly and 200 free) as well as divers Mary Beth Dunnichay (1-meter, 3-meter and platform) and MacKenzie Tweardy (platform). Abby Jagdfeld and Nika Karlina Petric will team with Davis and Sheets on Purdue's 800 freestyle relay team.
The nine NCAAs qualifiers are one shy of the program record established last season.
The Greensboro Aquatic Center offers a new experience for the all Boilermakers competing this week. The last two seasons the NCAA Championships have been at IUPUI and Minnesota, familiar locales for most of Purdue's student-athletes.
Francesca Marr, Rhiannon Sheets & Emily Fogle preview the NCAA Championships
Tweardy is a returning All-American after placing eighth in the championship final of platform diving in her first appearance at NCAAs last season. Purdue has had at least one women's diver earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championships in 10 of the last 11 years.
Fogle is a three-time Honorable Mention All-American, who is making her first appearance at the national championship meet since 2012 after missing most of the last two seasons due to injuries. She won the consolation final of the 200 breaststroke at the 2012 NCAA Championships and also qualified for the consolation final of the 100 breast to garner Honorable Mention All-America acclaim in that event as well. As a freshman, she was part of Purdue's 800 free relay team that was Honorable Mention All-America.
Sheets qualified for the NCAA Championships as an individual for the fourth year in a row. Monday before heading to the Indianapolis airport for the team's flight to North Carolina, she said one of her fondest memories of the national championship meet was Fogle's inspired, record-setting swim in the 200 breast at the 2012 NCAAs hosted by Auburn. Although it was the fifth time Fogle eclipsed the Purdue record in the 200 breast, it still stands as the program benchmark.
Purdue's 800 free relay team this year has an excellent opportunity to become the program's first All-American relay since 2011. The program-record time of 7:03.15 posted by Sheets, Jagdfeld, Petric and Davis at the Big Ten Championships ranks 11th nationally entering NCAAs. Because the 800 free relay doesn't feature prelims and finals like the other relays, Purdue is expected to compete in the first heat of the event in the evening finals. A top 16 showing among the approximately 30 teams eligible to compete in the event would earn the Boilers All-American acclaim.
Dunnichay qualified for all three diving events while earning her first berth at the NCAA Championships. She finished among the top 11 in all three events at the Zone C Championships last week, highlighted by a runner-up showing on the platforms. After battling injuries for much of her first three seasons at Purdue, the 2008 Olympian in synchronized 10-meter is competing from the platforms again for the first time as a Boilermaker.
Individually, Sheets is the top-ranked Boilermaker in an individual swimming event (19th in the 200 free) entering the NCAA Championships. Purdue will have at least two represents in six events - the 200, 500 and 1650 free; 100 and 200 breast; and platform diving. Friday will be the team's busiest day with five events on the schedule.
Meitz is the Boilers' first freshman swimmer to be an individual qualifier for NCAAs since Sheets in 2012. Davis qualified for the third year in a row, but for the first time as an individual. She is one five Boilers that will compete at the national championship meet for the second year in a row.
The Purdue men will be represented by 10 student-athletes at the NCAA Championships next week in Iowa City.
Diving Fire-Up Video for the NCAA Championships
Purdue Entries & Schedule at NCAA Championships
Allie Davis - 200, 500 & 1650 Free, 800 Free Relay
Mary Beth Dunnichay - 1-Meter, 3-Meter & Platform Diving
Emily Fogle - 100 & 200 Breast
Francesca Marr - 100 & 200 Breast, 200 IM
Kaersten Meitz - 200, 500 & 1650 Free
Rhiannon Sheets - 200 Fly & 200 Free, 800 Free Relay
MacKenzie Tweardy - Platform Diving
Abby Jagdfeld - 800 Free Relay
Nika Karlina Petric - 800 Free Relay
Thursday, March 19 - 11 a.m. Swimming Prelims, 1:45 p.m. Diving Prelims; 7 p.m. Finals
500 Free - Allie Davis & Kaersten Meitz
200 IM - Francesca Marr
1-Meter Diving - Mary Beth Dunnichay
Friday, March 20 - 11 a.m. Swimming Prelims, 1:45 p.m. Diving Prelims; 7 p.m. Finals
200 Free - Allie Davis, Kaersten Meitz & Rhiannon Sheets
100 Breast - Emily Fogle & Francesca Marr
800 Free Relay - Rhiannon Sheets, Abby Jagdfeld, Nika Karlina Petric & Allie Davis
Purdue expected to race in heat 1 of finals session
3-Meter Diving - Mary Beth Dunnichay
Saturday, March 21 - 11 a.m. Swimming Prelims, 1:45 p.m. Diving Prelims; 7 p.m. Finals
200 Breast - Emily Fogle & Francesca Marr
200 Fly - Rhiannon Sheets
Platform Diving - Mary Beth Dunnichay & MacKenzie Tweardy
1650 Free - Allie Davis & Kaersten Meitz
Updated Rankings in the Swimming Events at NCAA Championships
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 (59th)
Kaersten Meitz (NCAAs Qualifier as a Freshman)
1650 Free, 16:13.83 (28th)
500 Free, 4:42.11*^ (30st)
200 Free, 1:47.91 (67th)
Allie Davis (NCAAs Qualifier: 2013-15, but First Time as an Individual)
200 Free, 1:45.56 (26th)
1650 Free, 16:20.94 (38th)
500 Free, 4:43.06 (39th)
Francesca Marr (NCAAs Qualifier: 2014-15)
200 Breast, 2:10.32 (27th)
100 Breast, 1:01.34 (47th)
200 IM, 2:01.47 (83rd)
Emily Fogle (NCAAs Qualifier: 2011-12, 2015)
200 Breast, 2:10.26 (26th)
100 Breast, 1:01.19 (46th)
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)