Season Recap: Diving Success, Academic Excellence Continue for PurdueSeason Recap: Diving Success, Academic Excellence Continue for Purdue

Season Recap: Diving Success, Academic Excellence Continue for Purdue

Emily Bretscher's Big Ten title on 3-meter and sweep of the league's top diving honors coupled with the program's continued success in the classroom headlined the 2019-20 season for Purdue women's swimming & diving.

Big Tens Scoring Recap

Season Recaps: 2010 / 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018 / 2019

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.
– Emily Bretscher's Big Ten title on 3-meter and sweep of the league's top diving honors coupled with the program's continued success in the classroom headlined the 2019-20 season for Purdue women's swimming & diving.

Mallory Jump and Kendra Bowen teamed up to eclipse four of the program's freshman records. Jump posted first-year benchmarks in the 100 backstroke, 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley, becoming the first Boilermaker to break at least three freshman records since Rhiannon Sheets in 2012. The 100 fly freshman mark had stood since 2014.

As the Big Ten Diver of the Year and Diver of the Championships, Bretscher led the way as the Boilermakers' four divers accounted for 207 team points at the Big Ten Championships. Adam Soldati was named the Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year for the third time for his work with the Purdue women and ninth time overall. Soldati's nine total honors are most among active Big Ten diving coaches.

Bretscher added a bronze on 1-meter to her gold on 3-meter, becoming the first Purdue woman to win a Big Ten title since Casey Matthews in 2014 and later joining Carrie McCambridge (2004, 2006) as the Boilermakers' female Diver of the Year winners. Emily Meaney, Maggie Merriman and Maycey Vieta also scored in all three diving events at Big Tens. Purdue produced four of the top six finishers on platform, highlighted by medals for Vieta (silver) and Merriman (bronze). Bretscher was the program's first three-time championship finalist since 2015 after being a four-time Big Ten Diver of the Week during the season.

Purdue posted impressive team grade-point averages of 3.75 in the spring semester and 3.64 during the fall semester. The fall mark ranked second in the Big Ten and among the top 20 nationally. The spring GPA continued a trend of seven consecutive semesters with a mark of at least 3.40. The College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America opted not to list team GPAs when it announced its Scholar All-America Team honorees for the spring semester.

Bretscher was in the 1-meter final at the Zone C Diving Championships in Lexington when the NCAA Championships were canceled, and thus the remainder of Zones, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, the CSCAA chose to recognize student-athletes that had already qualified for NCAAs and more deserving divers as All-Americans. Bretscher, Meaney, Merriman and Vieta all garnered All-America accolades.

During the fall semester, Olympian Jinq En Phee represented Malaysia and Purdue at the Southeast Asian Games and FINA Swimming World Cup in Budapest. Phee won gold in both the 50- and 100-meter breaststroke in the Philippines. It was her third consecutive gold in the 100 and she's now a seven-time medalist at the biennial showcase. She'll continuing training with her eyes on the rescheduled Olympic Games in Tokyo, now beginning July 23, 2021.

Natalie Myers posted career-best times in the 200- (1:59.54, 3rd) and 400-yard individual medley (4: 15.66) at the Big Ten Championships, marks that moved her into the all-time top five in program history. Sylvia Kobylak (2:10.61, 3rd in 200 breast), Tessa Wrightson (54.11, 5th in 100 back) and Jump (1:57.06, 5th in 200 back) also moved into the top five.

The Boilermakers bid adieu to another special group of seniors that helped elevate the program to new heights academically. Bowen, Bretscher, Kobylak, Merriman, Myers, Vieta and Wrightson headline the letterwinners slated to return for the 2020-21 season.

ALL-AMERICANS
as Selected by the CSCAA
Emily Bretscher – Springboard Diving
Emily Meaney – Platform Diving
Maggie Merriman – Platform Diving
Maycey Vieta – Platform Diving

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
Zone C Diving Championships canceled Thursday in the middle of 1-meter final

BIG TEN AWARDS
Emily Bretscher – Diver of the Year, Diver of the Championships, Sportsmanship Honoree
Adam Soldati – Diving Coach of the Year

BIG TEN CHAMPION, FIRST TEAM ALL-BIG TEN
Emily Bretscher – 3-Meter Diving

MORE BIG TEN MEDALISTS
Maycey Vieta – Silver in Platform Diving
Maggie Merriman – Bronze in Platform Diving
Emily Bretscher – Bronze in 1-Meter Diving

FRESHMAN RECORDS
Kendra Bowen – 50 Freestyle (49.75)
Mallory Jump – 100 Backstroke (54.36), 100 Butterfly (53.31), 200 Individual Medley (1:59.70)

INTERNATIONAL MEDALISTS
Jinq En Phee – Gold in 50- & 100-meter Breaststroke, Bronze in 200-meter Breaststroke
• Emily Meaney – Bronze in 10-meter Diving at Australia's FINA Diving World Cup Trials

TEAM GPAs
Fall Semester: 3.64
Spring Semester: 3.75

ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT 5
Megan Johnson

BIG TEN WEEKLY AWARDS
Emily Bretscher – 4-Time Diver of the Week (Oct. 30, Nov. 27, Jan. 15, Feb. 5)
Claire Abbasse – Freshman of the Week (Oct. 30)
Mallory Jump – Freshman of the Week (Oct. 23)

FRESHMAN RECORDS
100 Free – Kendra Bowen, 49.75
100 Back – Mallory Jump, 54.36
100 Fly – Mallory Jump, 53.51
200 IM – Mallory Jump, 1:59.70

TEAM AWARDS
MVP: Emily Bretscher
Most Improved – Sylvia Kobylak & Maycey Vieta
P2S&D Program Values – Kelsey Macaddino
Commitment to Excellence – Riley Kishman
Whatever It Takes – Natalie Myers
Star Recruiters – Kendra Bowen & Maggie Merriman
Cathy Wright-Eger Continuing Women of Educational Excellence Award – Megan Johnson
Red Mackey Award (Excellence By a Senior) – Natalie Mudd & Emily Meaney

BIG TEN DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS (3.7+ GPA IN 2019-20)
• Caylee Casbon
• Emily Converse
• Sydnee Emerson
• Anna Giesler
• Katie Hughes
Megan Johnson (4.0)
• McKenna Jule
• Evan King
Riley Kishman (4.0)
Kelsey Macaddino (4.0)
• Emily Meaney
• Maggie Merriman
• Paige Miller
• Natalie Mudd
• Natalie Myers
Angela Pan (4.0)
• Jinq En Phee
Reagan Thom (4.0)
• Tessa Wrightson

ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN (CUMULATIVE 3.0+ GPA)
Emily Bretscher
Caylee Casbon
Emily Converse
Gretta DeCoursey
Sydnee Emerson
Anna Giesler
Katie Hughes
Megan Johnson
McKenna Jule
Evan King
Riley Kishman
Courtney Kresl
Kelsey Macaddino
Emily Meaney
Maggie Merriman
Paige Miller
Natalie Mudd
Natalie Myers
Angela Pan
Jinq En Phee
Maizie Seidl
Reagan Thom
Tessa Wrightson

CSCAA SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICA (3.5+ GPA & DIVING ALL-AMERICAN)
Emily Bretscher
Emily Meaney
Maggie Merriman
 Maycey Vieta

CSCAA HONORABLE MENTION SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICA (3.5+ GPA & B CUT)
 Mallory Jump
 Riley Kishman
 Sylvia Kobylak
 Natalie Myers
 Jinq En Phee
 Maizie Seidl
 Lindsay Turner