Haebig, Rosenthal Earn Spots In Finals

Madison, Wisc.– During the first full day of competition at the 2022 Big Ten Championships, fifth-year senior Autumn Haebig and junior Molly Rosenthal each qualified for a spot in the 500 freestyle finals on Thursday night. Haebig, a Wisconsin-native, led the way by finishing second in the B-finals to claim 10th overall with a 4:44.00. Swimming in her first conference finals race, Rosenthal (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) claimed 23rd with a 4:51.01 in the C-finals.

“It was a solid day. We had a lot of excitement today with Molly (Rosenthal) and Autumn (Haebig) in the 500 final,” Nebraska head coach Pablo Morales said. “They did very well and improved their times from this morning. The first full day is all done and we are looking to continue to charge and battle these teams tomorrow. The team battle is shaping up there in the middle of the pack and that will inspire us to do better the next couple of days.”

Junior Berkeley Livingston was the top finisher for the Big Red in the 200 IM, just missing finals. The Lincoln-native fired a 2:01.46, marking the ninth-fastest time in the event in Nebraska school history. Sophomore Sarah Barton rounded out the Huskers in the top-30, swimming a 2:01.96 to finish 27th. Both swimmers swam career-best times, with Livingston cutting off a second from her previous best and Barton swimming almost two seconds faster than her previous best. 

Sophomore Lexi Kucera claimed the top spot for the Huskers in the 50 freestyle with a 23.16 to finish 39th, which marked another career-best for NU.

The divers competed in their first event of the meet with the one-meter. Seniors Sara Troyer and Hallie Roman both qualified for the consolation finals. Troyer led the divers with an 11th-place finish with a score of 271.05. Roman stepped up to score a 258.75 to notch a top-15 finish.

Nebraska capped off day two with the 400 medley relay, where senior Madesyn Ronquillio and sophomore Ella Stein joined Haebig and Kucera to swim the second-best time in Nebraska history (3:37.08) and place ninth.

Ohio State remains on top in the team race with a score of 425.0, while Nebraska sits in eighth heading into day three.

The action will resume Friday at 10 a.m. for prelims. Finals to follow at 5:30 p.m. The event is set to be streamed on BIG+.

2022 Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Date: Feb. 16-19

Location: Soderholm Family Aquatic Center (Madison, Wis.)

Swimming Championship Schedule (All times Central)

Friday, Feb. 18, 10 a.m.

100 Butterfly Preliminaries

400 Individual Medley Preliminaries

200 Freestyle Preliminaries

100 Breaststroke Preliminaries

100 Backstroke Preliminaries

Three-Meter Diving Trials & Consolation Finals

Friday, Feb. 18, 5:30 p.m.

100 Butterfly Finals

400 Individual Medley Finals

200 Freestyle Finals

100 Breaststroke FInals

100 Backstroke Finals

Three-Meter Diving Finals

200 Freestyle Relay

Saturday, Feb. 19, 10 a.m.

200 Backstroke Preliminaries

100 Freestyle Preliminaries 

200 Breaststroke Preliminaries

200 Butterfly Preliminaries

Platform Diving Trials & Consolation Finals

Saturday, Feb. 19, 3:15 p.m.

1,650 Freestyle (all except last heat)

Saturday, Feb. 19, 5:30 p.m.

1,650 Freestyle (Last heat of timed finals)

200 Backstroke Finals

100 Freestyle Finals

200 Breaststroke Finals

200 Butterfly Finals

Platform Diving Finals

400 Freestyle Relay