Swim & Dive Hosts Nebraska in Final Dual of the Season

Friday, January 26

Piscataway, N.J.

6 p.m.

Rutgers University

Nebraska

Swim & Dive Hosts Nebraska in Final Dual of the Season

Jan 25 | Women's Swimming & Diving

Scarlet Knights will celebrate its four members of the Class of 2018 on Senior Day Saturday

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Jan. 25, 2018) – Rutgers swimming and diving hosts its final tune-up before the 2018 Big Ten Championships in a dual meet against Nebraska on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 26-27 at the Rutgers Aquatics Center. Friday's session begins at 6 p.m., with a 9:45 a.m. start scheduled for Saturday beginning with a Senior Day ceremony.

The match-up includes a pair of Big Ten foes listed in the Top 50 of CollegeSwimming.com's dual meet rankings. With No. 46 Rutgers only slightly looking up at No. 45 Nebraska, this weekend's meet serves as a perfect barometer for the Scarlet Knights' goals and aspirations heading into championship season.

"We're looking for a win," said head coach Jon Maccoll. "We moved up in the rankings due to how well we swam against nationally ranked programs in Ohio State, Michigan and Virginia Tech last weekend. This is a good test against a good team, and it mirrors what we're trying to do against teams at the Big Ten Championships, and that's finish ahead of them."

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SWIM BITS

The Scarlet Knights are polled 46th in the CollegeSwimming.com dual meet rankings with 767.10 points. The rankings are generated by comparing teams across the NCAA in a dual meet setting. Rutgers is one of 10 teams from the Big Ten in the Top 50.
In a deep pool of talent from CSCAA ranked teams No. 2 Michigan, No. 11 Ohio State and No. 24 Virginia Tech, sophomore Francesca Bertotto finished in the top half of the pool in both of her distance races, taking seventh of 16 in the 1,000-yard freestyle and 10th of 20 in the 500.
Sophomore Clare Lawlor impressed in the 50-yard freestyle among a trio of nationally recognized sprinters from Ohio State and Michigan. The Orland Park, Illinois native placed 10th on Saturday in the pool of 21 by stopping the clock at 24.14, separated from the third place finisher – reigning Big Ten Swimmer of the Week Gabby DeLoof of Michigan – by one second.
Sophomore Federica Greco, turned in an eighth place finish against 15 entrants in the 200-yard butterfly, touching in at 2:02.64.
Juniors Vera Koprivova (backstroke) and Francesca Stoppa (butterfly) are tied for the team lead with seven individual event victories apiece, followed by six from Bertotto (distance freestyle) and three from sophomore Alexandra Fabugais-Inaba (mid-distance freestyle).
NCAA B standard qualifiers this season include Koprivova (100- and 200-yard backstroke, 400-yard individual medley), Stoppa (100- and 200-yard butterfly), Greco (100- and 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard individual medley), Lawlor (50- and 100-yard freestyle) and senior Larissa Neilan (200-yard breaststroke).

DIVING IN

With a score of 312.83 in the 1-meter competition, senior Addison Walkowiak topped the field of 16 for her 10th diving event win of the season at the Ohio State quad-meet with Michigan and Virginia Tech. Junior Rachel Byrne was sixth with 255.23.
The teammates again occupied the top-third of the finals in platform diving, where Walkowiak scored a runner-up finish with 254.55 points. Byrne was fifth of 16 with a mark of 226.65.
Junior Marin Bloise posted a career-high 272.85 points on the 3-meter against Yale on Jan. 13, narrowly missing the 280 NCAA Zone Championships qualifying mark.
Freshman Lauren Boone has season-high marks of 239.80 points on the 1-meter and 245.05 on the 3-meter boards.

SCOUTING NEBRASKA
The Cornhuskers are 4-2 in dual meets this season, including a 183-112 victory over Illinois in its only Big Ten dual last time out on Saturday, Jan. 20. Nebraska is led by NCAA B standard qualifers Autumn Haebig in the 500-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, and Tori Beeler in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, along with the 200-yard individual medley. Abigail Knapton leads the diving contingent with top scores on both 1-meter and 3-meter.

UP NEXT
Rutgers takes on one of the best and deepest conferences in the nation at the 2018 Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio from Wednesday, Feb. 14 through Saturday, Feb. 17 inside Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.

TRAINING IN THE SUNSHINE STATE
Rutgers swimming and diving rang in the New Year during a winter training trip in the Sunshine State from Dec. 28 to Jan. 8. The swimmers spent 11 days in Fort Myers, Florida, while the divers enjoyed an eight-day stay three hours Northeast in Orlando. Read more here.

HAIL TO THE CHIEFS
Rutgers Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Patrick Hobbs announced on Dec. 6 the promotions of Frederick Woodruff and Jon Maccoll each to the position of co-head coach of the Scarlet Knights' swimming and diving program. Woodruff, in his 25th year as head diving coach for Rutgers, had been named interim head swimming coach in November. Maccoll began his first season with the Scarlet Knights in October as the assistant swimming coach. Read more here.

SWIM & DIVE POSTS FIRST PERFECT GRADUATION SUCCESS RATE SCORE
The program achieved its first perfect score of 100 in the annual GSR report by NCAA Division I, released on Nov. 8. The score reflects an average for students who entered college from 2007-10. The graduation-rate data is based on a six-year cohort prescribed by the U.S. Department of Education. The NCAA developed the Division I GSR in response to college and university presidents who wanted graduation data that more accurately reflect the mobility among all college students today.

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers swimming & diving, follow the program on Twitter (@RUSwimDive) and on Instagram (ruswimdive). The team is also on Facebook (facebook.com/RUSwimDive).

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