COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s swimming and diving team, which fashioned a 6-5 overall record during the dual meet season (and 1-2 vs. Big Ten teams), and the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion will host the 2008 Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 21-23.
   
This will be the third consecutive year that Ohio State has hosted a Big Ten swimming and diving championships and the second time in three years the women’s championships are held in Columbus. In 2006 Ohio State hosted the Big Ten women’s championships and last year it hosted the Big Ten men’s championships.

Championship Web Address
For schedule of events, directions, hotel information and more, Go to www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com and drag down “sports” in upper right corner and choose women’s swimming and diving. Once in the women’s home page, click on the Big Ten championships logo located in the middle of the page.

Live Meet Scoring
Go to www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com and drag down “sports” in upper right corner and choose women’s swimming and diving. Once in the women’s home page, click on Live Meet Scoring on the right hand side of the page.

Ohio State Championship History
The Big Ten women’s swimming and diving team championships have been contested since 1982. The Buckeyes showed dominance in the conference early, winning the first five championships (‘82-’86) under Jim Montrella. During that period, Ohio State earned two Swimmer of the Year honors in Janelle Bosse (1985-86) and two Diver of the Year awards in Karen LaFace (1985-86). Overall, the Buckeyes rank second all-time with 74 Big Ten champions.

2007 Big Ten Championships
At the 2007 Big Ten championships, the Buckeyes came away with an eighth-place finish with 187 points. Ohio State had swimmers in the championships and consolation finals in 13 different events. Griet Buelens and Gulsah Gunenc earned third- and fourth-place finishes, respectively, in the 200-yard butterfly. Julie Broms captured a fourth-place finish on the one-meter board to lead the Buckeye divers.
 
Indiana is the defending team champion. Michigan, Penn State, Minnesota and Wisconsin rounded out the 2007 championships top five. 
   
The Buckeyes...Briefly
Freshmen and sophomores dominate Ohio State’s swimming and diving roster but that hasn’t slowed the team’s emergence. Three freshmen swimmers – Samantha Cheverton, Katelyn Brix and Anita Beck – and sophomore Colleen Schweitzer have recorded NCAA “B” qualifying times and Cheverton will be competing at the NCAA championship March 20-22 at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in at least the 200 backstroke. Additionally, two divers – junior Chelsea Davis and freshman Bianca Alvarez – have met NCAA Zone “C” standards and will be back at McCorkle March 14-16 for a chance at qualifying for the NCAA championships.
 
The team’s two seniors are its captains: Linda Lund-Kristiansen and Annie Rennebohm. Lund-Kristiansen, from Roennede, Denmark, is a three-time OSU Scholar-Athlete and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten Conference honoree majoring in nutrition. Rennebohm, also a three-time OSU Scholar-Athlete and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten Conference honoree, is from Worthington, Ohio and majors in English.
   
NCAA Qualifying Swims
Samantha Cheverton has qualified for the NCAA Championships with an “A” qualifying time of 1:56.35 in the 200 backstroke. The freshman made this time during the Bell Grand Prix in Toronto, Ontario in November. Cheverton also has made NCAA “B” cut times in the 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 1000 freestyle and the 200 butterfly.

Freshman Katelyn Brix has earned “B” cut times in the 400 individual medley and the 1,650 freestyle, while classmate Anita Beck has a “B” cut time in the 500 freestyle. Also owning a NCAA “B” cut time is sophomore Colleen Schweitzer, who earned it in the 200 breaststroke.

Buckeye Divers Impressive
The Ohio State diving squad finished the regular season as one of the top diving corps in the Big Ten. The team of junior Chelsea Davis and freshmen Bianca Alvarez and Kristen Asman finished 9-1 on the one-meter and 10-0 on the three-meter during the dual meet season.
 
Davis earned two Big Ten Diver of the Week awards for the Buckeyes. On December 4, Davis earned the award after posting a first- and third-place finish at the Ohio State Invitational. Her score of 333.10 off the three-meter gave her the win. Her second Diver of the Week award came on January 29 when she swept the diving events and set a new pool record against Northwestern. Davis’ score of 318.53 on the one-meter broke the Norris Aquatic Center record.
 
Alvarez also finished the regular season wih two Diver of the Week honors. She earned her first award after setting a new school and McCorkle Aquatic Center record on the three-meter with a score of 396.15 against Wright State. On January 22, Alvarez was named Diver of the Week for her sweep of the one- and three-meter events against Michigan State and Eastern Michigan.

Impressive Win Totals
The Buckeyes have some impressive win totals this season. Consider:

• Anita Beck has won races in seven different events (100, 200, 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyles, and the 100 and 200 butterfly) and she has 11 total wins;
• Samantha Cheverton has won a team-high 13 times in six events (200, 500 and 1000 freestyle, 100 and 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke);
• Jill Lockhart has six wins in four different events (200 and 400 IM, and 100 and 200 backstroke);
• Bianca Alvarez has 10 wins on the 1- and 3-meter boards and Chelsea Davis has 9 wins on the 1- and 3-meter boards.

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