Big Ten Quad (Women)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana, January 28. DEFENDING NCAA champion Kelci Bryant won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events to help the No. 13 Minnesota women's swimming & diving team to a day-one lead in all three head-to-head battles at the Quad Duals in West Lafayette, Ind., on Friday.

The Gophers' closest battle is with host Purdue with Minnesota leading by a score of 118-87 after 10 events. Minnesota leads Wisconsin by a 132-83 count, while the Gophers own a dominating 170-35 advantage over Illinois.

Bryant compiled a season-high score of 397.35 points in the 3-meter diving event. She scored 340.15 in capturing the 1-meter event.

Two other returning All-Americans won events for the Gophers on Friday. Ashley Steenvoorden cruised to the title in the 1,000-yard freestyle in a time of 9:43.74, over nine seconds faster than her nearest competitor. Jillian Tyler won her marquee event, the 100 breaststroke, in an NCAA "B" time of 1:00.35.

Molly Belk added the fifth individual win, taking first in the 200 butterfly in a time of 2:01.53.

The Gophers' closed the evening with a victory in the 800 free relay. The foursome of Hannah Whitehead, Lauren Weis, Marissa Davies and Steenvoorden clocked a time of 7:18.14, another NCAA "B" qualifier.

The Minnesota 200 medley relay of Whitehead, Tyler, Kaylee Jamison and Meagan Radecke posted a second-place finish but improved on their season-best and NCAA "B" time finishing in 1:40.98.

In the closest race of the night, Lauren Weis finished a close second in the 200 free. Weis touched in 1:49.28, just three hundreds of a second off of the winning time of 1:49.25 turned by Purdue's Lauren Roth.

Haley Spencer contributed a runner-up finish in the 200 individual medley in a time of 2:02.58. She also placed fourth in the 100 breast in 1:02.22.

Adding third-place finishes for the Gophers were Whitehead in the 100 backstroke (56.13), Annalise Colton in the 200 fly (2:05.38) and Jamison in the 50 free (23.51).

The event concludes on Saturday afternoon.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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