Northwestern’s Justine Murdock Swims 1:53.62 200 Back in B1G Day 1 Time Trials

After the end of the night one relays, the Big Ten Women’s Championships hosted time trials. Here are some of the highlights. 

Athletes sometimes time trial an event on the first day of the meet while they are fresh, even if they plan to swim the same race later in the meet. 

200 Backstroke

Northwestern freshman Justine Murdock swam to a final time of 1:53.62. Murdock flipped in a time of 55.49 at the 100 mark. Her final time was a best time by over 2.5 seconds as her previous best was a 1:56.16 which she swam at midseason. 

The best time places her third within the conference so far this season. It also now places her at #20 in the NCAA so far this season. It took times of 1:55.05 in 2021, 1:53.99 in 2020, and 1:54.01 in 2019 to earn an invite to NCAAs.

Although the Big Ten did not release psych sheets, Murdock is most likely swimming the event on Saturday as she has competed in the event at Northwestern dual meets. If she is able to replicate her best time, she will make a huge impact for Northwestern in the event. Her previous best time would have earned her a spot in the ‘B’ final based on last year’s finishes, but her new best time would have finished tied for third in finals. 

100 Butterfly

Nyah Funderburke, a freshman at Ohio State, swam to a huge best time in the 100 butterfly. Funderburke touched in a 53.05 splitting a 25.26 at the 50 mark.

This was a huge best time for Funderburke as her previous best was a 54.68 which she swam as a high school junior back in February 2020. 

She competed in the event at midseason swimming a time of 57.21 in prelims. This new best time has the potential to move her up if she swims the event later in the meet. Her previous best time would have been just off of making the C final, but her new best time would have made the A final last year.

200 Butterfly 

Ohio State junior Aislinn Walsh swam to a best time in the 200 butterfly. She touched in a final time of 1:58.01 and touched in a 55.47 at the 100 mark.

This was a huge best time for Walsh as her previous best was a 1:59.57 which she swam at last year’s Big Ten Championships. There she earned a 13th place finish. Her next best time has the potential to boost Ohio State’s points this year as her new best time would have earned her a spot in the A final, assuming that she swims the event. 

100 Freestyle

Ohio State freshman Allison Fenska touched in a time of 49.65. Fenska flipped in a 24.04 at the 50 mark. That was a best time by Fenska as her previous best was a 50.17 which she swam in March 2021 as a high school senior.

That also was a huge improvement on her best time this season as she went a 50.57 at midseason. 

Fenska is most likely competing in the event again on Saturday as she competed in the event in dual meets. If she is able to repeat her swim again, Fenska has the potential to move up and score points for the Buckeyes. Her previous best time would have been just off what it took to make the C final as it took a 50.11 last year. Her best time from tonight would have qualified for the B final.