Feb. 19, 2015

•  Complete Results   |  Complete Results  |  Friday Prelim Heat Sheet

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- They've swam six events at the 2015 Women's Big Ten Championships.

Ivy Martin has already won three Big Ten titles.

It's taken Martin and the Wisconsin swimming and diving program little time to send a strong message at the Big Ten championships in Columbus, Ohio. After opening the meet Wednesday night with a Big Ten title in the 200-yard medley relay, the Badgers claimed two more crowns Thursday night winning the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 50-yard freestyle.

Chase Kinney, Martin, Aja Van Hout and Annie Tamblyn not only won the 200 freestyle relay, but also reset the Big Ten, meet and school records in the process. Blasting to a win in one minute, 27.70 seconds, the UW relay squad earned an NCAA 'A' cut and clinched its trip to the NCAA championships.

"I'm just really proud of these women," UW head coach Whitney Hite said. "It's a second faster than the swim from last year. They look forward to these pressure situations."

The 2014 Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships, Martin has seemed to thrive in the pressure of championship season. The senior from Madison flat out scorched her way to her second and third Big Ten titles of 2015 on Thursday. Martin's impressive split time of 20.96 seconds gave UW's 200 free relay a huge boost, marking the fastest split in the event by .87 seconds.

Martin joined just a handful of female swimmers in history that have ever broken the 21-second barrier.

"She's not just elite, she's super elite," Hite said of Martin. "In the 17 years I've coached, Ivy is the best sprinter I've ever seen. When you get an athlete like that, it's truly an honor to coach them."

Martin wasn't done. She then followed up later in the evening with another blistering performance in the 50 freestyle, claiming the event title for the third consecutive year with a pool record and NCAA 'A' cut time of 21.65.

It marked the ninth year in a row that a Badger has won the 50 freestyle crown. Martin has won three of those nine.

Also impressing in the 50 freestyle was Kinney and Tamblyn. Kinney finished in sixth place with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 22.45 after lowering her personal best to 22.42 earlier in the day during preliminaries. Rounding out the trio of Badgers was Tamblyn, who placed eighth with a time of 22.72. Tamblyn also recorded a personal best in preliminaries, clocking in at 22.64, an NCAA 'B' cut and the sixth-fastest time in program history.

In the 500-yard freestyle, the distance duo of Danielle Valley and Jenny Holtzen represented Wisconsin in finals. Valley, a sophomore out of Bradenton, Florida, placed 14th with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 4:43.60. Valley recorded the third-fastest in program history. Fayetteville, Arkansas, native Holtzen finished 19th (4:47.85), but earlier in preliminaries recorded a personal best with the sixth-fastest time ever by a Badger at 4:45.16.

All three Badgers competing in the 200-yard individual medley earned NCAA 'B' cuts. Leading the trio was Anna Meinholz, whose 12th-place time of 1:59.68 went down as the ninth-fastest in program history and marked a personal best. Senior Van Hout finished close behind in 13th place (1:59.98) and sophomore Madeline Hazle placed 19th with a time of 2:01.35. Hazle's time in preliminaries (2:01.24) was a personal best.

"We're swimming well and we can control what we can control," Hite said. "I feel good about where we are and we are doing the best we can. These women are tough and we tend to swim better as we get into the meet.

"It's going to be a battle and that's exciting."

After the second day of competition, Wisconsin sits in fourth place with 162 points.

The 2015 Women's Big Ten Championships continue Friday with preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m. (CT) and finals set for 5:30 p.m.