Big Ten names 14 women’s swimming sportsmanship honorees

The Big Ten on Friday announced 14 women swimmers who were named honorees for the conference’s annual sportsmanship awards.

Throughout the academic year, the Big Ten nominates hundreds of male and female athletes for its sportsmanship awards in various sports. In June, two athletes from each school, one male and one female, are named from the list of honorees as Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners.

As for the women’s swimming nominees, they are below in alphabetical order:

• Katie Carson, Indiana. A senior, Carson swims primarily distance freestyle events for the Hoosiers.
• Riley Dix, UCLA. The senior swims primarily in freestyle and backstroke events.
• Kaitlyn Dobler, USC. The graduate student won gold in the 100 breaststroke at the Big Ten meet (57.41) and tied Indiana’s Brearna Crawford for first in the 200 breaststroke (2:07.22).
• Grace Drabot, Minnesota. The junior swims the IM, breaststroke and freestyle events.
• Paige Hail, Ohio State. The senior is a major contributor in the backstroke and IM events. She finished fourth in both the 200 backstroke and 200 IM, and 11th in the backstroke at the Big Ten meet.
• Logan Kuehne, Illinois. Versatile performer who has swam sprint freestyle, IM and the butterfly.
• Shauntel Lim, Northwestern. The junior is a diver for the Wildcats.
• Margaret Markvardt, Penn State. A fifth-year senior from Estonia, her best events are sprint freestyles, but she has also swam the backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke in her career. Finished eighth in the 100 butterfly at the Big Ten meet.
• Reagan Mattice, Purdue. A junior who competes in multiple freestyle events, both sprint and distance for the Boilermakers. Finished 18th in the 1,650 freestyle (16:24.04).
• Mackenzie McConagha, Wisconsin. Backstroke and butterfly are the main events for the senior. She finished third in the 200 butterfly at the Big Ten meet.
• Sydney McCracken, Nebraska. The senior swims the breaststroke and IM events for the Cornhuskers.
• Shannon Meadway, Rutgers. A graduate student who also has swam in college for Penn State, she swims in the backstroke and IM. Finished 19th in the 200 backstroke (1:56.02) at the Big Ten meet.
• Alix O’Brien, Iowa. The senior is a distance freestyle, breaststroke and IM swimmer for the Hawkeyes.
• Kathryn Shanley, Michigan. The senior has swam in both distance and sprint freestyle events for the Wolverines.

Last year, no swimmers were selected as final recipients among the 28 who were chosen. With UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington, there will be 36 recipients this year.