1. #5 Michigan, 281
2. #8 Ohio State, 211
3. #9 Indiana, 199
4. Purdue, 136.5
5. #19 Wisconsin, 134
6. #22 Minnesota, 132
7. Northwestern, 98
8. #24 Penn State, 89
9. #21 Iowa, 83.5
10. Michigan State, 46
Indiana
It was a record-setting night for Indiana men’s swimming and diving, led by a Big Ten title for sophomore diver Michael Hixon on day two of the 2015 Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships in Iowa City, Iowa.
Hixon set a new Big Ten standard on the 1-meter springboard with a score of 474.45, breaking the old mark of 468.65 set by David Boudia in 2010. Hixon scored no less than 72 points on each of his six dives, including a competition best 85.25 points on his final dive, an inward 2 1/2 somersault tuck that received a 10 from one judge.
James Connor took fourth in the event, tallying a career best 394.55. Connor also wowed the judges with his fifth dive, a reverse 2 1/2 somersault tuck that scored 84 points, including a 10. Cody Coldren placed 12th overall in the field after posting a career-best score of 336.65 in the consolation final.
Joshua Arndt finished 19th with a score of 294.60, while right behind him in 20th was Danton Rogers (289.05).
Jackson Miller got the night started in record-setting fashion as he broke the school mark in the 500 freestyle that had stood since 2006, finishing fourth in 4:16.09. That tops the mark of 4:16.79 set by Serigy Fesenko at the 2006 Big Ten Championships.
Ethan Curl touched the wall second in the bonus final with a career best of 4:23.22, while Timothy Martin also posted a career time in the evening, going 4:24.98 for 19th overall. Grayson Smith finished 23rd in 4:28.77.
Miller made it back in the championship final of the 500 freestyle after posting a career-best time of 4:17.26 in prelims. That is the fifth-fastest time in IU history.
Mike Hurley topped his prelim swim with a career best of 1:44.15 to finish fourth in the 200 individual medley. Blake Pieroni was seventh in 1:45.54, going a career best 1:44.82 in prelims. Steve Schmuhl won the consolation final in 1:44.26, while Bob Glover was 14th overall with a time of 1:46.82. Glover went a career best 1:46.19 in prelims.
Tanner Kurz (1:46.76-career best) and Ryan Gordon (1:47.06-career best) made the bonus final but elected not to swim. Cody Taylor placed 32nd in the field (1:48.09-career best), while Jonathan Panchak was 54th (1:50.41-career best).
Ali Khalafalla got his Indiana career started with a sixth-place finish in the 50 freestyle, going 19.75 in the final. His 19.46 prelims swim ranks fourth in the IU record book. Anze Tavcar took 10th overall with a career best 19.80 in the consolation final. Sam Lorentz took 16th with a 20.08 in consols, going a career best 19.95 in his prelims swim. Yianni Thermos was the bonus final winner and 17th overall with a time of 19.85, setting a new career mark. Max Irwin finished 30th in a career time of 20.34, while Levi Brock was 51st with his career best of 20.83.
The night concluded with the 400 medley relay as Glover, Kurz, Irwin and Pieroni took sixth in a time of 3:09.91.
Iowa
The University of Iowa men's swimming and diving team broke the 400-yard medley relay school record Thursday night at the Big Ten Championships in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa’s foursome of Grant Betulius, Roman Trussov, Jerzy Twarowski, and Jackson Halsmer recorded an NCAA ‘A’ cut time, touching out with a time of 3:08.56.
The Hawkeyes currently sit in place with ninth place with 83.5 points, while Michigan (281) and Ohio State (211) hold the top two spots.
“From the swimming aspect, we swam really well tonight,” said UI head coach Marc Long. “We wanted to get an NCAA ‘A’ cut and a school record in the 400-yard medley relay. We got that, but we also got fifth place and we’d like to place higher. There’s still some hunger there because we know we can go faster in it.
“We’ve got a lot of racing tomorrow, and we’re excited to get back in the pool. There’s going to be a lot of opportunities for individual scoring and we’re ready to take advantage of it.”
Kyle Gannon opened the finals session with a 15th-place showing in the 500-yard freestyle. The Saint Charles, Illinois, native scored two points for the home team in the 'B' final after touching out with a season-best time of 4:22.76. Chris Dawson competed in the 'C' final posting a season-best time of 4:23.27.
In the 50-yard freestyle, four Hawkeyes -- Jackson Halsmer (20.05), Brandon Farnum (20.31), R.j. Hemmingson (20.31), and Chuck Holliday (20.50) -- represented the Black and Gold in the finals session. Halsmer led the pack scoring 2.5 points off a 14th-place tying finish.
The quartet of Betulius, Trussov, Twarowski, and Halsmer wrapped up the swimming events in the 400-yard medley relay. The foursome punched their ticket to the NCAA championships with an NCAA ‘A’ cut and school record time of 3:08.56. The Hawkeyes placed fifth among the field.
In the diving well, Addison Boschult led the Hawkeyes off the 1-meter diving to a consolation 'B' final-qualifying score of 309.65. Matt Mauser (294.95) and Brandis Heffner (286.50) followed behind placing 18th and 23rd.
In the 'B' finals, Boscholt had an eighth place showing, diving to a score of 293.80.
"I was happy with Addison's performance," said UI head coach Todd Waikel. "This is the first time he's made any kind of a final on the 1-meter. Unfortunately he hit the board on one of his dives in that finals session, but he came back strong and finished the set with his best dive of the day.
"Tomorrow we'll pick up and keep grinding. I told the guys there's no holding back at that point. We seemed a little cautious today, but we're past that. We've trained all year for this and put in the work. It's time to go out and show it."
The Hawkeyes return to the pool tomorrow morning for day three of the Big Ten Championships. Preliminaries begin at 11 a.m. with finals taking place at 6:30 p.m. (CT).
Ohio State
Senior Steven Zimmerman earned a school record in the 200 individual medley and a trio of Buckeye divers qualified for finals to highlight the Buckeyes’ second day of competition at the 2015 Big Ten Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships. Ohio State returns to action in Iowa City, Iowa on Friday. Prelims are scheduled for 11 a.m. CT/12 p.m. ET and finals commence at 6:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. ET.
Michigan remained on top the team leaderboard following day two with 281 points. Ohio State stands second with 211 points, while Indiana, Purdue and Wisconsin round out the conference’s Top 5.
Ohio State’s diving contingent turned heads Thursday afternoon, qualifying three athletes for the 1-meter final. Senior Stephen Ettienne headlined the group’s efforts with a finals score of 399.15 for third overall. Another veteran Shane Miszkiel followed in fifth with a score of 380.95, while rookie Stephen Romanik shined in sixth (359.70).
On the swimming side, Zimmerman set an Ohio State record in the 200 individual with a time of 1:44.75 for sixth. Former Buckeye Justin Farra, who posted a time of 1:44.86 in 2011, held the previous record in the event. Zimmerman’s classmate Tamas Gercsak placed 13th in a time of 1:45.89, while sophomore Andrew Appleby claimed 15th in 1:47.16. Ohio State tallied 19 points toward its overall team total in the event. Five more Buckeyes – Ching Hwang Lim, David Morgan, Andrew Braun, Jack Barone and Chris Cowley – raced in prelims, each registering a season-best time.
A complete evening for the Buckeyes, the squad also earned runner-up honors in the 400 medley relay. Behind swims from senior Connor McDonald, junior DJ MacDonald, sophomore Matt McHugh and senior Michael DiSalle, the quartet finished in a season-best time of 3:07.80. The mark was nearly three seconds under their previous fastest time and automatically qualified the group for the NCAA championships.
Ohio State’s distance standout Brayden Seal placed seventh in the 500 freestyle. Recording a time of 4:18.51, Seal touched second among the conference’s rookies in the event. Senior Rowan Williams competed in the consolation final, swimming to a 10th-place finish in 4:19.85. In prelims, junior Jovan Mitrovic represented the Scarlet and Gray with a time of 4:28.20.
In the 50 freestyle, junior Josh Fleagle led the way with a seventh-place finish in a time of 19.76. The Buckeyes finished back-to-back in the event, as DiSalle followed closely with a time of 19.88 for eighth. McHugh took the top spot in the consolation final, dropping two-tenths off his preliminary time (19.69). Two Buckeyes earned season-best marks in prelims, with freshman Thomas Trace dropping a time of 20.32 and Keanu Stevenson touching in 21.04.
Penn State
Senior Nate Savoy (Reading, Pa.) and junior Shane Ryan (Havertown, Pa.) helped Penn State secure a total of 59 points, Thursday as the Nittany Lions sit in eighth place with 89 team points following Day No. 2 of the 2015 Big Ten Championships.
Ryan was the highest placing PSU swimmer in any individual event on the championship session’s second day as he finished third in the 50 free with a season fastest time of 19.49. He was just off his career best time, which is also a school record in the event of 19.36 that he set in 2014. Nevertheless, his bronze put 16 points up on the board for his teammates.
Savoy then racked up 11 points of his own during the 200 IM with a time of 1:45.76, finishing eighth in the A Final. His 1:45.03 performance in preliminaries earlier in the day qualified for a career best.
Savoy then swam leadoff for the third place finishing 400 yard medley relay team which touched the wall in 3:08.01, also a season best time. The bronze performance from Savoy, Andrew Schuehler (Camden, N.J.), Kyle Madley (Madison, N.J.) and Ryan earned head coach Tim Murphy’s squad a net of 32 points.
Another swimmer getting on the scoreboard on Day No. 2 was senior Nick Ankosko (East Brunswick, N.J.), who placed third in the ‘B’ Final but 11th overall in the 500 free with his season best time of 4:20.33.
In the diving portion of the session, senior T.J. Schenkel (Richboro, Pa.) placed 15th in the one meter with a score of 301.65, competing in the ‘B’ Final.
Purdue
Guillermo Blanco and Stephen Seliskar established new program records in individual events for Purdue men’s swimming and diving Thursday on the first full day of action at the Big Ten Championships.
Led by all five divers scoring on 1-meter, the Boilermakers jumped from eighth to fourth place in the team scoring. However, only 4.5 points separates fourth-place Purdue (136.5) and sixth-place Minnesota (132) in the team scoring.
Guillermo Blanco broke the program record in the 200 individual medley twice, finishing third in the A final with a time of 1:43.87. The senior also holds the team’s top all-time mark in the 400 IM. Stephen Seliskar opened the 400 medley relay with a 100 backstroke split of 47.42, which was also a new record time as well as his first individual career record.
Steele Johnson finished as the runner-up in the championship final of 1-meter diving in the freshman’s first event at the Big Ten Championships. Jamie Bissett also qualified for the championship final. Nate Cox and Alec Back finished 1-2 in the consolation final, which Sean Mokhtari also qualified for. Together the quintet accounted for 48 team points.
Adam Johnston also scored for the Boilers Thursday by qualifying for the B final of the 50 freestyle thanks to a career-best time of 19.98 in prelims, improving on his ninth-fastest mark in program history.
Blanco initially eclipsed Louis Paul’s 2005 program record (1:44.65) in the 200 IM with a time of 1:44.57 in the morning prelims. By posting a sub-1:44 mark in the finals, the Spaniard lowered the record by more than three quarters of a second. Blanco was also part of new Purdue benchmarks in the 200 medley and 800 free relays Wednesday on the opening night of Big Tens.
Seliskar eclipsed Tim Watts’ 2009 team record (47.60) in the 100 backstroke. The 400 medley relay team of Seliskar, Lyam Dias, Blanco and Austin Flager went on to post the third-fastest time (3:11.31) in program history while finishing eighth.
Johnson improved on his third-best score (415.82) in program history on 1-meter, surpassing 400 points for the first time. Springboard specialist Michael Hixon (474.45) of Indiana won the event by eclipsing David Boudia’s conference and meet-record score. Hixon also topped Johnson on 1-meter in the Indiana-Purdue dual meet at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center last month and remains the only diver who has outscored Johnson in an event since the calendar changed to 2015.
Nate Hopkins improved on his career-best time in the 500 free , moving up to sixth in program history with a prelim time of 4:24.15 to qualify for the C final.
Action continues Friday with prelims at noon ET and finals at 7:30 p.m. ET. The 200 free, 100 back, 100 breast, 100 fly and 3-meter diving are among the individual events on the schedule Friday.
Wisconsin
With one Big Ten title and two school records, the Wisconsin men's swimming and diving teamhad an eventful second day of competition at the 2015 Big Ten Men's Championships on Thursday.
Taking home the first Big Ten title of his career and the first for the Badgersat this year'schampionships was sophomore Matt Hutchins, who won the 500-yard freestyle and set a personal and pool record in the process. With a time of four minutes, 14 seconds, the Christchurch, New Zealand, upset Michigan's Anders Nielsen and out-touchedthe Wolverine by a meresix one-hundredths.
Hutchins swam the fifth-fastest time in the NCAA and wiped away the pool record that Nielsen had set earlier in the day at preliminaries.
"It was a perfect race. It was truly historic," UW head coach Whitney Hite said of Hutchins' win. "Hutchins was totally and completely awesome. He battled the entire race and it paid off."
Hutchins now holds the second-fastest time in program history for the event, behind only U.S. national team member Michael Weiss. His time also met the NCAA "A" cut, which ensured him a spot to compete against the nation's best atthe NCAA championships.
Senior team captain Nick Caldwell raced in the consolation final of the 500 freestyle, finishing in 16th place with an NCAA "B" cut time of 4:23.25.
The 400-yard medley relay team of Drew teDuits, Nick Schafer, Cannon Clifton and Brett Pinfold combined to capture a fourth-place finish in the event and broke the school record with a time of 3:08.42. The squad's NCAA "A" cut also ensured they'll join teammate Hutchins and compete atthe NCAA championships.
"Anytime we were faster than we've ever been in the history of our program, that's a good thing," Hite said. "I was really pleased with the overall performance. There were some really great splits. Anytime you go faster than you ever have before, it's a successful win."
In the 50-yard freestyle, sophomore Clifton finished fifth overall after a record-breaking preliminaries swim. The Irving, Texas, native broke the 12-year-old school record earlier that morning, touching in 19.52 seconds. Senior Damon Zito collected a 19th-place finish in finals, while his preliminaries time of 20.06 set a personal record that marked the eighth-fastest swim in program history.
A total of five Badgers made it back to finals in the 200-yard individual medley. Leading the group was senior teDuits, finishing 10th in 1:45.50. Sophomore Pinfold followed behind in 11th place and his preliminaries time of 1:45.49 marked a personal record that also went down as the third-fastest swim ever by a Badger. Freshman Max Dolan earned an NCAA "B" cut and finished 19th with a time of 1:48.25. Marking his way onto the program all-time list was Ryan O'Donnell, whose preliminaries time of 1:46.92 sits as the eighth-fastest ever in UW history and marked a personal best.
In finals, O'Donnell finished 21st. Junior Jake Mandli also notched a personal record with a preliminaries time of 1:48.06 and went on to place 24th at finals.
Through two days of competition at the Big Ten championships, Wisconsin sits in fifth place with 134 points.
"We're having personal best times left and right. That's what this is all about," Hite said. "I'm really proud of the way they're competing. They know it's going to be a battle. Tomorrow has got to be our day and we'll see what it brings. But, they're certainly prepareed and that's the key."
