Michigan captured the 2015 Big Ten Men’s Swimming & Diving Championship Saturday night at The Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium on the campus of the University of Iowa. The title marks the Wolverines’ fifth consecutive crown and 39th overall.
Michigan compiled 760 points throughout the four-day event. Ohio State finished second after collecting 623 points and Indiana was third with 551 points. Purdue finished fourth with 401.5 points, while Wisconsin recorded 382 points to finish fifth.
The Wolverines took home Big Ten titles in the 200-yard medley relay, 800-yard freestyle relay, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle, 400-yard medley relay, 200-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard butterfly and 400-yard freestyle relay.
Michigan’s Dylan Bosch was named the Swimmer of the Championships, while Indiana’s James Connor was tabbed the Diver of the Championships. Indiana’s Blake Pieroni and Michigan’s Evan White were named the Big Ten Co-Freshmen of the Year.
The complete 2015 All-Big Ten Teams and Sportsmanship Award honorees are listed below.
Swimmer, Diver and Coach of the Year will be awarded on March 31.
2015 Big Ten Individual Honors
Swimmer of the Championships: Dylan Bosch, Michigan
Diver of the Championships: James Connor, Indiana
Co-Freshmen of the Year:
Blake Pieroni, Indiana
Evan White, Michigan
2015 All-Big Ten Teams
First Team
James Connor, Indiana
Michael Hixon, Indiana
Dylan Bosch, Michigan
Jason Chen, Michigan
Richard Funk, Michigan
Justin Glanda, Michigan
Jack Mangan, Michigan
Anders Nielsen, Michigan
Bruno Ortiz, Michigan
Paul Powers, Michigan
Jeremy Raisky, Michigan
Vinny Tafuto, Michigan
Aaron Whitaker, Michigan
Jordan Wilimovsky, Northwestern
Matt McHugh, Ohio State
Josh Fleagle, Ohio State
Shane Ryan, Penn State
Lyam Dias, Purdue
Matthew Hutchins, Wisconsin
Drew Teduits, Wisconsin
Second Team
Ali Khalafalla, Indiana
Tanner Kurz, Indiana
Sam Lorentz, Indiana
Blake Pieroni, Indiana
Steve Schmuhl, Indiana
Anze Tavcar, Indiana
Yianni Thermos, Indiana
PJ Ransford, Michigan
Evan White, Michigan
Michael Disalle, Ohio State
DJ MacDonald, Ohio State
Connor McDonald, Ohio State
Steven Zimmerman, Ohio State
Nate Savoy, Penn State
Steele Johnson, Purdue
Nicholas Caldwell, Wisconsin
Cannon Clifton, Wisconsin
Brett Pinfold, Wisconsin
Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Mike Hurley, Indiana
Brandon Farnum, Iowa
Richard Funk, Michigan
David Zoltowski, Michigan State
CJ Smith, Minnesota
Andrew Seitz, Northwestern
John Zucca, Ohio State
Jonathan Seiferth, Penn State
Jan Petric, Purdue
Nick Caldwell, Wisconsin
Indiana
Another diving title for freshman James Connor and new school records in the 100 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay capped the final day of action at the 2015 Big Ten Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Iowa City, Iowa.
The Hoosiers finished with 551 points, just 13 points shy of last year’s total with a veteran team.
Indiana finished the championship meet with new school records in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay, 800 freestyle relay, 1-meter, 3-meter and platform diving.
Connor wrapped up his first Big Ten Championships with a record-setting performance on the platform, tallying a school-record 532.45 points en route to his second Big Ten title. Connor scored no less than 80 points on each of his six dives and was awarded six perfect 10s over the course of his list.
Michael Hixon, winner of the 1-meter springboard on Thursday, placed 11th (355.60-IU best), with Cody Coldren 18th (264.30), Danton Rogers 19th (263.70) and Joshua Arndt 23rd (242.75)
Right after his Connor’s diving performance Indiana’s 400 freestyle relay team of Anze Tavcar, Blake Pieroni, Sam Lorentz and Ali Khalafalla blasted the old record with a 2:51.45 to finish second. That was nearly three seconds better than the old mark of 2:54.07. Tavcar’s lead-off swim of 42.94 is the second-fastest 100 free in IU history.
Connor was named Big Ten Diver of the Championships, while Pieroni was honored as co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
The evening’s first event, the 1,650 freestyle, saw Ethan Curl finish eighth overall with a career time of 15:10.10. Right behind in 11th place was Jackson Miller with a career best 15:11.13. Also placing in the top 16 was Timothy Martin, clocking a career best 15:15.09. Grayson Smith placed 30th with a time of 15:49.55.
In the bonus final of the 200 backstroke Indiana went 1-2, led by Ryan Gordon’s career-best time of 1:44.25. Right behind him finishing 18th overall in the field was Bob Glover who came home in 1:45.20, also a career best. Finishing 33rd in the field was Curtis Goss (1:47.33).
Tavcar touched the wall fourth in the 100 freestyle in a time of 43.08, the fifth-fastest time in IU history. Blake Pieroni took fifth in 43.25. In prelims, Pieroni set a new school record in the 100 free after coming in at 42.78.
Khalafalla was third in the consolation final with his career best of 43.56. Coming in fifth place in the heat and 13th overall was Yianni Thermos, also posting a new career time (43.97). Lorentz qualified for the consolation final with a career best 43.71 but was replaced in the race by Khalafalla, who was 17th in prelims.
Tanner Kurz posted the fastest final 50 yards of the field at 29.62 to take second in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:54.23. That is a career best, just surpassing his prelims time of 1:54.25. Cody Taylor took 12th overall in 1:57.16, posting a career best 1:56.10 in prelims. In 14th was Mike Hurley with a time of 1:57.45. Jonathan Panchak took 26th in a career best 2:00.45, while Levi Brock placed 35th in a career time of 2:03.37.
Steve Schmuhl wrapped up his career at Big Tens with a fourth-place finish in the 200 butterfly at 1:44.01. Max Irwin placed eighth overall, coming home in 1:45.46. His prelims time of 1:45.10 is a career best. Joe Powell finished 14th overall in 1:47.34, while Nick Wonder was 15th in 1:47.44. Both had career bests in prelims with Wonder going 1:47.10 and Powell 1:47.25.
Iowa
The University of Iowa men’s swimming and diving team completed the 2015 Big Ten Championships Saturday night inside the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium in Iowa City, Iowa. Two school records from junior Roman Trussov (200-yard breaststroke) and sophomore Addison Boschult (platform) highlighted the final night of competition.The Hawkeyes finished eighth among the Big Ten Conference after scoring 230.5 points. Michigan won the title with 760 points and Ohio State (623) finished second.
“I’m proud of the team for the effort we had today,” said UI head coach Marc Long. The main thing to take from this meet as the number of lifetime performances we had this week. We have one of the largest numbers of athletes competing in NCAAs and that’s something to be proud of.
“To be going to the NCAAs with the groups we have is exciting at this point. We’re shooting to place in the top-20 and top-25 in those races and we’ll be going up against some world class athletes. It’s an exciting meet and we’ll be ready for it.
Freshman Chris Dawson opened Saturday night’s finals competition with a breakout performance in the 1,650-yard freestyle. The Centennial, Colorado, native touched out with a career-best 15:12.17, receiving seven points off a 10th-place finish.
In the 200-yard backstroke, Andrew Parker (1:44.52), Chris Freeman (1:44.52), and Grant Betulius (1:44.82) represented Iowa in the ‘B’ final. Freeman and Parker tied for fourth, scoring a combined nine points off the 12th-place-tying finishes. Betulius also accounted for three points, finishing 15th overall.
Roman Trussov led the Black and Gold in the 200-yard breaststroke ‘A’ final, finishing fourth with a UI record-setting time of 1:54.57. Mike Nelson (1:59.64) and David Ernstsson (1:59.73) also represented Iowa in the ‘C’ final going 5-6.
Freshman Jerzy Twarowski had a strong showing in the 200-yard butterfly ‘B’ final, bringing home a third-place finish after touching out with a time of 1:46.49. Twarowski finished 11th overall.
The quartet of Jackson Halsmer, Betulius, Brandon Farnum, and Ernstsson capped the swimming events, representing Iowa in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The foursome touched out with a time of 2:56.62 and placed seventh among the field.
In the diving well, the Hawkeyes were led by Boschult who gathered 13 points off a sixth-place finish on the platform with a score of 387.20. The Omaha, Nebraska, native broke his own school record during the prelims, diving to a score of 394.55. Freshman Matt Mauser also had a big night, qualifying for his first-ever consolation finals with a career-best score of 291.55 in the prelims. In the finals, Mauser finished with two points off a 15th-place finish.
“I’m really proud of both our guys today making it to the consolation and finals,” said UI diving coach Todd Waikel. It’s a testament to the work ethic they put in each day and I couldn’t be happier for the two of them.
“To be in that caliber of field is great for Addison. He did great at winter nationals and we’ve been working towards this point. It was great to see him on the platform in the finals tonight.
The Hawkeyes return to action Sunday morning, taking part in the Big Ten Long Course Intrasquad meet. Competition is set to begin at 10 a.m. (CT).
Minnesota
The 2015 Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Championships concluded Saturday night at the University of Iowa's Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. The Golden Gophers placed 6th with a total of 359 points over four nights of competition. Minnesota picked up three bronze medals this week, including a Minnesota school record-breaking performance from Jakub Maly in the 400 IM, Daryl Turner in the 100 fly and CJ Smith in the 1650 freestyle. The University of Michigan were first with 760 points, claiming their fifth-straight title.
The University of Minnesota was strongly led by a group of sophomores and freshman, which scored 128 of the 227 individual points scored (and 227.5 of the 359 total points, including relays). The sophomore Gophers were led by two of the team's top four individual point scorers at the Big Ten Championships. Junior diver Manny Pollard totaled 33 points in three individual events, the highest mark on the Gophers squad. Sophomore Jakub Maly finished the meet with 32 individual points, followed by fellow sophomore Daryl Turner, who scored 27 individual points - the same as senior distance swimmer CJ Smith. What shows the greatest promise to Minnesota's future development as a team lies in the freshman. Rookies Conner McHugh and Michael Nunan were the only two point scorers from their class, however their percentage among points for each class per athlete was the highest with 15.5 points (McHugh individually scored 16, Nunan 15). In comparison, that average for sophomores is 9.7, juniors 12.8 and seniors 7.
"The Big Ten Conference continues to increase in competitiveness, and with that we will need to rise to the occasion," Head coach Kelly Kremer stated. "I feel encouraged by how our young student-athletes performed and am excited for whats to come."
Saturday Finals Recap:
Senior CJ Smith posted a 14:52.34 to take home the bronze medal in the 1650 freestyle. Smith was also Minnesota's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honoree. Logan Redondo finished the 1650 free with a time of 15:12.46 for eleventh place.
Carl Newenhouse had a 1:44.86 for 15th place in the 200 backstroke. Fellow senior Chris Johnson finished in 20th place with a time of 1:45.56.
Sophomore Daryl Turner finished twelfth in the 100 freestyle. Turner had a 43.69. Three underclassmen Gophers competed in the C final of the 100 free. Michael Nunan placed 20th with a time of 45.18. Ian Gordon finished with a time of 45.74 for 23rd and Jonathon Thielen followed for 24th with a 46.34.
Jakub Maly tookeighth in the 200 breaststroke, finishing with a time of 1:55.94. Maly's time in prelims was just one-tenth off of the Minnesota school record of 1:55.36. Freshman Conner McHugh threw down a personal best time of 1:55.83 for tenth place in the 200 breast. Teammate Spencer Mattox followed for eleventh place with a personal record of 1:56.99. Sophomores Nick Hatanaka and Eric Sande placed 23rd and 24th in the 200 breast respectively. Hatanaka finished with a time of 2:00.04, Sande had a 2:01.87.
Nick Orf finished 16th in the 200 fly with a time of 1:47.58. Minnesota had three seniors compete in the C final of the 200 butterfly. Brandon Hatanaka led the way with a time of 1:47.67 for 17th place. Andrew Hartbarger followed for 18th with a 1:48.00. Alex Cisneros finished with a 1:51.12 for 23rd.
Sophomore Matt Barnard took fourth in platform diving, totaling 425.70 points. Junior Dylan Zoe claimed seventh with a score of 377.40. Manny Pollard finished at the top of the consolation final on the platform, finishing ninth with 397.10 points. Senior Erik Larsen placed 16th, scoring a total of 277.35 points. Earlier during the preliminary rounds of platform diving, freshman Daniel Monaghan placed 21st after totaling 250.80 points. Nick Rodriguez finished 25th with 226.45 points.
The 400 free relay team of Daryl Turner, Paul Fair, Ryan Miksch and Jakub Maly placed sixth with a time of 2:55.54 to close out the 2015 Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.
Northwestern
Northwestern junior Jordan Wilimovsky (Malibu, Calif./Malibu) won the 1,650 freestyle Big Ten championship Saturday night in dominating and record-breaking fashion to lead the Wildcats on the final day of the conference meet at Iowa's Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.
Wilimovsky swam an incredible NCAA `A' automatic qualification time of 14:33.50 to break his own Northwestern school record, the Iowa pool record and -- most importantly -- earn his first-career Big Ten championship and the first for Northwestern since 2008 when newly minted NU Athletic Hall of Famer Kyle Bubolz won the 50 freestyle.
Wilimovsky's previous career-best was a 14:42.99 he completed to finish second at last year's Big Ten Championships. Earlier this week, Wilimovsky finished third in the 500 free to make Saturday's swim his second podium finish of the meet.
Wilimovsky went out just behind Michigan freshman PJ Ransford and stayed with him until the 600-yard mark of the race, at which point Wilimovsky passed his Wolverine rival and never looked back. His final margin of victory was 16.13 seconds, or more than an entire length of the pool.
Wilimovsky, a member of the U.S. National Team in the open water and 1,500-meter freestyle events, now currently has the top time in the nation in the 1,650-yard freestyle entering next month's NCAA Championships.
Northwestern as a team finished the 2015 Big Ten Championships in ninth place overall with 181 points. Read on for the rest of Saturday's results for the #B1GCats:
Preliminary Portion of Saturday's Action:
Northwestern placed four Wildcats in scoring finals during preliminary action in five events Saturday morning.
Northwestern got two swimmers into the consolation final of Saturday's first event, the 200 backstroke. Junior Grant Halsall (Laxey, Isle of Man, GBR) became the fifth-fastest Wildcat ever in the event with an NCAA `B' cut and career-best 1:43.79 to qualify 11th overall for the evening while freshman Alex Snarski (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) was just behind him in 12th with a career-best 1:44.27.
Two more Wildcats straddled the line of automatic second swims in the 200 back. Sophomore Jonathan Lieberman (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) dropped over four seconds off of his career-best in the event to swim an NCAA `B' cut of 1:45.37 and place 24th overall, earning a bonus final swim. Meanwhile, freshman Nick Petersen (Thiensville, Wis./Homestead) swam a career-best 1:45.61 for a `B' cut of his own to place 25th.
Freshman Almog Olshtein (Haifa, Israel/Haifa) made the scoring consolation final of the 100 free with a career-best and NCAA `B' time of 43.99 to qualify 15th overall. Sophomore Andy Jovanovic (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) had a career-best 44.52 to place 24th overall, grabbing the final bonus heat slot for Saturday night.
In the 200 breast, junior Van Donkersgoed (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnehaha Academy) went an NCAA `B' time of 1:58.97 to come in 20th overall in the morning, picking up a bonus final swim in the evening.
Senior Andrew Seitz (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley) was NU's top finisher in the 200 fly Saturday morning, placing 30th overall with a career-best 1:51.84.
In the platform diving event, in his final collegiate competition, senior John Andrade (Avon, Conn./Avon) qualified 15th overall for the platform consolation final with a career-best score of 289.55.
Finals Portion of Saturday's Action:
Wilimovsky wasn't the only Wildcat to swim in the 1,650 freestyle Saturday evening. Sophomore Charlie Cole (Bernardsville, N.J./Bernards) scored one point for NU with a career-best and NCAA `B' time of 15:17.48 that placed him 16th overall among the field and third all-time in the event at Northwestern. Cole scored points in all three of his individual events at the Big Ten meet -- the only Wildcat to do so.
In the consolation final of the 200 back, Halsall was not quite able to repeat his time from the morning, but he still took second in the heat and 10th overall in the event with a 1:44.07. Snarski grabbed one point with a 16th-place finish.
Neither Lieberman (21st) nor Petersen (24th) matched their morning times in the 200 back bonus final. In the bonus heat of the 100 free, Kohner did go lower, .52 of a second faster in fact, to touch in 44.70 and finish 18th in the conference. Mark Ferguson (Perth, Australia/John XXIII) got to swim in the bonus final after fully eight swimmers ahead of him scratched their final, and he swam a 45.26 to place 21st. Morris was right behind him in 22nd position.
In the 200 breast bonus heat, Donkersgoed remained in 20th position with a 1:58.81, .16 of a second faster than his morning effort.
In the final individual event of the Championships, Andrade moved up one spot during the consolation final of platform diving to score three points with a 14th-place 286.35.
The meet concluded with Olshtein, Snarski, Auren and Jovanovic swimming an eighth-place 2:56.99 in the 400 free relay.
Ohio State
On the fourth and final day of the 2015 Big Ten Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships, the Ohio State Buckeyes earned second with a score of 623. Overall, the Buckeyes brought home two individual titles and two school records.
Michigan captured the conference championship with 760 points, while Indiana, Purdue and Wisconsin rounded out the Top 5.
The 1650 freestyle concluded with Buckeye rookie Brayden Seal earning fifth in a time of 14:58.37. Junior Jovan Mitrovic also competed in the event, placing 23rd in 15:30.22. Both Buckeye times were NCAA ‘B’ cuts.
Junior Josh Fleagle continued his outstanding meet with a second-place touch in the 100 freestyle. Fleagle posted a time of 42.75, which was a season-best and just off Ohio State’s current record of 42.70. Senior Michael DiSalle followed in sixth with a 43.29. DiSalle dropped a mark of 42.95 in prelims to qualify for the championship final. Sophomore Steffen Hillmer competed in prelims, earning a time of 44.85.
In the 200 backstroke, senior Rowan Williams took third in a season-best time of 1:41.17. Williams’ classmate Steven Zimmerman touched in a time of 1:41.43 for fifth, which was also a season best. Ohio State had yet another representative in the championship final, as Connor McDonald finished seventh in 1:42.39. In prelims, McDonald posted a season-best 1:42.03. Sophomore Andrew Appleby suited up in the consolation final after dropping a season-best 1:43.49 in prelims. Appleby ultimately earned 11th with a finals time of 1:44.21. In prelims, junior Chris Depietro touched three seconds under his season-best time with a 1:46.14.
DJ MacDonald, a junior this season, claimed seventh in the 200 breaststroke in 1:55.66. The school record holder in the 100 breaststroke event, MacDonald touched in 1:55.60 in prelims. Two Buckeyes – Dimitry Dolgov and Andrew Braum – suited up in the consolation final, finishing 13th in 1:57.18 and 16th in 1:57.98, respectively. Dolgov earned a time of 1:57.07 in prelims. Senior Chris Cowley dropped a second off his preliminary mark with a 1:47.57 for 18th. Also in prelims, Keanu Stevenson posted a season-best time of 2:01.58 and Jack Barone registered a 2:02.43.
The 200 butterfly resulted with senior Tamas Gercsak placing third in a finals time of 1:43.81. His preliminary time of 1:43.74 was two-tenths of a second off his school record mark. Ohio State rookie Ching Hwang Lim and junior Peter Lyon also swam in finals. Both registered season-best times in prelims – Lim (1:46.32), Lyon (1:47.92). Lim placed ninth with a finals time of 1:46.38 and Lyon claimed 19th in 1:48.51.
Ohio State diving qualified two freshmen – Stephen Romanik and Clay White – for the consolation final. White led the way with a 12th-place standing and a final score of 337.95, while Romanik took 13th with a 328.90.
The Buckeyes ended the meet with automatic qualifying time for the NCAA championships and a third-place showing in the 400 freestyle relay. Ohio State’s grouping of Fleagle, Matt McHugh, Thomas Trace and DiSalle combined for a time of 2:52.50.
Penn State
Senior Nate Savoy’s silver medal in the 200 back capped off the Penn State men’s swimming and diving team’s final day at the Big Ten Championships as the Nittany Lions ended the four-day event in seventh place with 232 total points.
Savoy (Reading, Pa.) finished in 1:40.60, which was a career best time and earned 17 points in the process.
Complimenting the senior’s second place finish was junior Shane Ryan (Havertown, Pa.)who earned 11 points in the ‘B’ final of the 100 freestyle. Ryan finished in eighth place after swimming a 43.47 pace.
Senior Kyle Madley (Madison, N.J.) also finished his conference championships on a high note as he netted a total of seven points for head coach Tim Murphy in the 200 fly with his 10th place and 1:46.47 performance. His 1:46.15 time during the morning’s preliminaries set a new career standard.
The Lions would put their biggest point total on the board in the 400 free relay as the team of Ryan, Savoy, Matt Grillo (Montreal, Quebec) and Bob Bantley (Maple Glen, Pa.) finished in fifth place with a season fastest time of 2:53.19.
In the end PSU placed seventh in the 10 team field, just a point and a half ahead of eighth place and host Iowa and 127 behind sixth place Minnesota.
Penn State swimmers earned a total of four medals in individual events as Savoy brought home a pair of silvers ( 200 back, 100 back) and Ryan swiped a gold and a bronze ( 100 back, 50 free).
The Lions will next be in action in the Diving ‘A’ Regional Championships, Mar. 9-11 in New Brunswick, N.J., before the NCAA Championships take place Mar. 26-28 back in Iowa City.
Wisconsin
The Wisconsin men’s swimming and diving team went out in impressive fashion during the final day of competition at the 2015 Big Ten Men's Championships, as Drew teDuits claimed a Big Ten title and two more school records were broken to close out the team's most successful conference championship in over a decade.
Finishing with 382 points, the Badgers placed fifth in the Big Ten championship team standings, which marked the program's best finish since 2004.
In all, the Badgers took down seven school records and claimed two Big Ten titles at the championships.
“To finish fifth proves that we really competed. I’m unbelievably proud of them for their effort and hard work,” UW head coach Whitney Hite said. “Above all, I thought our men really represented Wisconsin well. Fifth place is my highest finish here, and there are only good things to come.”
Racing in the final Big Ten event of his career, senior teDuits went out on top by winning the 200-yard backstroke and claiming the second Big Ten title of his career. Clocking in at one minute, 40.30 seconds, the Fitchburg, Wisconsin, native and 2013 NCAA champion recorded an NCAA "A" cut and earned his right to compete for the ultimate title at the upcoming NCAA championships.
Not far behind teDuits in the 200 backstroke was junior Austin Byrd, who finished eighth overall. Byrd’s preliminaries time of 1:43.07 set a personal best and went down as the third-fastest time in UW history. Ryan O’Donnell placed 23rd overall with a final time of 1:46.42.
Cannon Clifton, Brett Pinfold, Ryan Barsanti and Damon Zito teamed up to finish fourth and break the school record in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Touching in 2:52.93, the squad broke the previous UW record by over a second and guaranteed themselves a spot in the upcoming NCAAs by achieving an "A" cut.
“We were faster than we’ve ever been, which is always a success,” Hite said of the relay. “It was truly a battle across the field, and the guys really stepped up to the challenge.”
Clifton reset his own school record in the 100-yard freestyle en route to earning a third-place finish. The sophomore out of Irving, Texas, touched in 42.73 during preliminaries to reset his own record by over half a second. Fellow sophomore and Texas native Pinfold won the consolation final in 43.20, a personal best and the second-fastest time in program history.
“Cannon Clifton was a star, not only today, but the whole weekend,” Hite said. “We had a total of seven broken school records this weekend, and there are not a lot of programs that are improving at the rate we are.”
In the 1,650-yard freestyle, sophomore Matt Hutchins finished in sixth place with a time of 15:04.07. Fellow sophomore Sean Maloney captured 15th place and a personal best in 15:17.36, which also marked the sixth-fastest time in program history. Junior Josh Anderson also recorded a personal best, finishing in 17th place with the seventh-fastest swim ever by a Badger. Freshman Nathan Mueller recorded an NCAA "B" cut and his time of 15:25.71 finished 19th overall.
Touching in 1:55.02, senior Nick Schafer picked up a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke. Junior Jake Mandli placed 15th overall, and his preliminaries time of 1:57.49 set a personal record, which went down as the fourth-fastest time in team history.
Senior Nick Caldwell raced to a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:45.37. Sophomore Harrison Tran came in 13th and found his way onto the program all-time list, as his preliminaries time of 1:46.77 set a personal best and marked the ninth-fastest time in UW history. Freshman Max Dolan picked up a 21st-place finish, touching in 1:49.21.
“Big Tens are a good warm up, but the next step is the big step,” Hite said of the upcoming NCAA championships. “We just have to make sure we’re focused and ready. We’ll have to do what we do best, which is get better. Our main focus has always been and will continue to be the NCAA championships.
"We aim to represent Wisconsin very well.”
Members of the Wisconsin swimming and diving program first head to the 2015 NCAA Women’s Championships, March 20-22, in Greensboro, North Carolina. The men’s team then returns to Iowa City for the 2015 NCAA Men’s Championships, March 27-29.
