Team Standings After Day 1
1. Michigan, 80
2. Ohio State, 64
3. Minnesota, 58
3. Indiana, 58
5. Wisconsin, 56
6. Northwestern, 54
7.Iowa, 50
8.Purdue, 48
9.Michigan State, 32
10.Penn State, 22
Indiana
School records in the 800 freestyle relay and 200 freestyle were the first to fall by the wayside on day one of the 2015 Big Ten Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium in Iowa City, Iowa.
Indiana started with a sixth-place finish in the 200 medley relay as Bob Glover, Tanner Kurz, Max Irwin and Ali Khalafalla went 1:26.11.
The quartet of Blake Pieroni, Anze Tavcar, Jackson Miller and Steve Schmuhl smashed the school record in the 800 free relay, taking third in 6:16.82. That tops the old mark of 6:19.68 set in 2013. A big part of that record-setting swim came on Pieroni’s lead-off leg as he blasted his own school record in the 200 freestyle, going 1:33.10. His old record of 1:34.55 was set at the USA Swimming Winter Nationals in December.
Iowa
The University of Iowa men's swimming team broke a school record Wednesday night on the opening day of the Big Ten Championships at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa currently sits in seventh place with 50 points, while Michigan (80) and Ohio State (64) hold the top two spots.
The Hawkeyes kicked off the competition with an NCAA ‘A’ cut in the 200-yard medley relay, solidifying a spot in the 2015 NCAA Championships. The foursome of Grant Betulius, Roman Trussov, Jerzy Twarowski, and Jackson Halsmer swam to a third place finish with a UI record-setting time of 1:25.53.
“We had a great start to the Big Ten Championships tonight,” said UI head coach Marc Long. “To kick it off with an NCAA ‘A’ cut and a school record in the 200 medley relay is special. They solidified a spot at the NCAA Championships and we’re all excited about that.”
In the 800-yard freestyle relay, the quartet of Chris Freeman, Betulius, David Ernstsson, and Twarowski finished ninth, touching out at with a time of 6:29.57. The foursome’s time ranks seventh all-time in UI history.
The Hawkeyes return to the pool tomorrow morning for day two of the Big Ten Championships. Preliminaries begin at 11 a.m. with finals taking place at 6:30 p.m. (CT).
Minnesota
The Golden Gophers kicked off the 2015 Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Championships tonight with the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay. With ten teams competing in Iowa this week, Minnesota will look to continue their 26-year streak of placing in the top four at the Big Ten Championships. After night one, Minnesota sits in third place tied with the Indiana Hoosiers with 58 points. Michigan, the defending Big Ten Champion, is in first with 80 points, Ohio State is in second with 64.
In the 200 medley relay, the team of Daryl Turner, Conner McHugh, Paul Fair and Ian Gordon finished with a time of 1:25.71 for a NCAA B cut and fourth place. The all-underclassmen relay was seeded last going into the event and dropped nearly five seconds.
The University of Michigan picked up their first win of the night with a time of 1:23.47 in the 200 medley relay - the Wolverines are favored to win the meet and will look to collect their fifth-straight Big Ten Championship title. Ohio State took home the silver with a 1:25.18, and Iowa finished third with a time of 1:25.53.
The Gophers placed fifth in the 800 freestyle relay. Michael Nunan, Jakub Maly, Ben Bravence and Logan Redondo combined for a 6:25.03 in the event.
Ahead of Minnesota in the 800 free relay were four NCAA A cuts from Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio State. Michigan broke the pool record with a 6:12.20 and swept tonight's events with first-place finishes in both relays.
Ohio State
Following the opening night of competition at the 2015 Big Ten Championships, the eighth-ranked Ohio State men’s swimming and diving team stands second with 64 points earned. The Buckeyes had a strong start, qualifying both relays contested for the upcoming NCAA championship meet.
Michigan claimed first in both events to take an overall lead with 80 points. Along with the runner-up Buckeyes, conference foes Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin round out the Top 5 in the team standings.
Ohio State’s 200 medley relay quartet of senior Steven Zimmerman, junior DJ MacDonald, sophomore Matt McHugh and junior Josh Fleagle kick started the evening with a second-place touch. Earning an automatic qualification to the NCAA championships, the contingent registered a time of 1:25.18.
Fleagle, a standout swimmer for the Scarlet and Gray, pulled double duty, also competing in the 800 freestyle relay. Grouped with teammates Ching Hwang Lim, Brayden Seal and Rowan Williams, Fleagle and the Buckeyes placed fourth with an NCAA ‘A’ cut time of 6:22.65.
Penn State
The Penn State men’s swimming and diving team finished the first day of the 2015 Big Ten Championships by competing in two relay events at host Iowa’s Campus Rec and Wellness Center Natatorium.
The Nittany Lions along with the 10 other conference schools competing in the event teamed up for the 200 medley relay and then the 800 free relay to kick-off day one of the four-day championship session.
In the 800 free, head coach Tim Murphy’s squad finished eighth with a time of 6:28.32, which was a season best. The relay team of Matt Stasiunas (Avondale, Pa.), Bob Bantley (Maple Glen, Pa.), Ryan O’Neill (Howell, N.J.) and Nick Ankosko (East Brunswick, N.J.) scored a total of 22 points for their team in the event.
The 200 medley relay led-off the evening but the Lions fell victim to unfortunate circumstances as their relay team was disqualified from the event after a swimmer had an early take off. The DQ cost PSU at least 14 points as they presently sit in 10th place with 22 total points, 26 points behind eighth place Purdue.
Purdue
Purdue men’s swimming and diving established new program records in both relay events contested Wednesday during the opening night of action at the Big Ten Championships.
The Boilermakers broke varsity records in the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays. Guillermo Blanco was part of both relay teams, swimming the butterfly leg on the medley squad and the leadoff leg on the freestyle quartet. His leadoff split of 1:36.38 ranks third as the third fastest 200 free time program history.
Stephen Seliskar, Lyam Dias and Austin Flager teamed with Blanco on the 200 medley relay team. The program records in both the 200 and 400 medley relays had stood since the 2009 Big Ten Championships at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
Jan Karel Petric, Josh Ehrman and Josh Brooks followed Blanco into the water on the 800 free relay team. Petric and Brooks both posted splits of 1:36.69. The previous team record in the 800 free relay had stood since the 2011 Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis.
Flager was part of the Boilers’ record-setting 400 free relay team last season as freshman. But the other six swimmers to compete Wednesday for Purdue were all part of their first relay records. Individually, Blanco holds the school record in the 400 IM and Dias is first all-time in the 100 and 200 breaststroke.
The Boilermakers finished seventh in both events and are in eighth place after the opening night. But only 10 points separates third place (Indiana and Wisconsin) and eighth place. Michigan swept both relays to jump out to an early lead in its quest to win a fifth straight Big Ten title.
Wisconsin
Just two events have been completed at the 2015 Big Ten Men's Championships, but the Wisconsin men's swimming and diving team has already notched one school record while competing at the event in Iowa City, Iowa, on Wednesday night.
Cannon Clifton, Matt Hutchins, Brett Pinfold and Nick Caldwell combined to finish runner-up in the 800-yard freestyle relay and demolished UW's school record in the process. The relay squad's time of six minutes, 16.30 seconds broke the school record by nearly three seconds (6:19.22) -- set last season -- and edged out Indiana in an exciting battle for second place.
"It was an awesome race and it certainly puts us within the top-10 (times) in the country," UW head coach Whitney Hite said of the 800 free relay. "It was a great relay and all four men had strong swims. We're definitely excited about things moving forward."
Recording an NCAA 'A' cut time, the Badgers also punched their tickets to the upcoming NCAA championships in March.
In the 200-yard medley relay, Ryan O'Donnell, Nick Schafer, Austin Byrd and Damon Zito teamed up to finish eight in the event. Clocking in at 1:27.49, the Badgers recorded the eighth-fastest time in UW program history.
"We got some great splits and I feel really good about the performance," Hite said of the 200 medley relay. "The men know it's going to be a battle across the board, so I was really proud of the way they competed."
Through the first evening of competition, Wisconsin ended in fifth place with 56 points from two events. Michigan leads the championship team standings with 80 points.
