2017 Big Ten Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2017 B1G WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 15th to Saturday, February 18th | Prelims 11am | Finals 6:30pm
• Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champions: Michigan Wolverines (results)
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Stream via Big Ten Network
• Championship Central

The first two event finals of the 2017 Big Ten Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships are kicking off tonight at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Indiana. The only two events of the night will be the 800 free relay and the 200 medley relay, giving fans the chance to see a high-profile preview of both the freestyling and stroke action to come over the course of the meet.

200 Yard Medley Relay – Final

• B1G Conference Record: 1:35.71 (2011: Wisconsin – Meyer, Wanland, Palm, Thompson)
• B1G Meet Record: 1:36.29 (2009: Wisconsin – Meyer, Wanland, Zweigers, Thompson)
• Pool Record: 1:35.75 (2010: Univ of Arizona – Agy, Chandler, Campbell, Schluntz 1:37.21)
• A NCAA Qualifying:1:37.21
• B NCAA Provisional: 1:37.71

1. Minnesota (Tevyn Waddell, Lindsey Horesji, Danielle Nack, Zoe Avestruz): 1:35.55
2. Indiana (Kennedy Goss, Lilly King, Gia Dalesandro, Alexandra Rockett): 1:35.74
3. Wisconsin (Jessica Unicomb, Marissa Berg, Elizabeth Nelson, Chase Kinney): 1:36.41

In an incredibly tight race, Minnesota barely outswam the 200 medley field to take down defending champions Indiana. Tevyn Waddell got the team off to a quick start with 24.52, outdone only by Wisconsin’s Jessica Unicomb, and outpacing Indiana backstroker Kennedy Goss by nearly half a second. In the breaststroke leg, as expected, the indomitable Lilly King blasted a 25.55 split to overtake the lead for Indiana. Gia Dalesandro was able to hold the lead for the Hoosiers through the fly leg with a 23.08. (However, Ohio State’s Zhesi Li had the fastest fly of the field with a blazing 22.32 split.) The race came down to the final 50, and Minnesota’s Zoe Avestruz was able to chase down Indiana’s Alexandra Rockett, posting 21.33 to Rockett’s 22.08. (And, though they were too far out of the running to catch Indiana and Minnesota, Wisconsin actually posted the fastest anchor split with Chase Kinney‘s 21.28.)

The Minnesota team came out of the race with 1:35.55 for new Big Ten Conference, Big Ten meet, and Purdue pool records.

800 Yard Freestyle Relay – Final

• B1G Conference Record: 6:58.54 (2/17/2016: Michigan – Rose Bi, Siobhan Haughey, Gabby Deloof, G Ryan
• B1G Meet Record: 6:58.54 (2/17/2016: Michigan – Rose Bi, Siobhan Haughey, Gabby Deloof, G Ryan)
• Pool Record: 6:55.61 (2010: Univ of Georgia – Morgan Scroggy, Megan Romano, Chelsea Nauta, Allison Schmitt)
• A NCAA Qualifying: 7:05.68
• B NCAA Provisional: 7:08.93

1.  Michigan (Rose Bi, Siobhan Haughey, Gabby Deloof, G Ryan): 6:55.34
2. Wisconsin (Abigail Jagdfeld, Jessica Unicomb, Emmy Sehmann, Cierra Runge): 7:00.05
3. Minnesota (Danielle Nack, Chantal Nack, Tevyn Waddell, Zoe Avestruz): 7:00.61

The 800 free relay started off as a close race in the first leg with Purdue’s Kaersten Meitz at the lead (1:44.78, a clear fastest-out-first strategy) holding off Michigan’s Rose Bi (1:45.05) and Minnesota’s Danielle Nack (1:45.27). But, as soon as Michigan’s Siobhan Haughey hit the water as the second leg swimmer, the race was over.

Haughey has already had an incredible season in the individual 200 free, setting a new Big Ten conference record with 1:42.93 back in November, and tonight, she blasted a 1:42.53 split to seal the deal for the Michigan team. Following her were Gabby Deloof (1:43.71) and G Ryan (1:44.05), each with very strong performances in their own right, and the resulting 6:55.54 blasted their old Big Ten record 6:58.54 out of the water. Notably, their time also outdoes Pac-12 Stanford’s Katie Ledecky, Katie Drabot, Simone Manuel, and Ella Eastin’s season-best 1:55.54 from the Ohio State Invitational.

The real battle in this event ended up being for second between Wisconsin and Minnesota. Wisconsin’s final leg from Cal-transfer and Olympian Cierra Runge was a 1:43.20 that ended up sealing the deal for the Badgers’ silver medal.

Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 2                      
 
  1. University of Minnesota           118   2. Michigan, University of           114
  3. Wisconsin, University of, Madi    110   4. Indiana University                108
  5. Ohio State University             102   6. Purdue University                  92
  7. Northwestern University            80   8. Iowa, University of                78
  9. University of Nebraska-Lincoln     74   9. University of Illinois             74
  9. Rutgers University                 74   9. Pennsylvania State University      74
 13. Michigan State University          58