2017 Men’s Big Ten Championships: Day 4 Finals Recap

by Robert Gibbs 15

February 25th, 2017 Big Ten, College, News

2017 MEN’S B1G SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • When: Wednesday, February 22th to Saturday, February 25th | Prelims 11am | Finals 6:30pm
  • Where: Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (Eastern Time Zone)
  • Defending Champion: Michigan Wolverines (results)
  • Schedule of Events
  • Live Results
  • Streaming (BTN subscription required)
  • Championship Central: here

The Indiana Hoosiers will be looking for their first title since 2006 after securing 15 finals swims during this morning’s preliminary session.  The Hoosiers come into tonight will be hard-pressed to give away the 60.5 point lead they hold over Ohio State and 75.5 point lead over Michigan after 3 days of competition.

The Buckeyes, with defending NCAA platform champion Collin Zeng, are in the best position to pick off the Hoosiers, though they don’t have as much in the mile as either Michigan or Indiana.

When it comes to individual event, the 100 free looks like it could be the most exciting race of the evening.  Wisconsin’s Cannon Clifton set a new conference record this morning, but with all of the top eight qualifiers separated by less a second, and Olympic 4×100 free gold medalist Blake Pieroni included in the mix, it truly could be anyone’s race.

Men’s 1650 Free – Final Results

  • Big Ten Championships Record – Jordan Wilimovsky, Northwestern, 14:33.50
  • NCAA “A” Cut – 14:44.43
  • NCAA “B” Cut – 15:30.39
  1. Felix Auboeck, Michigan, 14:29.25
  2. Jordan Wilimovsky, Northwestern, 14:34.51
  3. PJ Ransford, Michigan, 14:38.72

Michigan freshman Felix Auboeck earned his second victory of the meet as he downed Jordan Wilimovsky‘s meet record by over four seconds.  Wilimovsky was swimming in the same heat, and finished 2nd, just over a second behind his meet record time.  Auboeck previously won the 500 free Thursday evening.

Tonight, Michigan earned two of the top three spots, as PJ Ransford picked up a 3rd place finish with a time of 14:38.72.  However, Indiana had swimmers pick up points that the Wolverines didn’t make up much ground in the overall score.

Men’s 200 Back – Finals

  • Big Ten Championship Record – Eric Ress, Indiana, 1:38.89
  • NCAA “A” Cut – 1:39.87
  • NCAA “B” Cut – 1:46.39
  1. Robert Glover, Indiana, 1:41.25
  2. Thomas Trace, Ohio State, 1:41.92
  3. Luke Papendick, 1:42.22

Michigan’s Tristan Sanders rocketed out to an early lead, coming through the first 50 at 23.68 and maintaining that lead through the 150 mark.  However, Indiana’s Robert Glover came back like a freight train, swimming the last 50 in 25.58, the only man under 26, and touched 1st in 1:41.25.  Ohio State’s Thomas Trace had the 2nd-fastest final 50, a 26.20, and finished 2nd in 1:41.92.  Michigan’s Luke Papendick placed 3rd, while teammate Sanders faded to 5th, ultimately touching in 1:42.35.

Michigan closed the gap on Indiana, now only 38 points behind, 1155 to 1117.

Men’s 100 Free – Finals

  • Big Ten Championship Record – Cannon Clifton, Indiana, 42.00
  • NCAA “A” Cut – 42.25
  • NCAA “B” Cut – 44.29
  1. Blake Pieroni, Indiana, 41.44
  2. Shane Ryan, Penn State, 41.86
  3. Cannon Clifton, Wisconsin, 42.25

Going into 2016, most observers would have said that Blake Pieroni was more of a 200 freestyler than a 100 freestyler.  Yet Pieroni became an Olympic gold medalist last summer by making his way on the the USA 4×100 free relay team, and this year he has been showing that was no fluke.  Tonight, he set a new Big Ten conference and meet record with his first swim under 42.  He was out 19.61 against a stacked field, and kept the lead through the 2nd 50, touching in 41.44.

Penn State’s Shane Ryan was also under the older conference meet record, touching 2nd in 41.86.  That time is also a personal best for Ryan, as well as his first time under 42.  Wisconsin’s Cannon Clifton couldn’t quite match his 42-flat from this morning, with his 42.25 good for 3rd tonight.

Indiana ultimately finished 1st, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th in this event, opening its lead over Michigan back up to over 100 points.

Men’s 200 Breast – Finals

  • Big Ten Championship Record – Cody Miller, Indiana, 1:51.03
  • NCAA “A” Cut – 1:52.99
  • NCAA “B” Cut – 1:59.79
  1. Marat Amaltdinov, Purdue, 1:52.89
  2. Christopher Klein, Michigan, 1:53.14
  3. Jacob Montague, Michigan, 1:53.33

The Boilermakers got in on the victories tonight, courtesy of Marat Amaltdinov‘s second-straight victory in this event.  He touched in 1:52.89, a quarter of a second ahead of Michigan’s Christopher Klein‘s 1:53.14.  Another Wolverine, freshman Jacob Montague took 3rd in 1:53.33.  Those 2nd/3rd finishes help Michigan close the deficit to 55 points, with one individual pool event to go.

Men’s 200 Fly – Finals

  • Big Ten Championship Record – Dylan Bosch, Michigan, 1:40.37
  • NCAA “A” Cut – 1:41.86
  • NCAA “B” Cut – 1:47.99
  1. Vini Lanza, Indiana, 1:40.97
  2. Noah Lense, Ohio State, 1:41.44
  3. Evan White, Michigan, 1:43.42

Indiana’s Vini Lanza finished just sixth-tenths of a second off of Dylan Bosch’s meet record after leading this event from beginning to end.  Ohio State freshman Noah Lense blasted a 1:41.44, good for a NCAA “A” cut.  Michigan’s Evan White just beat out teammate Miles Smachlo 1:43.42 to 1:43.46.

Indiana still has 57 point lead after the final individual event.

Men’s Platform Diving

  1. Steele Johnson, Purdue, 547.80
  2. Collin Zeng, Ohio State, 532.50
  3. Brandon Loschiavo, Purdue, 459.35.

Indiana has secured the meet victory with a 108 point lead over Michigan heading into the 400 free relay.

400 Free Relay

Wowzers.  With a lot going on this weekend, we hadn’t been too focused on the overall battle for 2nd place, but Ohio State and Michigan came into this relay with either team able to take 2nd depending on their finish.  The Buckeyes swimmers seemed to know this and rise to the occasion, as Matt McHugh blasted a 42.09 leadoff leg, a new personal best time by 0.83 seconds.  Mossimo Chavez and Andrew Loy both split 42-lows, and Ohio State headed into the final exchange with almost an one second lead on Indiana.

Enter Blake Pieroni.  He went out in 19.25 to the feet and quickly erased the deficit against Ohio State’s anchor, Josh Fleagle.  Pieroni powered home, splitting 40.99 as Indiana set a new conference record with an overall time of 2:48.29.  Ohio State finished 2nd, in 2:49.23.

Michigan had come into this event with only a six point margin over Ohio State.  That meant that once Ohio State finished 2nd, the Wolverines would need to take 3rd or 4th to hold position.  Unfortunately for them, Felix Auboeck‘s 42.66 anchor, the fastest split on the squad, wasn’t quite enough, and Michigan’s 5th place finish in this relay meant that the Buckeyes and Wolverines tied for 2nd place overall in the meet.

Final Results:

1. Indiana,1504
2. Michigan, 1382
2. Ohio State, 1382
4. Minnesota,           879
5. Wisconsin, 763
6. Purdue, 721.5
7. Penn State, 554.5
8. Iowa, 424
9. Northwestern, 349
10. Michigan State, 273

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jdf
7 years ago

400 free relay OSU anchor was Andrew Loy, freshman, Josh Fleagle split 42.00 on the 3rd leg.Drew did a great job fighting it out with Blake!!!!!

Big Ten Swim/Dive Fan
7 years ago

Don’t forget Purdue in diving (246 points), along w OSU (281) and Indiana (242) (only 317 for the rest of the teams combined)
Great coaching jobs by all three teams.
Mich does not deserve a conference win when they only score 21 pts in diving and no relay wins.
As mentioned by others, time to refocus…
Next to nothing in diving for Mich since Kimball retired.

DAWGPADDLE
7 years ago

Big 10 was an impressive meet for certain. Coach Looze has IU turned in the right direction. Also very good to see Coach Wadley and OSU rising. This conference is really heating up – great for the sport. Congratulations to all of the swimmers and divers.

Don
7 years ago

Very impressed with Michigan’s freshman Auboeck. 42 anchoring the relay after swimming an impressive 14.29 mile. Great range for anyone but especially a freshman.

Fleagle
7 years ago

Despite what the results say, Fleagle was the 3rd leg who split 42.00, not the anchor

Not a Salty Blue Fan 2
7 years ago

Congratulations to Indiana for winning the B1G Championship! The had a dominating performance this weekend. Ohio State had a great championship meet and I was happy to see them tie for 2nd with Michigan.

I will be waiting for Blue fans to say Diving won IU the B1G Championship and that diving should be a separate sport. Mike Bottom will make the necessary changes to their diving program so what happen at this Championship doesn’t happen again. As you can see Swimming won’t win you a B1G championship.

B1G Daddy
Reply to  Not a Salty Blue Fan 2
7 years ago

It won him a NATIONAL Championship.

FreeStyle4799
Reply to  B1G Daddy
7 years ago

It is funny you would make a comment like that. Diving has had huge team impact at the NCAA Championship and it has been the deciding factor who won the NCAA Championship. Just ask Eddie Reese at Texas. If your argument because Michigan won the 2013 NCAA Championship (which was 18 years between their last)….that is a weak argument.

Coach Chackett
7 years ago

Swimming Points: Michigan 1361, Indiana 1262, Ohio St 1129, Minn 753, WI 706.5

swimdudelol
Reply to  Coach Chackett
7 years ago

Maybe Michigan should take advantage of their facilities and invest in a better diving program… At the end of the day it’s swimming AND diving, much to the chagrin of this site’s community. Indiana are the B1G Champions, fair and square

Euck Blue
Reply to  Coach Chackett
7 years ago

If this is Michigan’s way of coping with losing, so be it. Congrats Indiana!!!

SUNY Cal
Reply to  Euck Blue
7 years ago

When is the last time the MI women’s team finished higher than men’s team at BIG 10’s?? I bet it’s been a long time!! – Things are a changing in MI!!!

Big Blue
Reply to  Coach Chackett
7 years ago

Obviously both IU and OSU had huge advantages on Michigan in diving, and that’s what made the difference. The Big Ten is the toughest conference for diving, esp on the men’s side, and Michigan has to get some guys in there that can at least cut into the leads that IU, Ohio State and others can put on them.

But a lot of credit to Mike Bottom for getting his guys to swim really well. That freshman class (Felix, Montague, Swanson, Smachlo, Jones) has a lot of promise and they don’t lose a whole lot going into next year. They’ll be fine.

E Gamble
7 years ago

Nice swim for Blake in the 100 free. 41.4 ☺

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