2018 Men’s B1G Ten Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2018 MEN’S B1G CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 21st – Saturday, February 24th
• Prelims 11am | Finals 6:30pm
• University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (Central Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Indiana (results)
• Championship Central
• Fan Guide
• Live Video
• Live Results
• NCAA Qualifying
• Day 3 Finals Heat Sheet

As we head into day 3 finals in Minneapolis, the Michigan men occupy a nine point lead over Indiana. The Wolverines had a strong prelim session this morning, putting 12 men into A-finals and 23 total, while Indiana has 10 and 21. However, Indiana could charge into the lead with help from their diving, as they have four of the top six qualifiers in the 3-meter.

Along with their diving strength, the Hoosiers should collect big points as four of the five favorites in tonight’s individual events are from Indiana. Vini Lanza leads the 100 fly, Blake Pieroni will be challenged but should be able to prevail in the 200 free, and Ian Finnerty is well on his way to another 100 breast title after a record setting prelim swim. The fourth is freshman standout Gabriel Fantoni, who qualified 1st in the 100 back prelims by seven tenths and was a further seven tenths faster than that in the 400 medley relay.

The 400 IM will be a big one for Michigan, as they have four men in the A-final, including two of the top three seeds. Sophomore Tommy Cope led the prelims in 3:42.75, but Charlie Swanson will be dangerous after going 3:41.53 earlier in the season.

The 200 free relay should be very tight. Michigan put three men into the 50 free final, while Indiana only had two, but Pieroni didn’t swim it, and freshman Nikola Miljenic won the B-final in 19.48. Then of course we can’t forget about Minnesota and the Bowen Becker X-factor, who split 18.24 on day 1 and had a flat 18.69 yesterday. Ohio State are the defending champs, but lost two key seniors to graduation in Matt McHugh and Joshua Fleagle.

100 FLY FINAL

• B1G Meet Record: 44.91, Matt McHugh (OSU), 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 45.49
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 48.29
• 2017 Invite Time: 46.10

1. Vini Lanza, IU, 44.79
2. Evan White, MICH, 45.63
3. Noah Lense, OSU, 45.91

Vini Lanza cracked the 45-second barrier in winning the 100 fly, lowering Matt McHugh‘s meet record of 44.91 in a time of 44.79. Lanza moves into the #2 spot in the country, and also breaks the IU school and Big Ten conference records.

Michigan’s Evan White had a solid swim to take 2nd in 45.63, followed by Ohio State’s Noah Lense (45.91) and Michael Salazar (45.97). Jerzy Twarowski of Iowa moved up a few spots from the morning to take 5th in 46.07, and another Buckeye, Henrique Painhas, placed 6th in 46.10.

400 IM FINAL

• B1G Meet Record: 3:38.03, Tyler Clary (MICH), 2009
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:39.95
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:54.49
• 2017 Invite Time: 3:44.92

1. Charlie Swanson, MICH, 3:39.16
2. Tommy Cope, MICH, 3:42.86
3. Ricardo Vargas, MICH, 3:43.73

It was a dominant 1-2-3 finish for the Michigan Wolverines in the 400 IM, as Charlie Swanson picked up the win in an ‘A’ cut time of 3:39.16. Swanson opened up a small lead on teammate Tommy Cope on the breaststroke, and further extended it on the free to win the race by over three seconds. His time puts him 4th in the NCAA.

Cope touched 2nd in 3:42.86, and their teammate Ricardo Vargas took 3rd in 3:43.73. Wisconsin’s Joseph Milinovich was up with the leaders until the breaststroke leg, ultimately taking 4th in 3:45.71. PJ Ransford was 5th in 3:46.27, giving Michigan four of the top five finishers.

200 FREE FINAL

• B1G Meet Record: 1:32.13, Blake Pieroni (IU), 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:32.54
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:37.99
• 2017 Invite Time: 1:34.20

1. Blake Pieroni, IU, 1:31.14
2. Mohamed Samy, IU, 1:32.56
3. Paul DeLakis, OSU, 1:32.86

After identical 1:31.51 splits on the 800 free relay on night 1, this event was expected to be a head-to-head showdown between Blake Pieroni and Felix Auboeck. However, tonight was all Pieroni, as he got out to the early lead and never relinquished it. The Hoosier blasted out in 44.34, and came strong to touch in 1:31.14, lowering his meet record from last year by nearly a full second. Taking Dean Farris‘ 1:31.12 done earlier tonight into account, Pieroni currently sits #2 in the country.

Given the close team race between the Hoosiers and Wolverines, Mohamed Samy had a big swim to grab 2nd in a time of 1:32.56. Samy had the fastest back half in the field, overtaking Ohio State’s Paul DeLakis on the last 50 to steal 2nd. DeLakis knocked nearly 1.5 seconds off his prelim swim to take 3rd in 1:32.86, just ahead of Auboeck who settled for 4th in 1:33.23.

Nicholas Saulnier (1:34.99) of Minnesota edged out Michigan’s Mokhtar Al-Yamani (1:35.02) for 5th.

100 BREAST FINAL

• B1G Meet Record: 50.82, Ian Finnerty (IU), 2018
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 51.74
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 55.39
• 2017 Invite Time: 52.62

1. Ian Finnerty, IU, 50.72
2. Levi Brock, IU, 51.45
3. Conner McHugh, MINN, 51.68

Indiana picks up their third win of the night in the 100 breast, as Ian Finnerty defended his title in a time of 50.72. That knocks a tenth off his meet, school and conference record set this morning. He remains #2 in the country.

Levi Brock made it a second consecutive 1-2 finish for the Hoosiers, dropping his prelim swim another three tenths to 51.45 for 2nd. In fact the top six finishers all dropped time from the morning, with Minnesota’s Conner McHugh (51.68) 3rd and Michigan’s Jacob Montague (51.80) 4th. Another Wolverine, Jeremy Babinet (52.22), edged out Ohio State’s Jack Barone (52.24) for 5th.

100 BACK FINAL

• B1G Meet Record: 44.65, Shane Ryan (PSU), 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 45.25
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 48.49
• 2017 Invite Time: 46.28

1. Gabriel Fantoni, IU, 45.79
2. Mohamed Samy, IU, 45.84
3. Joseph Young, PUR, 46.76

It wasn’t as fast as his 45.17 in the medley relay, but Gabriel Fantoni got the job done to seal his first ever individual B1G title with a 45.79 in the 100 back. Mohamed Samy, who took 2nd in the 200 free earlier in the night, made it a third straight 1-2 for IU as he was just five one-hundredths back in 45.84 for 2nd.

The rest of the field was nearly a full second back of the two Hoosiers, as juniors Joseph Young (46.76) of Purdue and Kenneth Mende (46.80) of Iowa took 3rd and 4th. James Beckman (46.87) and Jacob Steele (46.91) took 5th and 6th to gain more valuable points for Indiana.

Heading into diving, Michigan leads Indiana by 48.5 points.

3 METER DIVING FINALS

1. Steele Johnson, PUR, 540.55
2. Michael Hixon, IU, 509.95
3. Andrew Capabianco, IU, 488.40

Purdue’s Steele Johnson takes home the 3-meter title with a score of 540.55, followed by four Hoosiers. Michael Hixon was the runner-up with 509.95, and Andrew Capabianco (488.40) and James Connor (479.65) contribute some valuable points to IU.

With diving in the books, Indiana takes over the points lead, 1034.5 to 1016.

200 FREE RELAY TIMED FINAL

• B1G Meet Record: 1:16.42, Michigan, 2013
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:17.62
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:18.35

1. Michigan, 1:16.49
2. Indiana, 1:16.56
3. Minnesota, 1:17.02

In an incredibly tight battle Michigan came away with the win in the 200 free relay, topping Indiana 1:16.49 to 1:16.56.

Bowen Becker got Minnesota the early lead in 18.80, a lead they held until the anchor, where James Peek came through for the Wolverines in 18.96. Paul Powers (19.27), Luiz Gustavo Borges (18.90) and Evan White (19.36) joined Peek as the Wolverines missed their own 2013 meet record by just .07.

Indiana was in the thick of it the whole time, with seniors Ali Khalafalla (19.47) and Blake Pieroni (18.90), and freshman Bruno Blaskovic (18.97) and Nikola Miljenic (19.22) just missing the IU school record by .03.

Joining Becker on Minnesota’s relay was Tuomas Pokkinen (19.26), Matthew Thomas (19.28) and Nicholas Saulnier (19.68), as they took bronze in 1:17.02. Iowa (1:17.50) ended up 4th, and Ohio State (1:17.82) 5th.

POINT RACE

Heading into the last day, Indiana holds a 10.5 point advantage over Michigan. Ohio State is in no man’s land in 3rd, and Purdue holds 4th, 60 points up on Minnesota who has a half point lead over Wisconsin for 5th.

1. Indiana, 1090.5
2. Michigan, 1080
3. Ohio State, 870
4. Purdue, 540
5. Minnesota, 480
6. Wisconsin, 479.5
7. Iowa, 377.5
8. Penn State, 292.5
9. Northwestern, 189
10. Michigan State, 173