2018 Women’s B1G Ten Championships: Day 4 Finals Live Recap

2018 WOMEN’S B1G TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

• February 14-17, 2018
• Columbus, Ohio
• McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion
• Live Results
• Championship Central
• Live Stream (BTN Plus subscription required)

The final session of the 2018 Women’s B1G Ten Championships is here, with five individual events on the docket this evening, followed by the 400 free relay.

Purdue’s Kaersten Meitz is the top seed heading into the fast heats of the 1650 with a 15:54.41, followed by Penn State’ Allyson McHugh in 15:59.03.

The 200 back will feature Wisconsin’s Beata Nelson as the top seed, who is fresh off becoming the 2nd fastest performer of all-time in the 100 back (49.78), along with defending champ Kennedy Goss of Indiana.

Michigan’s Siobhan Haughey, already with the 200 free win under her belt, will take on Ohio State’s defending champion Zhesi Li in the 100 free. The race will also feature Haughey’s teammates Gabby and Catie DeLoof as the #2 and #4 seeds.

Lilly King will look to win the breaststroke double for a third straight year in the 200, as she was just .16 off her American record last night in the 100. She’ll be challenged by Minnesota’s Lindsey Kozelsky and former teammate Miranda Tucker of Michigan.

1650 FREE FINALS

• B1G Record: 15:44.93, G Ryan (MICH), 2017
• 15:43.34, Allyson McHugh (PSU), 2018
• Defending Champion: G Ryan, 15:44.93

1. Allyson McHugh, PSU — 15:43.34
2. Yirong Bi, MICH — 15:51.18
3. Molly Kowal, OSU — 15:53.11

Entered as the 2-seed, junior Allyson McHugh pulled away from the finals field at the 700-mark and never looked back. She trailed Bi until that point, then put down consistent 28-lows and -mids to dominate the race and break the meet record.

One-seed Kaersten Meitz finished 7th in 16:02.02, and defending champion G Ryan 6th with a 15:59.72.

200 BACK FINALS

• B1G Record: 1:49.92, Kate Fesenko (IU), 2010
• 1:49.59, Beata Nelson (WISC), 2018
• Defending Champion: Kennedy Goss (IU), 1:50.95

1. Beata Nelson, WISC — 1:49.59
2. Clara Smiddy, MICH — 1:50.63
3. Kennedy Goss, IU — 1:51.66

Sophomore Beata Nelson was not only the only swimmer out under 26 in her first 50, but was also the only swimmer under 28 in her second. She split 25.58/27.87/28.07/28.07 en route to her 1:49.59 meet record. Nelson also set the 100 back meet record yesterday.

100 FREE FINALS

• B1G Record: 47.24, Ivy Martin (WIS), 2015
• Defending Champion: Zhesi Li (OSU), 47.50

1. Zhesi Li, OSU — 47.43
2. Siobhan Haughey, MICH — 47.54
3. Gabby Deloof, MICH — 48.01

Though Haughey had the lead after the first 50, defending champion Zhesi Li closed in 24.57 (versus Haughey’s 24.77) to take the win. Li also took down her own meet record in the process but was well off Ivy Martin’s B1G record mark.

200 BREAST FINALS

• B1G Record: 2:03.18, Lilly King (IU), 2017
• Defending Champion: Lilly King (IU), 2:04.03

1. Lilly King, IU — 2:04.68
2. Miranda Tucker, MICH — 2:06.59
3. Lindsey Kozelesky, MINN — 2:07.36

Miranda Tucker led slightly at the 100 (1:00.53), but Lilly King brought it home in a blazing 1:03.86 (to Tucker’s 1:06.06) to win handily. King’s full splits were 28.23/32.59/31.91/31.95, while Tucker’s were 28.44/32.09/32.52/33.54.

200 FLY FINALS

• B1G Record: 1:53.67, Gia Dalesandro (IU), 2017
• 1:53.44, Vanessa Krause, 2018
• Defending Champion: Gia Dalesandro (IU), 1:53.67

1. Vanessa Krause, MICH — 1:53.44
2. Danielle Nack, MINN — 1:54.72
3. Meg Bailey, OSU — 1:55.59

Vanessa Krause split 25.83/29.05/28.75/29.81 en route to her new B1G record, leading the field the whole way.

400 FREE RELAY

• B1G Record: 3:12.96, Wisconsin, 2015
• 3:10.96, Michigan, 2017

1. Michigan — 3:10.96
2. Ohio State — 3:13.35
3. Wisconsin — 3:14.12

Michigan’s team of Catherine Deloof, Siobhan Haughey, Daira Pyshnenko, and Gabrielle Deloof split 48.29/47.43/47.96/47.28 to obliterate the B1G conference record. In second was Ohio state’s team of Macie McNichols, Freya Rayner, Kristen Romano, and Zhesi Li (fresh off her 100 free win). Li’s 46.9 was the fastest split in the field by nearly 4 tenths.

FINAL TEAM SCORES

1. University of Michigan — 1465
2. Indiana — 1152.5
3. Ohio State — 1094.5
4. Minnesota — 1049
5. Wisconsin — 755
6. Purdue — 693
7. Northwestern — 528
8. Penn State — 418
9. Rutgers — 386
10. Nebraska — 358
11. Iowa — 338
12. Illinois — 187
13. Michigan State — 172