2021 Big Ten Women’s Championships: Day 2 Ups/Mids/Downs

2021 BIG TEN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Tuesday, February 23rd to Saturday, February 27th | Prelims 11am | Finals 6:30pm (5pm Tuesday) CT
• Where: Minneapolis, MN (Central Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Ohio State (1x) (results)
• Live Results
• Streaming: Big Ten Network
• Championship Central

DAY 1 Scores

1. Ohio State/Michigan, 118
2. –
3. Northwestern, 106
4. Wisconsin, 102
5. Penn State/Minnesota, 96
6. –
7. Nebraska, 92
8. Iowa, 84
9. Michigan State, 70
10. Purdue, 68
11. Illinois, 64
12. Indiana, 56
13. Rutgers, 30

For those unfamiliar with swimming terminology, the concept of “Ups” and “Downs” is a good way to track which teams performed best at prelims. In prelims, swimmers qualify for one of three finals heats: the top 8 finishers make the A final, places 9 through 16 the B final and places 17 through 24 the C final. In finals, swimmers are locked into their respective final, meaning a swimmer in the B heat (spots 9-16) can only place as high as 9th or as low as 16th, even if they put up the fastest or slowest time of any heat in the final.

With that in mind, we’ll be tracking “Ups,” “Mids” and “Downs” after each prelims session. “Up” refers to swimmers in the A final, “Mid” to swimmers in the B final and “Down” to swimmers in the C final.

The Ohio State Buckeyes had a big prelims session this morning on day two of the 2021 Big Ten Women’s Swimming Championships, picking up 16 finals swims and 10 A-final (up) swims. OSU’s big event was the 50 free, where they scored 5 Buckeyes into the A-final, led by #3 seed senior Taylor Petrak, who went from a 22.99 seed to 22.12 this morning. The Buckeyes also scored two B-finalists, totaling 7 finals swims in the 50 free, worth 148.5 points.

Their next best event was the 200 IM, where they went 3 up and 2 mid, another 110-point pick-up. In the 500 free, the Buckeyes when 1-7-9-17, which is worth 84 points. Event top seeds include senior Kristen Romano (1:56.19) in the 200 IM and junior Veronica Tafuto (4:42.88) in the 500 free.

The next best finals presence came from Indiana’s 200 IM group, with 2 up, 2 mid, and 1 down swims totaling 87 points. Leading the event for Indiana juniors #2 seed Noelle Peplowski (1:56.29) and #5 seed Mac Looze (1:57.68).

While the Hoosiers were able to get another 2 up swims and 1 mid swim in the 500 free, they failed to qualify any 50 freestylers into the A-final. Their fastest 50 free swimmer this morning was Elizabeth Broshears, who swam 22.51 to place 11th overall. Despite this, their 11 total scoring swims is worth 195 points.

Returning 9 finals swims this evening are the Michigan Wolverines, who are projected to earn 185.50 points after prelims. Their big event was the 500 free, where they can return 74 points with 2 up, 1 mid, and 1 down. Sophomore Kaitlynn Sims is seeded second at 4:43.17 with junior teammate Caroline Sisson seeded 5th at 4:45.18. National teamer Sierra Schmidt placed 12th in prelims with a 4:47.55. At last year’s Big Ten meet, Schmidt placed 3rd in finals after swimming to the #6 seed in prelims.

While junior Maggie MacNeil (21.88) and senior Daria Pyshnenko are seeded 1st and 3rd in the 50 free, worth 43 projected points, those are the only two Wolverine swims in the event. Michigan also returned 2 A-finalists and 1 C-finalist in the 200 IM, led by #4 seed junior Olivia Carter (1:56.89).

Wisconsin will see two up swims this evening, with freshmen Phoebe Bacon in the 200 IM (#3, 1:56.88) and Emily Ecker in the 500 free (#6, 4:45.52). Nebraska also picked up the #8 seed in the 500 free, thanks to senior Autumn Haebig (4:45.80). In the 50 free, Northwestern senior Madeline Smith shaved her lifetime best from 22.45 to 22.06 to nab the #2 seed in the event.\

Penn State will have a solid showing in the 50 free C-final, returning 5 swimmers.

DAY 2 UPS/MIDS/DOWNS

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

Scoring Breakdown

SCORED PRELIMS

1. Ohio State, 342.5
2. Indiana, 195
3. Michigan, 185.5
4. Northwestern, 112
5. Wisconsin, 74
6. Penn State, 50
7. Nebraska, 46
8. Iowa, 43
9. Minnesota, 27
10. Purdue, 11

The OSU Buckeyes now has the potential to boost their lead by 157 points over the rest of the teams, projecting 460.50 points. Michigan currently holds second place with 303.50 points. Indiana (251), Northwestern (218) and Wisconsin (176) round out the top 5 teams.

Yesterday, Indiana lost 52 points after their 200 medley relay, which could have placed 4th, got disqualified. Today, they were able to pick up 195 prelims points, boosting themselves from 12th to 3rd in the current team rankings. If Indiana had not gotten their 200 medley relay disqualified (worth 52 points), the Hoosiers would be trailing Michigan by a half point after prelims.

DAY 1 + SCORED PRELIMS

1. Ohio State, 460.5
2. Michigan, 303.5
3. Indiana, 251
4. Northwestern, 218
5. Wisconsin, 176
6. Penn State, 146
7. Nebraska, 138
8. Iowa, 127
9. Minnesota, 123
10. Purdue, 79
11. Michigan State, 70
12. Illinois, 64
13. Rutgers, 30