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

• 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 all-but-locked up the Big Ten title on Saturday morning by getting call-backs for 15 of their 16 swims from the 4 prelims session events, including top seeds in the 200 back and 200 fly. With platform diving, where Indiana excels, and the mile, where Michigan is good but Indiana is better with 6 of the top 14 seeds, the Hoosiers 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.

Men’s 200 Back – Prelims

• Big Ten Championship Record – Eric Ress, Indiana, 1:38.89
• NCAA “A” Cut – 1:39.87
• NCAA “B” Cut – 1:46.39

1. Bob Glover, Indiana, 1:41.59
2. Brett Pinfold, Wisconsin, 1:41.75
3. Kenneth Mende, Iowa, 1:42.19
4. Thomas Trace, Ohio State, 1:42.66
5. Jack Mangan, Michigan, 1:42.75
6. Luke Papendick, Michigan, 1:42.95
7. Tristan Sanders, Michigan, 1:43.22
8. Jacob Thomas, Purdue, 1:43.24

Indiana senior Bob Glover kicked off the morning session with a 1:41.59 top qualifying time in the 200 back, just out-pacing Wisconsin’s Brett Pinfold, who was 2nd in 1:41.75. For Glover that was near his lifetime best, and for Pinfold it was his lifetime best, coming out of two programs with strong histories in this event.

Iowa’s Kenneth Mende tied the school record in the 200 back with a 1:42.19 – one of two school records for the Hawkeyes in the morning session – Jack Smith swam 43.15 in the 100 free for the other school record.

Ohio State (Thomas Trace, 4th, 1:42.66) and Michigan (Jack Mangan, 5th, 1:42.75) are also represented in the top 8. Michigan put 3 swimmers into the top 8 of this event, along with another 2 into the B final, which should surge them close to the Hoosiers after the first event on Saturday evening.

Men’s 100 Free – Prelims

• Big Ten Championship Record – Shane Ryan, Penn State, 42.08
• NCAA “A” Cut – 42.25
• NCAA “B” Cut – 44.29

1. Cannon Clifton, Wisconsin, 42.00
2. Shane Ryan, Penn State, 42.14
3. Bowen Becker, Minnesota, 42.24 (TIE)
4. Blake Pieroni, Indiana, 42.24
5. Josh Fleagle, Ohio State, 42.48
6. Anze Tavcar, Indiana, 42.72
7. Ali Khlafalla, Indiana, 42.80
8. Paul Powers, Michigan, 42.84

Any momentum that Michigan picked up in the 200 back, they gave right back to Indiana in the 100 free. The Hoosiers put 3 swimmers into the A-final, while Michigan has just one: Paul Powers, the 8th qualifier in 42.84. Powers did win the 50 in a new conference record earlier in the meet, so he should climb the ranks in finals.

Indiana actually had 5 of the top 10 qualifiers in the 100 free.

Wisconsin’s Cannon Clifton was the fastest in the heats with a 42.00, which is an NCAA Automatic Qualifying Time and breaks the Big Ten Championship Record. That record was previously held by Shane Ryan, who qualified 2nd on Saturday with a 42.14. Olympian Blake Pieroni touched in 42.24, matched by Minnesota’s Bowen Becker.

Men’s 200 Breast – Prelims

• 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, 1:53.76
2. Christopher Klein, Michigan, 1:53.93
3. Jacob Montague, Michigan, 1:55.00
4. Conner McHugh, Minnesota, 1:55.04
5. Jack Barone, Ohio State, 1:55.46
6. John Bushman, Minnesota, 1:55.51
7. Jakub Maly, Minnesota, 1:55.66
8. Charles Swanson, Michigan, 1:55.80

Purdue is aiming for its third-straight title in this event thanks to Marat Amaltdinov‘s prelims swim of 1:53.76. He’ll have to remain patient in finals, though, as Michigan’s Chris Klein opened up with a fast 25.39 split en route to a 2nd qualifying 1:53.93.

Nobody else is really within striking distance after prelims, though Minnesota’s Conner McHugh didn’t swim his season best in prelims (1:55.04) and could be saved up for finals.

Michigan had 3 swimmers in the A-Final, and Minnesota had 4. The Gophers aren’t in contention for the overall team title, but are holding on to about a 50 point lead over Purdue and Wisconsin – both of whom have strong final days ahead of them.

Men’s 200 Fly – Prelims

• Big Ten Championship Record – Dylan Bosch, Michigan, 1:40.37
• NCAA “A” Cut – 1:41.86
• NCAA “B” Cut – 1:47.99

1. Vinicius Lanza, Indiana, 1:42.22
2. Miles Smachlo, Michigan, 1:42.86
3. Noah Lense, Ohio State, 1:43.14
4. Max Irwin, Indiana, 1:43.53
5. Evan White, Michigan, 1:43.71
6. Henrique Painhas, Ohio State, 1:44.85
7. Michael Salazar, Ohio State, 1:45.60
8. Harrison Tran, Wisconsin, 1:45.70

Indiana’s Vinicius Lanza, already the Big Ten Champion in the 200 IM and the runner-up in the 100 fly, qualified 1st into the final of the 200 fly on Saturday. His 1:42.22 bested a pair of freshmen, Michigan’s Miles Smachlo (1:42.86) and Ohio State’s Noah Lense (1:43.14), for the middle lane in finals.

Lanza had a 5 second margin over anybody else in the field in-season this year, and so is the heavy favorite in finals – in spite of a big prelims drop for Smachlo. In spite of that result, though, Michigan took another lump in this 200 fly by only putting 2 into the final (Evan White is the other, qualifying 5th in 1:43.71). They entered the meet with 3 of the top 6 seeds, but senior Julian Ballestas slid all the way to 18th in prelims.