2024 Women’s Big Ten Championships: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2024 WOMEN’S BIG TEN SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Feb. 21-24, 2024
• Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center
  • West Lafayette, Indiana
• Defending champions:
  • Women: Ohio State (4x)
• SCY (25 yards)
• Preview: Fan guide
• Championship central
• Schedule
• Live stream (B1G+)
• Live results
• Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

Thursday Finals Heat Sheet | Day 2 Up/Mid/Down Report

Thanks in part to the emergence of Indiana junior Anna Peplowski in the 500 free, the Hoosiers are poised to extend their two-point lead over four-time defending champion Ohio State on the second night of the Women’s Big Ten Championships.

Peplowski led the 500 free prelims this morning with a personal-best 4:37.63, more than two seconds ahead of Wisconsin junior Abby Carlson (4:39.98), the defending champion. Wisconsin senior Phoebe Bacon enters the 200 IM as the top seed (1:55.28) with defending champion Josie Panitz of Ohio State not far behind (1:56.34).

Indiana sophomore Kristina Paegle will attempt to spoil the Ohio State party in the 50 free as the No. 3 seed (21.99). She has two Buckeyes in front of her — Kit Kat Zenick (21.86) and Teresa Ivan (21.75) — and another right behind her in Amy Fulmer (22.01).

Thursday’s session will conclude with the 1-meter diving and 400 medley relay finals.

Team Scores After Day 1:

1. Indiana – 118
2. Ohio State – 116
3. Michigan – 112
4. Wisconsin – 106
5. Northwestern – 100
6. Minnesota – 96
7. Nebraska – 88
8. Purdue – 86
9. Illinois – 78
10. Iowa – 72
11. Rutgers – 64
12. Penn State – 34

500 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• NCAA record: 4:24.06, Katie Ledecky – 2017
• Meet record: 4:34.40, G Ryan – 2017
• Pool record: 4:34.14, Allison Schmitt – 2010
• NCAA ‘A’ cut: 4:37.89
• 2023 NCAA invite time: 4:41.09

Top 8:

1. Katie Crom (Michigan) – 4:37.24
2. Anna Peplowski (Indiana) – 4:37.47
3. Ayla Spitz (Northwestern) – 4:40.28
4. Abby Carlson (Wisconsin) – 4:41.39
5. Ching Hwee Gan (Indiana) – 4:41.71
6. Elyse Heiser (Indiana) – 4:41.94
7. Blair Stoneburg (Wisconsin) – 4:42.52
8. Ella Ristic (Indiana) – 4:42.93

Michigan sophomore Katie Crom dropped almost two seconds in the 500 free to claim the conference crown in 4:37.24 ahead of top-seeded Indiana junior Anna Peplowski (4:37.47).

Crom, the defending Big Ten champion in the 200 butterfly, added the 500 free title to her growing list of accolades after placing 3rd last year in a previous-best time of 4:39.05. Her best time this season before this morning (4:40.77 in prelims) was 4:41.21. Now she ranks 7th nationally this season in the event, putting her in the A-final conversation at NCAAs next month.

Peplowski was the only other swimmer under 4:40 in the final, shaving .16 seconds off her lifetime best from prelims (4:37.63) with a runner-up finish in 4:37.47.

Northwestern fifth-year Ayla Spitz, a transfer from Cal, tallied a season-best 4:40.28 to pull closer to her best time (4:38.05) from the 2021 Pac-12 Championships. Defending champion Abby Carlson of Wisconsin was more than a second slower in the final (4:41.39) than her 4:39.98 from prelims.

Even though Peplowski didn’t bring home the victory for the Hoosiers, they still scored big in this event thanks to Indiana junior Ching Hwee Gan (4:41.71), junior Elyse Heiser (4:41.94), and senior Ella Ristic (4:43.09).

200 IM – FINAL

• NCAA record: 1:48.37, Kate Douglass – 2023
• Meet record: 1:51.66, Beata Nelson, 2020
• Pool record: 1:53.56, Julia Smit – 2010
• NCAA ‘A’ cut: 1:53.66
• 2023 NCAA invite time: 1:56.90

Top 8:

1. Phoebe Bacon (Wisconsin) – 1:54.29
2. Josie Panitz (Ohio State) – 1:55.31
3. Megan Van Berkom (Minnesota) – 1:55.88
4. Paige Hall (Ohio State) – 1:56.23
5. Stephanie Balduccini (Michigan) – 1:56.60
6. Callahan Dunn (Wisconsin) – 1:57.29
7. Devon Kitchel (Michigan) – 1:57.37
8. Claire Donan (Michigan) – 1:58.23

At long last, Wisconsin senior Phoebe Bacon is the Big Ten champion in the 200 IM.

After placing 2nd as a freshman, 3rd as a sophomore, and 2nd last year behind Ohio State’s Josie Panitz, Bacon got redemption this year with a winning time of 1:54.29 — more than a second ahead of Panitz (1:55.31). Bacon reached the wall within a second of her personal-best 1:53.56 from NCAAs last year, where she placed 5th.

Panitz settled for a runner-up finish at her final Big Tens, just about half a second ahead of Minnesota senior Megan Van Berkom (1:55.88). Van Berkom owns a best time of 1:54.92 from the 2022 Big Ten Championships, where she beat 2nd ahead of Bacon but behind Ohio State’s Kristen Romano.

Ohio State senior Paige Hall took 4th place in 1:56.23, knocking more than half a second off her previous-best time from prelims this morning (1:56.85). Michigan freshman Stephanie Balduccini also set a lifetime best en route to her 5th-place finish in 1:56.60. The Brazilian native knocked a few tenths off her previous-best 1:56.94 from November.

Led by Balduccini, sophomore Devon Kitchel (1:57.37), and senior Claire Donan (1:58.23), the Wolverines totaled 87 points in this event alone.

50 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• NCAA record: 20.57, Gretchen Walsh – 2024
• Meet record: 21.28, Liz Li – 2018
• Pool record: 21.48, Liz Li – 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ cut: 21.63
• 2023 NCAA invite time: 22.15

Top 8:

1. Teresa Ivan (Ohio State) – 21.74
2. Amy Fulmer (Ohio State) – 21.79
3. Kit Kat Zenick (Ohio State) – 21.81
4. Brady Kendall (Michigan) – 21.84
5. Kristin Paegle (Indiana) – 21.87
6. Lindsay Flynn (Michigan) – 21.94
7. Claire Newman (Michigan) – 22.26
8. Hailey Tierney (Wisconsin) – 22.31

For the second year in a row, Ohio State has swept the 50 free podium at Big Tens — but this time around, the order is flipped.

Buckeyes junior Teresa Ivan upgraded from 3rd place to 1st with her winning time of 21.74, a few tenths shy of her personal-best 21.46 from NCAAs last year, where she placed 4th. The Slovakian sprinter is fresh off an 18th-place finish in the 50-meter free at last week’s World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Ohio State fifth-year Amy Fulmer (21.79) out-touched senior teammate and defending champion Kit Kat Zenick (21.81) by just .02 seconds for 2nd place. Michigan sophomore Brady Kendall was also close behind with a 21.84 — her first time under 22 seconds — as the top four finishers were separated by just a tenth of a second.

After qualifying 3rd in prelims this morning (21.99), Indiana sophomore Kristina Paegle placed 5th in front of a pair of Wolverines: junior Lindsay Flynn (21.94) and Claire Newman (22.26). Flynn narrowly missed her personal-best 21.90 from last year’s Big Ten Championships.

WOMEN’S 1M DIVING – FINAL

• Meet record: 376.10, Sarah Bacon – 2022
• Pool record: 362.65, Yu (Shelly) Zhou – 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ qualifying score: 265

Top 8:

1. Lena Hentschel (Ohio State) – 307.4
2. Ella Roselli (Indiana) – 305.15
3. Elna Widerstrom (Minnesota) – 304.9
4. Anne Fowler (Indiana) – 302.55
5. Sophia McAfee (Purdue) – 296.05
6. Lily Witte (Indiana) – 292.7
7. Daryn Wright (Purdue) – 290.4
8. Vivi Del Angel (Minnesota) – 287.45

There’s a youth movement happening in Big Ten diving as the entire podium was made up of underclassmen.

Ohio State sophomore Lena Hentschel led the way with a winning score of 307.4 to capture her first conference crown. Last year, she earned a runner-up finish on the 3-meter.

Indiana freshman Ella Roselli was just a couple points behind Hentschel with a runner-up finish (305.15). Fellow freshman Elna Widerstrom of Minnesota and Indiana senior Anne Fowler (302.55) — the defending champion — were both within five points of the winner in a tight showdown.

400 MEDLEY RELAY — FINAL

• NCAA record: 3:21.80, Virginia (2023)
• Meet record: 3:26.35, Ohio State (2022)
• Pool record: 3:25.71 (Beata Nelson/Lilly King/Maggie MacNeil/Siobhan Haughey, 2018)
• NCAA ‘A’ cut: 3:31.38
• 2023 NCAA invite time: 3:32.90

Top 8:

1. Ohio State – 3:28.87
2. Wisconsin – 3:30.25
3. Michigan – 3:32.17
4. Minnesota – 3:34.33
5. Rutgers – 3:36.48
6. Penn State – 3:37.49
7. Nebraska – 3:37.60
8. Purdue – 3:39.44

The session came to a wild and chaotic ending with the 400 medley relay as three teams — including the initial winner, Indiana (3:28.32) — were disqualified.

The Buckeyes’ quartet of Nyah Funderburke (52.28 backstroke), fifth-year Hannah Bach (58.50 breaststroke), fifth-year Morgan Kraus (51.55 butterfly) and fifth-year Amy Fulmer (46.54 freestyle) brought home the victory in 3:28.87, more than a second ahead of Wisconsin (3:30.25).

Mackenzie Mconagha (52.51 back), Hazal Ozkan (59.49 breast), Phoebe Bacon (50.24 fly), and Hailey Tierney (48.01 free) helped the Badgers sneak under the NCAA ‘A’ cut of 3:31.38.

The Hoosiers were disqualified for an early takeoff by junior Anna Peplowski (52.79 butterfly split), leaving them without an additional 64 points that would have offered a comfortable lead after Day 2. Instead, they’re sitting in 3rd place (426 points) behind Michigan (433) and Ohio State (444).

Northwestern (3:33.72) and Illinois (3:39.69) were also disqualified for early takeoffs by Margaret Papanicholas (1:00.16 breast) and Lillian Olson (49.59 free), respectively. If they had not been disqualified, the Illini’s 400 medley relay would have set a new program record.

Scores After Day 2

1. Ohio State – 444
2. Michigan – 433
3. Indiana – 426
4. Wisconsin – 381.5
5. Minnesota – 286.5
6. Purdue – 199
7. Nebraska – 170
8. Penn State – 153
9. Iowa – 152
10. Northwestern – 148
11. Rutgers – 123
12. Illinois – 86