Michigan and Ohio State All-Freshman Relay Both Break Big Ten Meet Record in 800 Free Relay

BIG TEN CONFERENCE – WOMEN

• Dates: Wednesday, February 19 – Saturday, February 22
• Location: McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, Columbus, OH
• Teams: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin
• Defending champions: Indiana (1x)
• Championship Central
• Live Results
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• Live Recaps:
  • Finals: Day 1

The Michigan had a strong start to the 2025 Big Ten Championships, winning both events and setting a new meet record in the 800 free relay.

The previous mark was also held by a Michigan squad highlighted by 4x Olympic medalist Siobhan Haughey. Sophomores Stephanie Balduccini (1:42.10) and Hannah Bellard (1:43.42) made up the front-half, followed by a pair of juniors: Malia Amuan (1:43.54) and Christey Liang (1:42.98).

The Wolverines weren’t the only quartet under the record. Runner-ups Ohio State dipped under the 2019 mark by just 0.05-seconds with a squad of all first-years (6:54.53). The top three teams were all under Indiana’s winning time from last year (6:55.45) as USC rounded out the top three.

Record Split Comparison: 

Balduccini was just 0.25-seconds off her best time to lead the Wolverines. She wasn’t the fastest lead-off split in the field, however, as 2024 Olympian Anna Peplowski blasted a new personal best to tie the Big Ten record on Indiana’s 4th-finishing relay (1:40.69).

The rest of Michigan’s relay split within about half a second of each other, as each athlete split faster than their flat start times. That’s in stark contrast to the old record, which relied on Haughey’s huge 1:40.75 split.

Liang had the most dramatic drop; her best time is 1:45.67 from the Georgia Tech Invite last November. Amuan is the newcomer to this relay, replacing Katie Crom who led-off last year.

Ohio State completely reloaded this year; their entire squad was made up of freshmen. Sienna Angove was less than half a second above her best time (1:43.92), but Erin Little (1:42.74), Mila Nikanorov (1:44.88), and Rachel Bockrath (1:42.99) overcame a close race with USC for 2nd. That bodes well for the Buckeyes as they vie for a conference title. They were just 0.5 points behind Indiana last year.

Indiana didn’t get much slower than their winning time of 6:55.45 from last year (6:55.53). Rather, the rest of the field got much faster.

Their relay performances tonight give Michigan the lead going into the rest of the meet. They finished 3rd at the 2024 edition of these championships.