Pieroni Tops Powers in Sprints in Dual Meet vs. Michigan

Indiana vs. Michigan

• Results
• Hosted by Michigan
• Saturday, January 13th
• 25 Yards
• Dual Meet Format

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

• MEN: Indiana 170.5, Michigan 129.5
• WOMEN: Michigan 180, Indiana 120

Blake Pieroni was a major player in Indiana’s victory over Michigan on Saturday. The Hoosiers traveled to Ann Arbor, with the Indiana men and Michigan women recording wins. Pieroni collected 3 individual wins, first dominating the 200 free by 2 seconds in 1:33.88. He returned to sweep the sprints, clipping Michigan’s Paul Powers 19.60 to 19.82 in the 50 free. In the 100 free shortly afterwards, Pieroni was the only swimmer to break 44 seconds, touching over a second and a half ahead of the field in a quick 42.94.

The Michigan women were without one of their star swimmers, Siobhan Haughey, but still put on a dominant performance. Gabby Deloof and Clara Smiddy both picked up 2 individual wins. Deloof earned her wins in the 100 (49.17) and 200 (1:46.21) freestyles. Smiddy, on the other hand, outpaced Indiana All-American Kennedy Goss (1:56.67) through the back half of the 200 back to win in 1:55.20. She also dominated the 200 IM in 1:59.57 over Indiana breaststroke star Lilly King (2:02.37).

World Champion King was the winner of both breaststrokes. She was the only woman to break 1:00 in the 100 breast, winning in 59.55 over former teammate Miranda Tucker (1:01.77), who is in her first season competing for the Wolverines after transferring from Indiana. King returned to win the 200 breast by over 3 seconds in 2:10.95.

Check out some highlights of the meet in the video below, courtesy of Michigan’s Twitter account:

Is it Saturday yet? Here are some sights and sounds from this past weekend's dual split vs. Indiana, including reaction from Coaches Bottom and Hilde, PJ, Gabby and Rose. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/kvmoREHP4n

— Michigan Swimming & Diving (@umichswimdive) January 15, 2018

PRESS RELEASE – INDIANA:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 4/10 Indiana University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams earned a split in a dual meet against No. 8/4 Michigan on Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The No. 4 Hoosier men (7-0) recorded the team’s 20^th-straight dual meet victory, taking down No. 8 Michigan, 170.5-129.5. The win for the IU men’s team at Michigan is the first since the 1980-81 season. The No. 10 Indiana women (3-4) fell to the No. 4-ranked Wolverines women’s squad, 180-120.

Combined, the Hoosiers won 16 individual events on the day, including a sweep of the diving events. Indiana also touched the wall first in three of the four relays against the Wolverines.

IU’s Blake Pieroni led the way for the Hoosier men, winning three individual events. The senior won the 50 freestyle with a season-best time of 19.60, the 100 free in 42.94 and the 200 free in a mark of 1:33.88. All three times were NCAA B cuts.

Vini Lanza had a nice showing for IU, winning the 200 butterfly (1:43.85) and the 200 IM (1:46.19) with NCAA B cut marks.

For the Hoosier women, Lilly King was dominant in the breaststroke events, sweeping the 100 and 200 with NCAA B cut times. The junior won the 100 in a time of 59.55 and the 200 in 2:10.95.

Five other Hoosier swimmers recorded individual wins on the day, all with NCAA B cut times. Mohamed Samy won the 200 backstroke in a time of 1:44.42, while Ian Finnerty touched first in the 100 breaststroke in 52.83. Newcomer Gabriel Fantoniwon the 100 backstroke for IU with a time of 47.63.

On the women’s side, Ali Rockett won the 100 backstroke in a time of 53.16, while Christine Jensen took first in the 100 butterfly in 53.16.

In the diving well, the Hoosiers showcased their depth, sweeping all four events with three different winners each notching NCAA Zones qualifying scores. James Connor won the men’s 1-meter dive with a season-best total of 414.65, while Michael Hixon won the 3-meter with a score of 455.50.

For the IU women, Jessica Parratto swept both diving events. The redshirt junior won the 1-meter with a score of 328.40 and the 3-meter with a total of 334.50.

For the Hoosier women in the 200 medley relay, the team of Ali Rockett, Lilly King, Christine Jensen and Grace Hasketttouched first with a time of 1:37.69. The IU men’s team also earned a victory, as the quartet of Gabriel Fantoni, Ian Finnerty, Vini Lanza and Ali Khalafalla touched in a time of 1:26.71.

The Indiana men’s team finished the meet with an exclamation point, as the 400 freestyle relay team of Mohamed Samy, Oliver Patrouch, Ali Khalafalla and Blake Pieroni touched the wall first in a time of 2:54.83.

The No. 4/10 Indiana swimming and diving teams will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 20 when the Hoosiers host Big Ten and in-state rival Purdue for Senior Day at the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, Ind.

The meet is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. ET and will be streamed live on BTN Plus. Live stats for the meet can be found at IUHoosiers.com.

Be sure to keep up with all the latest news on the Indiana men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams on social media – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

PRESS RELEASE – MICHIGAN WOMEN:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Behind a dominating performance in the freestyle, the No. 4-ranked University of Michigan women’s swimming and diving team opened the second half of the season with a 180-120 win over No. 10 Indiana in front of a near-capacity crowd on Saturday (Jan. 13) at Canham Natatorium.

“I’m so impressed with the way this team competed today,” said head coach Mike Bottom. “We had to make some changes due to Siobhán (Haughey) not swimming today, but our captains led us and the whole team really responded to that. They filled in where we needed to. Our fight was outstanding.”

The Wolverines built their edge in the five freestyle events, going 1-2-3 in both the sprint (50, 100) and distance (500, 1,000) varieties. Four different swimmers won: senior Gabby DeLoof in both the 100-yard freestyle (49.17) and 200-yard freestyle (1:46.21), junior Yirong Bi in the 500-yard freestyle (4:44.53), freshman Sierra Schmidt in the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:50.11) and junior Catie DeLoof in the 50-yard freestyle (22.77). Senior G Ryan was third in both distance events, while the team also got a boost from freshman Daria Pyshnenko in the sprints, who was runner-up to Catie DeLoof in the 50-yard freestyle. They also went 1-2 in the 400-yard freestyle relay to end the meet, with Gabby DeLoof, Catie DeLoof, Bi and sophomore Vanessa Krause clocking in at 3:19.36.

Senior Clara Smiddy posted a pair of victories, both against defending Big Ten champions. She toppled Lilly King in the 200-yard IM by nearly three seconds (1:59.57) and out-touched Kennedy Goss in the 200-yard backstroke (1:55.20). Krause, the only Indiana native on the roster, was the other individual event winner, who used a big back half to win the 200-yard butterfly (1:58.48).

Michigan showcased its depth in the breaststroke. Though King, an Olympic gold medalist, won both the 100- and 200-yard events, the Wolverines went 2-3-4 behind her with senior Emily Kopas, sophomore Miranda Tucker — a former Hoosier — and junior Jamie Yeung.

Freshman diver Nikki Canale pushed Indiana Olympian Jessica Parratto in the three-meter diving event, missing the win by fewer than two points (332.70). She also took second on one-meter (284.95).

The Wolverines return to action next Saturday (Jan. 20), facing Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Rutgers in a quad meet in Columbus, Ohio. The meet begins at noon.

PRESS RELEASE – MICHIGAN MEN:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan men’s swimming and diving team went toe-to-toe with the defending Big Ten champions but came up a little short, falling 170.5-129.5 to No. 4 Indiana on Saturday (Jan. 13) in front of an energetic, near-capacity crowd at Canham Natatorium.

“This meet was all about opportunity,” said head coach Mike Bottom. “Indiana is a great team, and I thought we had a lot of great in-season performances against them today. For us, it’s about getting better. That’s what we came into this meet wanting to do and it’s what we’ll take away from it. We’ll review the video and work on different aspects of our training from our turns to our technique.”

The Wolverines battled the Hoosiers, the highest-ranked team in the Big Ten, in every event, showcasing their depth ahead of next month’s Big Ten Championships. PJ Ransford took control in the distance events, winning the 500-yard freestyle (4:23.03) ahead of teammates Ricardo Vargasand Felix Auböck. Ransford also won the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:01.88), with Vargas again coming in second.

Senior Evan White got the team fired up with a come-from-behind win in the 100-yard butterfly, chasing down Indiana’s Vini Lanza to win by just over a tenth-of-a-second (46.47). Tommy Copecontinued his strong season, combining with classmate Jacob Montague on a 1-2 finish in the 200-yard breaststroke (1:56.77/1:57.82).

Michigan went 2-3-4 in the 100-yard breaststroke (Montague, Cope, Charlie Swanson) and 2-3 in both the 200-yard butterfly (White, Miles Smachlo) and 100-yard freestyle (James Jones, Luiz Gustavo Borges). Other runner-up finishes included White in the 200-yard IM, Paul Powers in the 50-yard freestyle and Tristan Sanders in the 200-yard backstroke.

In the diving well, Jake Herremans had an amazing performance on one-meter, scoring 375.30 for third-place, a new personal best by 25 points. Chris Canning (324.55) and Steven Anderson (304.05) also put up great scores.

The Wolverines return to action next Saturday (Jan. 20), facing Ohio State and Virginia Tech in a tri-meet in Columbus, Ohio. The meet begins at noon.