Race Video: Watch Pieroni Lead Off Indiana With 1:31.8 200 Free

2017 MEN’S B1G SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• 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)
• Live Results
• Streaming (BTN subscription required)
• Championship Central: here

The Indiana men jumped out to an early lead at the 2017 B1G Swimming & Diving Championships, winning both the 200 medley and 800 free relays with relative ease.  The latter relay was highlighted by Blake Pieroni‘s leadoff leg, a 1:31.83 that is tied for 10th-fastest ever in the event.

You can watch both race videos below, courtesy of the Big Ten Network’s YouTube channel.

MEN’S 800 FREE RELAY

• NCAA ‘A’ cut: 6:20.67
• NCAA ‘B’ cut: 6:24.50
• B1G Meet Record: Michigan, 2014, 6:09.85

1. Indiana (Blake Pieroni, Marwan El Kamash, Anze Tavcar, Mohamed Samy): 6:11.98
2. Wisconsin (Cannon Clifton, Ryan Stack, Matthew Hutchins, Brett Pinfold): 6:13.78
3. Michigan (Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Felix Auboeck, Tristan Sanders, Jack Mangan): 6:14.00

Junior Blake Pieroni scorched a 1:31.83 lead off, the fastest 200 time in the NCAA so far this year, and Indiana never looked back.  Fellow Hoosiers Marwan el Kamash (1:33.41), Anze Tavcar (1:33.54), and Mohamed Samy (1:33.20) followed Pieroni and set another new school record en route to an almost-two second victory.

Wisconsin and Michigan waged a battle for second place.  Wisconsin’s Cannon Clifton opened it up by out splitting Mokhtar Al-Yamani, 1:33.32 to 1:34.78.  The Wolverines battled back with a 1:31.74 split by Felix Auboeck against Ryan Stack’s 1:34.90.  Tristan Sanders held the lead against Matthew Hutchins, 1:34.19 to 1:33.75, and it came down to the final leg.  Wisconsin’s Brett Pinfold rocked yet another 1:31 split, outracing Jack Mangan 1:31.81 to 1:33.29, and giving Wisconsin a 2nd place finish by a 0.22 margin, 6:13.78 to 6:14.00.

MEN’S 200 MEDLEY RELAY

• NCAA ‘A’ cut: 1:25.05
• NCAA ‘B’ cut: 1:25.86
• B1G Meet Record: Michigan, 2013, 1:23.25

1. Indiana (Bob Glover, Ian Finnerty, Vini Lanza, Ali Khalafalla): 1:23.61
2. Michigan (Tristan Sanders, Chris Klein, Vini Tafuto, Paul Powers): 1:24.03
3. Ohio State (Matt McHugh, Jack Barone, Noah Lense, Mossimo Chavez): 1:24.15

The Hoosiers kicked off the meet in resounding fashion, soundly defeating defending champion Michigan and coming within  few tenths of the meet record in the 200 medley relay.  The squad of Bob Glover (21.19), Ian Finnerty (23.62), Vini Lanza (20.37), and Ali Khalafalla (18.43) finished in 1:23.61, a new school record.  The Wolverines finished 2nd, as Tristan Sanders led things off in 21.67, then Chris Klein closed the gap with a 23.23, while Vini Tafuto (20.54) and Paul Powers (18.59) closed things out for an overall time of 1:24.03.  That’s actually 0.09s faster than Michigan’s winning time from last year.  The OSU men almost kept pace with Michigan.  Matt McHugh led things off in 21.20, then Jack Barone (23.40), Noah Lense (20.68), and Mossimo Chavez (18.87) kept things close, finishing 3rd in 1:24.15.