2018 Men’s B1G Ten Championships: Day 4 Finals Live Recap

2018 MEN’S B1G CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 21st – Saturday, February 24th
• Prelims 11am | Finals 6:30pm
• University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (Central Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Indiana (results)
• Championship Central
• Fan Guide
• Live Video
• Live Results
• NCAA Qualifying
• Day 4 Finals Heat Sheet

Buckle up, because it’s gonna be a wild ride.

Indiana and Michigan are set to go toe-to-toe for the Men’s B1G Ten title tonight, with Indiana holding the slight lead by 10 and a half points.

Indiana has three of the four top seeds from this morning’s preliminaries in Mohamed Samy (200 back), Blake Pieroni (100 free) and Vini Lanza (200 fly), but Michigan will gain some major points in the 1650, where Felix Auboeck should run away with the title. Another Wolverine, William Roberts, knocked nearly 20 seconds off his seed to top the early heats in 15:02.67.

Minnesota’s Conner McHugh leads the 200 breast field, popping off the fastest time in the nation this morning at 1:51.66. Tonight he’ll gun for Cody Miller‘s meet record of 1:51.03 from 2013.

Indiana didn’t put as many men into the platform A-final as they did in the other diving events, so they’ll really need to step up in the pool to try and hold off Michigan. Of course, there’s a good chance it all comes down to the 400 free relay.

1650 FREE TIMED FINAL

• B1G Meet Record: 14:29.25, Felix Auboeck (MICH), 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 14:40.75
• 2017 Invite Time: 14:56.84

1. Felix Auboeck, MICH, 14:34.10
2. Ricardo Vargas, MICH, 14:40.30
3. PJ Ransford, MICH, 14:49.19

As anticipated, it was a 1-2-3 finish for Michigan in the 1650, led by Felix Auboeck who defends his title in 14:34.10. He and teammate Ricardo Vargas (14:40.30) both got under the ‘A’ standard of 14:40.75.

PJ Ransford took 3rd for the Wolverines, with Wisconsin’s Victor Goicoechea (14:52.13) 4th and Ohio State’s Brayden Seal (14:56.16) 5th.

Michigan opens up a 39.5 point advantage on Indiana heading into the rest of the events.

200 BACK FINAL

• B1G Meet Record: 1:38.89, Eric Ress (IU), 2014
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:39.66
• 2017 Invite Time: 1:41.74

1. Mohamed Samy, IU, 1:39.68
2. Gabriel Fantoni, IU, 1:40.85
3. Kenneth Mende, IOWA, 1:42.12

After a pair of runner-up finishes last night, Indiana’s Mohamed Samy picked up the win in the 200 back, pulling away from teammate Gabriel Fantoni on the back half. Samy clocked 1:39.68, missing the ‘A’ cut by .02, while Fantoni took silver in 1:40.85.

Iowa’s Kenneth Mende moved up two spots on the last 50 to take 3rd in 1:42.12, just ahead of Michigan’s Tristan Sanders (1:42.16) and Purdue’s Joseph Young (1:42.56). Senior Thomas Trace had a nice swim for Ohio State in the B-final, clocking 1:42.54.

Indiana retakes the points lead, up 1264.5-1260 over Michigan.

100 FREE FINAL

• B1G Meet Record: 41.44, Blake Pieroni (IU), 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 42.11
• 2017 Invite Time: 42.76

1. Blake Pieroni, IU, 41.43
2. Bowen Becker, MINN, 41.61
3. Paul Powers, MICH, 42.34

Blake Pieroni and Bowen Becker duelled it out in the 100 free, with Pieroni coming out on top in a time of 41.43, breaking his meet record from last year by .01. Becker lowered his Minnesota school record from prelims once again, clocking 41.61.

In the scramble for 3rd, Paul Powers (42.34) of Michigan edged out Indiana’s Bruno Blaskovic (42.51) and Ohio State’s Matthew Abeysinghe (42.58) who were 4th and 5th.

Indiana’s point lead extends to 37. Meanwhile, Wisconsin and Purdue are separated by just 1 point in the race for 4th.

200 BREAST FINAL

• B1G Meet Record: 1:51.03, Cody Miller (IU), 2013
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:52.94
• 2017 Invite Time: 1:54.54

1. Ian Finnerty, IU, 1:50.78
2. Conner McHugh, MINN, 1:51.41
3. Levi Brock, IU, 1:52.78

Ian Finnerty and Conner McHugh went to battle in the 200 breast, with Finnerty ultimately coming out on top, 1:50.78 to 1:51.41. Tied with 50 to go, Finnerty managed to pull away with a final leg of 29.18 to McHugh’s 29.81.

Finnerty breaks Cody Miller‘s meet, school and Big Ten records, while taking over the top spot in the country. He also moves into 6th all-time in the event, and earns his first 200 breast B1G title. McHugh, who posted a Minnesota school record of 1:51.66 this morning, lowers that again and now sits #2 in the NCAA.

Levi Brock of Indiana continued his amazing meet as a senior, picking up another PB for 3rd in 1:52.78. The next four finishers were from Michigan, led by Jacob Montague in 1:53.54. Charlie Swanson (1:53.70), Tommy Cope (1:53.76) and Jeremy Babinet (1:54.27) took spots 5 through 7.

Despite the 1-3 finish, Indiana’s lead over Michigan shrinks to 24 points with Michigan piling four men into the A-final.

200 FLY FINAL

• B1G Meet Record: 1:40.37, Dylan Bosch (MICH), 2014
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:41.44
• 2017 Invite Time: 1:43.09

1. Vini Lanza, IU, 1:39.95
2. Noah Lense, OSU, 1:40.83
3. Evan White, MICH, 1:42.79

Indiana’s Vini Lanza finished off his perfect individual performance this meet, winning his third event in the 200 fly in a personal best time of 1:39.95. Lanza pulled away from OSU’s Noah Lense on the final 50 to book the win, lowering Dylan Bosch‘s meet record of 1:40.37, the Indiana school record, and taking over the top spot in the NCAA.

Lense led the race through 150, and even though he faded, had an impressive down to 1:40.83 to take 2nd and get under the ‘A’ cut of 1:41.44. Evan White of Michigan held off Lense’s teammate Henrique Painhas for 3rd, 1:42.79 to 1:43.07. Miles Smachlo was 1:43.64 to take 5th for the Wolverines.

PLATFORM DIVING FINAL

1. Brandon Loschiavo, PUR, 523.65
2. Xi Yang, MINN, 518.85
3. Andrew Capabianco, 468.65

Purdue’s Brandon Loschiavo takes down the platform title for Purdue with a score of 523.65, with Minnesota’s Xi Yang second with 518.85. Andrew Capabianco gets some big points for Indiana in 3rd, with Michigan’s top finish Ross Todd (452.75) in 5th.

Barring a relay DQ, it looks as though Indiana will take down the B1G Ten title.

400 FREE RELAY TIMED FINAL

• 2:48.29, Indiana, 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 2:52.10

1. Indiana, 2:48.81
2. Ohio State, 2:50.12
3. Michigan, 2:50.45

The Indiana men seal the deal on their Big Ten title, winning the 400 free relay in a time of 2:48.81. Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan were right together heading into the final leg, but Blake Pieroni‘s 41.19 anchor got the job done for the Hoosiers. He was joined by Mohamed Samy (42.15), Bruno Blaskovic (42.91) and Vini Lanza (42.56).

Ohio State ended up taking 2nd in 2:50.12, with Matthew Abeysinghe (42.02) and Andrew Loy (42.22) posting their top splits. Michigan settled for 3rd, with notable splits from Paul Powers (lead-off, 42.41) and James Jones (42.14). Iowa took 4th in 2:51.58, and Minnesota was 5th in 2:52.50. Bowen Becker led off for the Gophers in 41.97, a third sub-42 swim for him today.

FINAL SCORES

1. Indiana, 1658
2. Michigan, 1617.5
3. Ohio State, 1300.5
4. Purdue, 735.5
5. Minnesota, 712.5
6. Wisconsin, 696.5
7. Iowa, 614.5
8. Penn State, 389.5
9. Northwestern, 260
10. Michigan State, 247.5

A very strong final day secured the win for Indiana, as they end up topping Michigan by 40.5 points. That gives the Hoosiers their second consecutive title. Ohio State had a great meet to take 3rd, and Purdue edged out Minnesota for 5th by 23.