The Indiana Hoosiers have cashed in big after their televised dual meet against the Auburn Tigers on Friday, earning five of the six Big Ten awards handed out for the weekend.
That included defending NCAA Champion in the 200 back Brooklynn Snodgrass, who earned the Swimmer of the Week honor after winning the 200 backstroke in a very quick early-season 1:53.97. She emerged from the weekend with the fastest time in the nation over the American Record holder Liz Pelton, as well as a two-second margin for fastest time in the Big Ten.
Freshman of the Week went to Kennedy Goss, another Canadian, for winning the 200 free (beating Snodgrass) against Auburn. She posted a 1:48.75 in that race.
On the men’s side, all three awards went to Hoosiers, and all three gave an indication of where the program is headed. Anze Tavcar, just a sophomore, took Swimmer of the Week after sweeping the 50 (20.16) and 100 (44.09) yard freestyles against Auburn, and leading Indiana to a win in the 400 free relay (2:58.36) over the Tigers’ vaunted sprint group.
If he’s young, his fellow award winners are even younger. Freshman diver James Connor, an Australian, was named Diver of the Week when he won the 1-meter and the 3-meter events against Auburn; and another sprinter Ali Khalafalla won Freshman of the Week thanks to an anchor spot on both the 200 medley and 400 free relays. Individually, he was 3rd in the 50 free.
Not to be overlooked is the diver who broke the Hoosier run at the weekly honors: Nebraska’s Anna Filipcic. She’s a Nebraska native and is doing big things for the home-state team, having earned both of the Big Ten Diver of the Week honors so far this season. She won the 1-meter and 3-meter events over Nebraska-Omaha. Those both included NCAA Zone Diving qualifying scores and a personal best on the 1-meter.
Full honors, and a rundown of this year’s winners, are below.
Men’s Winners
Swimmer of the Week
Anze Tavcar, Indiana
So. – Celje, Slovenia – Gimnazija Moste
· Claimed three first-place finishes in the Hoosiers’ 149-91 dual meet win over Auburn
· Finished first in the 50 freestyle (20.16), 100 freestyle (44.09) and 400 free relay (2:58.36)
· Recorded two NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the 50 free and 100 free
· Earns his first Swimmer of the Week award
· Last Indiana Swimmer of the Week: Eric Ress (Feb. 11, 2014)
Diver of the Week
James Connor, Indiana
Fr. – Melbourne, Australia – Ormiston College
· Placed first in the one-meter (377.33) and three-meter (415.58) diving events in Indiana’s 149-91 dual meet win over Auburn
· Recorded NCAA Zone Diving qualifying marks in both events
· Earns his first Diver of the Week honor
· Last Indiana Diver of the Week: Darian Schmidt (Feb. 11, 2014)
Freshman of the Week
Ali Khalafalla, Indiana
Fr. – Cairo, Egypt – Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy
· Earned two first-place finishes and one third place tally in the Hoosiers’ dual meet win over Auburn
· Anchored both the first-place 200 medley relay (1:28.78) and 400 free relay (2:58.36), and placed third in the 50 free (20.67)
· Earns his first Freshman of the Week honor
· Last Indiana Freshman of the Week: Anze Tavcar (Jan. 21, 2014)
2014-15 Big Ten Men’s Swimmer/Diver of the Week
Oct. 7
S: Richard Funk, Sr., MICH
D: Manny Pollard, Jr., MINN
F: Aaron Whitaker, Fr., MICH
Oct. 14
S: Anze Tavcar, So., IND
D: James Connor, Fr., IND
F: Ali Khalafalla, Fr., IND
Women’s Winners
Swimmer of the Week
Brooklynn Snodgrass, Indiana
Jr. – Calgary, Alberta – National Sports School
· Claimed one first-place finish and two second-place tallies in the Hoosiers’ 126-113 dual meet loss to Auburn
· Finished first in the 200 back (1:53.97) and second in the 200 free (1:49.55) and 400 free relay (3:22.64)
· Recorded an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the 200 back
· Earns her sixth Swimmer of the Week award
· Last Indiana Swimmer of the Week: Brooklyn Snodgrass (Jan. 28, 2014)
Diver of the Week
Anna Filipcic, Nebraska
So. – Omaha, Nebraska – Omaha Burke
· Claimed first-place finishes in the one-meter (309.45) and three-meter (337.65) diving events in the Huskers’ 187-107 dual meet win over Nebraska-Omaha
· Recorded NCAA Zone Diving qualifying scores in both events
· Earned a personal best in the one-meter event
· Earns her third Diver of the Week honor
· Last Nebraska Diver of the Week: Anna Filipcic (Oct. 7, 2014)
Freshman of the Week
Kennedy Goss, Indiana
Fr. – Toronto, Ontario – Northern Secondary
· Earned one first-place and one second-place finish in Indiana’s 126-113 dual meet loss to Auburn
· Finished first in the 200 free (1:48.75) and second in the 500 free (4:53.24)
· Earns her first Freshman of the Week honor
· Last Indiana Freshman of the Week: Gia Dalesandro (Jan. 28, 2014)
2014-15 Big Ten Women’s Swimmer/Diver of the Week
Oct. 7
S: Kierra Smith, Jr., MINN
D: Anna Filipcic, So., NEB
F: Clara Smiddy, MICH
Oct. 14
S: Brooklynn Snodgrass, Jr., IND
D: Anna Filipcic, So., NEB
F: Kennedy Goss, IND
DVR’ed the meet and watched it over the weekend. Very cool to watch! Great move on part of the Big Ten for doing this. Hopefully we’ll see more Big Ten duel meets throughout the season. Wish other major conferences would televise these meets throughout the season. SEC and Big 12 Pac 10; are you listening?
There are some great match ups between top programs that the “national” swimming community would like to see in preparation of conference and the 2015 NCAA championships.
Thanks for listening.
Timothy – the Pac 12* does televise meets. In fact, last year they televised many more than the Big Ten Network.
The SEC hasn’t announced their schedule for televised meets yet, but several coaches have told me that they’ve been told to expect televising of several of their meets this year.
The Longhorn Network also televises a lot of Texas meets.
I think Big Ten/Purdue was the groundbreaker a few seasons back though, when the BTN did it live. That was a big deal.
Thanks Braden.
Now if I can find the Pac 12 and Longhorn channels on Direct TV if it carries them!!
By the way, Great site. It’s my go to site for swimming info.