Tonight was another extremely fast night at the Big Ten championships. We saw outstanding races all
across the board.
The night started out with a bit of an upset in the 400 medley relay. Penn State was able to put together
4 quality legs, with no real “star”, and upset some of their bigger name rivals. The quartet of Paige
Whitimire, Merritt Krawczyk, Mackenzie Powers, and Samantha Palser were able to hold of more
traditional powers Minnesota and Wisconsin for the win. Penn State won the event with a 3:33.50 and
should safely be invited to the NCAA’s with the time.
Tonight’s best race was the 400 I.M. not because it was close between first and second, but because of
the outstanding first place time by Allysa Vavra. She smoked the field by over 10, yes, 10 seconds, with
a time of 4:01.41! If she is not fully rested, she could post a scary fast time at NC’s, and possibly join
Beisel and Hosszu as current collegians under the four minute barrier. There was quite the battle for 2nd
through 4th place, as they were separated by only seven tenths of a second. Monika Stitski, of Wisconsin
would pick up 2nd place with a time of 4:11.6.
Next up was the 200 free, an event that was completely dominated by Minnesota and Indiana. Together
they combined for seven out of the eight finals spots. The winner was kind of a surprise, Hannah
Whitehead from Minnesota won out of lane 8, with a time of 1:45.77. She was able to get out to a
quick lead, and held on for dear life as the rest of the field chased her down. Second place went to
Britt Strumbel, Indiana, with a time of 1:45.96. Third went to Jessica Pland of Minnesota, with a time of
1:46.09.
Mackenzie Powers of Penn State led the way in the 100 butterfly. Her winning time of 52.25 was good
enough for a meet record, but missed the overall record by just four tenths. Her time should easily get
her invited to NCAA’s. In second was Caitlin Dauw from Michigan with a time of 52.6. This meet has
really been a struggle for the Wolverines, and it was nice to finally see some “A” final points put on the
board.
The 100 breast was by far the fastest overall championship heat in the country so far; it featured 4
swimmers under a minute, with three of them achieving the “A” standard. Emily Fogle of Purdue
jumped out to an early lead at the fifty, but Ashley Wanland, along with Haley Spencer reeled her in.
This was to be expected since they are both excellent 200 breaststrokers as well. In the end, Ashley
Wanland used a great finishing kick and touched first with a time of 59.17. Spencer and Fogle touched
right behind with times of 59.52 and 59.53. In fourth was another excellent swim from Penn State with
Merri Krawczyk swimming a time of 59.68.
The 100 back saw another “A” cut, this time coming from Tess Behrens of Minnesota. Her time of 52.35
smoked the heat. This came as a bit of a surprise to me, especially after seeing Kelsey Moran split a 24.0
on the 200 medley. Moran would wind up in third place with a time of 53.14. A name that should ring
some bells, Justine Ress, took second place. Her big brother is a Big Ten champ, and it looks like Justine
will have some great battles with Tess to try and add some titles of her own some day.
Overall it was a quality night, not quite as fast as last night, but still a lot of “A” cuts, as well as “B”
cuts that should get invited. Wisconsin did leave lots of points on the board again though, which is
unfortunate because the few points here and there they could have been picking up, would have
allowed them to stay somewhat close in the team race. However, it has truly turned into a three team
race.
Team Scores after night three, including diving.
1. Minnesota-456
2. Indiana- 416
3. Ohio State- 401
4. Wisconsin- 289
5. Penn State- 260.5
6. Purdue- 174.5
7. Michigan- 173
T-8. Northwestern and Iowa- 164
10. Illinois- 66
11. Nebraska- 59
12. Mich State- 55
I see that Matt G is doing his usual crappy job at Michigan State. He really needs to find a new job. Maybe he can be an Eddie Munster impersonator.
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