Headed into the final day of the 2012 Big Ten Championships, the Indiana Hoosiers had a 40-point deficit to make up if they wished to win their 4th-straight Big Ten Championship.
If they were going to make a move, it had to begin with the 1650 freestyle. At first glance, it appears as though they were successful in that endeavor, as they won the two individual battles at the top. Sophomore Lindsay Vrooman won in 16:00.44 ahead of runner-up Ashley Steenvoorden in 16:06.96. Again for 3rd, Indiana freshman Lauren Jordan took 3rd in a 16:07 ahead of Minnesota’s Loren Brandon in 4th.
But as is so often true in conferences as balanced as the Big Ten, it was the depth that made the difference. Minnesota had 7 total scorers as compared to Indiana’s 2 mentioned above, which nearly doubled their lead.
Notably in 5th was Iowa freshman Becky Stoughton in 16:14.14. That destroys her own school record by roughly13 seconds, and completed a 44-point meet that made her the Hawkeyes’ highest scorer.
Just as Minnesota was feeling comfortable after their big charge in the mile, nearly the opposite situation happened in the 200 backstroke. Gopher sophomore Tess Behrens won in an NCAA Austomatic qualifying time – the first of her career. Though that win was big for the Gophers Indiana’s top backstroker, freshman Justine Ress, took 3rd in 1:54.51; with Taylor Whorley, and Alexandria Day tying for 4th in 1:55.22.
In total, the Gophers had 7 finalists in the race (5 A-finalists) to the Gophers’ two. With that, the momentum swung violently back towards the Hoosiers, as they pulled within 23 points of the lead.
Meanwhile, Ohio State cemented their 3rd-place position in the event thanks to a runner-up swim from Emily Creran in 1:54.40 – just off of her own school record – along with three B-Finalists.
Neither Indiana nor Minnesota made much progress in the next event: the 100 free. Wisconsin’s Beckie Thompson took the win in 48.28. She’s been a pure 50-yard specialist for most of her career, but as a senior that’s a huge improvement in her 100 free abilities.
Ohio State’s Michelle Williams (48.57) and Megan Detro (48.73) took 2nd and 3rd, with Penn State breakout sprinter Samantha Palser in 4th in 48.97.
Indiana lost an opportunity for some points, as senior Margaux Farrell had a poor finals swim to place 7th in 49.54. She’s got French Olympic Trials immediately following the NCAA Championships, though, so one would imagine that she’s saving her full taper for that long week of swimming.
In a loaded 200 breaststroke race, Minnesota got another victory: this one from junior Haley Spencer in 2:07.58. In 2nd-place was Purdue sophomore Emily Fogle, who again crushed her own school record with a 2:08.72. For reference, that’s 7 seconds faster than any other Boilermaker in history has ever been.
Indiana’s star Allysa Vavra was 3rd in 2:08.79, with Wisconsin National Teamer Ashley Wanland taking only 4th in 2:09.26.
Another major record-breaking performance came from Northwestern’s Jenny Wilson in 5th. Between her two swims on the day, she lowered a 13-year old school record from 2:12 to 2:09.89 with her 5th-place performance. She didn’t even qualify for NCAA’s last year, and now she’s a potential scorer for the Wildcats.
With Indiana’s divers not placing particularly highly (and Minnesota’s running extremely well), the Hoosiers’ last chance to make up ground was in the final individual swimming event – the 200 fly. They swam well, but couldn’t really capitalize on a big opportunity with Brenna MacLean tying for 2nd in 1:56.77 and Lindsay Vrooman placing 6th on her 2nd event of the day.
The winner of the race was Ohio State’s Shannon Draves in 1:56.35, and Purdue freshman Rhi Sheets as the one who tied with MacLean for 2nd in 1:56.77.
The Hoosiers did make a sizable leap forward and pulled within 4.5 points, but knowing that Minnesota had two A-Finalists on the platform to their one, it was a very superficial 4.5 points.
Ohio State’s Chey Couisneau won the platform, and the Gophers pulled 23 points ahead going into the final relay. That put the meet into “anything but a DQ” territory for Minnesota.
The Gophers didn’t hold back on the last relay, either. They had a very young foursome of two freshmen and two sophomores, which might have led most coaches to warn of safe starts. Minnesota pushed with the fastest starts of the entire field, and rode Erin Caflish’s best-split of 48.54 to a 3rd-place finish in 3:16.22.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin and Penn State, the two programs that have really been the most impressive as compared to expectations in this meet, tied for 1st in 3:16.12.
The Hoosiers finished the meet with a 6th-place finish in only 3:19.50, despite having all four spots occupied by seniors. A lack of sprinters hurt them more than once in this meet, and they could only find two swimmers to go sub-50 on the relay.
It was ultimately the lack of divers this year that did Indiana in. Gabby Agostino scored a lot of points for them, but as many of the country’s top diving programs are experiencing, the numbers are thin this year. Minnesota, despite graduating Kelci Bryant, still has a great coach in Wenbo Chen, and that really helped push the Gophers to this title.
Final Standings
1. Minnesota 680.5
2. Indiana 651
3. Ohio State 560
4. Wisconsin 411
5. Penn State 379.5
6. Purdue 285
7. Northwestern 258
8. Michigan 241
9. Iowa 201
10. Illinois 84
11. Nebraska 82
12. Michigan State 65
And the London event started on the 20th! So a jet out of Iowa would put those two world class divers in bed in London on the 17th. I’m confused. And if the sprinter Farrell was not tapered, why not swim the 500, which she was qualified 1st in…with a 4:38 no less…a time which one the event.
The big difference in this meet versus last year’s was diving points. Last year Indiana scored 185 diving points compared to 72 for Minnesota. A huge difference of 113 points in favor of IU. This year IU scored 62 diving points versus 91 for Minnesota. Final Score Minnesota 680.5 to IU’s 651. IU’s divers doing the London Meet was the number one reason the Hoosiers did not win their 4th consecutive Big Ten Championship. Congratulations to Minnesota for swimming very well. Their milers were the big difference for their swimming victory.