The final morning of swimming at the Big Ten Women’s Championships saw a big run by Indiana, which sits second in team points. They doubled Minnesota’s number of A-finalists 10 to 5, although those numbers don’t include the 1650 or diving, both of which should be solid events for the Gophers. All-in-all, it’s still a significant gap between Minnesota and Indiana at the top, although the Hoosiers should have enough firepower tonight to keep things interesting.
Penn State also had a solid morning, placing 6 A finalists including 2-seeds in the 100 free, 200 fly and 200 breast.
200 Back
No surprise here: Brooklyn Snodgrass is the clear favorite and top seed, going 1:52.49 this morning. If the Hoosiers are going to make a run at Minnesota in the team points, the brunt of the work is going to have to be done here, as IU placed 5 in the A final, with all 5 in the top 6 spots. Junior Cynthia Pammett is second for the Hoosiers in 1:54.67.
Penn State sophomore Kathryn Rowe broke up the IU run at the top, going 1:55.16 for the 3-seed. Behind her are Alexandria Day, Dorina Szekeres and Justine Ress, all Hoosiers.
Penn State’s Mackenzie Powers took sixth, just .01 behind Ress, and Minnesota’s Tess Behrens snuck into the 8th seed at 1:56.74.
Ups/Downs
Minnesota 1up
Indiana 5up/1down
Penn State 2up/2down
Michigan 2down
Ohio State 2down
Wisconsin 1down
100 Free
Whatever momentum Indiana gains in the backstroke will be somewhat offset by the 100 free, though, where Minnesota will score 5 total women to IU’s 1. The top seed, of course, is Wisconsin’s Ivy Martin, who broke the Big Ten record with a very-fast 48.05 this morning. Not far behind her is 200 free winner Alyson Ackman of Penn State, who went 48.25, and should give Martin a solid run in tonight’s final.
Indiana’s Kaitlyn Flederbach sits third with a 48.86, and Ohio State’s Michelle Williams also got under 49 this morning.
Becca Weiland is the top Minnesota qualifier, going 49.08 for fifth. Wisconsin’s fast-rising freshman Chase Kinney is sixth, just ahead of Zoe Mattingly from Michigan, and Minnesota’s Erin Caflisch grabbed the Golden Gophers second-straight 8th place slot.
Ups/Downs
Minnesota 2up/3down
Indiana 1up
Penn State 1up
Michigan 1up
Ohio State 1up/1down
Purdue 1down
Wisconsin 2up/2down
Nebraska 1down
200 Breast
After coming from behind over the final 25 to win the 100 last night, Minnesota’s Kierra Smith grabbed the top seed in her signature 200 this morning with a 2:09.47. Expect this race to get faster tonight – Smith was still 3 seconds off her outstanding mid-season time of 2:06.43, and Indiana’s Bronwyn Pasloski was a bit off her best, too, going 2:11.14 for third.
Between those two is Penn State’s Melissa Rodriguez, who went 2:10.19 for the second slot going into tonight. Her Nittany Lions are sitting third overall, and not completely out of the hunt for second, although it would take some big efforts from their high seeds like Rodriguez to make a late run at Indiana.
Purdue’s Francesca Marr is fourth with Michigan’s Angela Chokran fifth before a pair of Ohio State Buckeyes, Taylor Vargo and 200 IM champ Ashley Vance. Iowa’s Karolina Wartalowicz touched out her teammate Colleen Champa for the 8th and final A heat spot.
This conference is surprisingly well-dispersed in terms of top breaststroke talent. In a unique twist, the 200 breast will represent all 12 Big Ten teams in the point-scoring heats, including the top 6 in team points all represented in the championship final.
Ups/Downs
Minnesota 1up
Indiana 1up
Penn State 1up
Michigan 1up
Ohio State 2up
Purdue 1up
Wisconsin 3down
Iowa 1up/1down
Nebraska 1down
Michigan State 1down
Northwestern 1down
Illinois 1down
200 Fly
Indiana and Penn State are dueling atop the 200 fly, combining to take the top 4 spots. Gia Dalesandro, the fantastic freshman from IU, is the top seed in 1:55.29. Behind her is Nittany Lion freshman Katelyn Sowinski. Her teammate and sophomore Kathryn Rowe is third before yet another freshman, Indiana’s Olivia Barker.
Minnesota’s Devin Ste Marie, runner-up in this event a year ago, is the 5th seed with a 1:57.26. Behind her, Purdue’s Rhiannon Sheets, Indiana’s Brenna Maclean and Wisconsin’s Dana Grindall were all 1:58s to close out the heat.
Ups/Downs
Minnesota 1up/1down
Indiana 3up/1down
Penn State 2up/2down
Michigan 2down
Purdue 1up/1down
Wisconsin 1up
Illinois 1down
Indiana put together the best morning of the bunch with 10 A finalists. That should keep them from having to worry much about a hot Penn State team behind them, but still probably won’t be enough to catch Minnesota. The 1650 will also be added to these numbers, which should inflate Minnesota’s and Indiana’s point-scoring opportunities greatly – those two teams combined for the top 5 spots in the mile last season, and four of the five return.
The platform diving event will also take place this afternoon and tonight. Minnesota placed three divers in the top 8 last night, a big boost to their now-129 point lead. In addition, the 400 free relay is added to the end of the schedule tonight.
Ups/Downs
Minnesota 5up/4down
Indiana 10up/2down
Penn State 6up/4down
Michigan 2up/4down
Ohio State 3up/3down
Purdue 2up/2down
Wisconsin 3up/6down
Iowa 1up/1down
Nebraska 2down
Michigan State 1down
Northwestern 1down
Illinois 2down