2021 GREAT TEN MEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The preliminary morning session saw Michigan and Indiana nearly balanced, with Indiana getting another A-final tonight, but Michigan getting more total swimming. The projections have Indiana beating Michigan by 8.5 points, and it will boil down to the details of the final session on the fourth night, with Wolverines and Hoosiers trying to climb their ranks in each final.
The team race will be extremely fierce, but Michigan had a positive swim-off result for 16th place in the 100th chest, as AJ Bornstein left with a spot in the final B by 0.01 after drawing with Indiana’s Gary Kostbade in the preliminaries, sending Kostbade to the C-final through the narrowest of margins.
Speaking of 100 breaststroke, the Big Ten is immensely involved in the event, with a 51.9 that did not make it to the A-final this morning after the qualifiers. Several school records were broken in the qualifiers, while Max McHugh will try to become the second man in less than 50 seconds tonight, after his 50.19 this morning.
FRIDAY NIGHT HEAT SHEETS
100 BACK – FINALS
- Big Ten Meet Record – 44.65, Shane Ryan (Penn State) – 2017
- Big Ten Record – 44.65, Shane Ryan (Penn State) – 2017
- 2020 NCAA Invitation Schedule – 46.22
- Title Champion: Gabriel Fantoni (Indiana) – 44.92
Top 3
- Gabriel Fantoni (Indiana) – 45.34
- Hunter Armstrong (Ohio State) – 45.50
- Jacob Steele (Indiana) – 45.81
Of the state of Ohio Hunter Armstrong was unable to replicate his 44-high from his 400 medley relay advantage, as he posted a 45.50, just behind Indiana Gabriel Fantoni (45.34). Fantoni defends his 2020 title here.
Meanwhile, the first seed Jacob Steele won a podium in third here, with 45.81, the third and last man under 46 years old.
Room went to Michigan Wyatt Davis, the freshman with the best result tonight, at 46.08. He was a few tenths from the best performance of his life, and his teammate Eric Storms was the fifth in 46.39. Sixth, Wisconsin sophomore Wes Jekel fell 0.15, scoring 46.42.
Colin McDermott Ohio state swung a 46.19 to win the B-final. OSU had a finalist A score here and four finalists B, along with a finalist C. While Michigan holds first place, OSU actually jumps Indiana, despite the Hoosiers having twice on the podium here; IU had only one finalist B and no other top scorers in the event. Wisconsin also went up a few points after overtaking Purdue.
100 BREASTS – FINAL
- Record of Big Ten meetings – 50.19, Max McHugh – 2021
- Record Big Ten – 49.69, Ian Finnerty (Indiana) – 2018
- NCAA invitation time for 2020 – 52.46
- Title Champion: Max McHugh (Minnesota) – 50.67
Top 3
- Max McHugh (Minnesota) – 50.59
- Will Chan (Michigan) – 50.95
- Zane Backes (Indiana) – 51.04
Zane Backes of Indiana and Will Chan of Michigan coincided with that of Minnesota Max McHugh at the 50 mark, but McHugh was very strong at the back, claiming another Big Ten title with a 50.59. McHugh looked set to break 50 seconds tonight, but ended up winning 0.40 in the preliminaries.
Chan set a new Michigan program record at 50.95, with 51.03 in preliminaries being the old record. Entering this season, Chan’s best was 51.91. Backes of Indiana took bronze at 51.04, cutting 0.03 from its former best.
Jason Mathews and Hudson McDaniel they were both 51.5, Mathews winning a quarter of a second and McDaniel falling 0.09 to a new best of 51.59.
Sixth, Iowa sophomore Will Myhre again lowered Iowa’s school record to 51.70, while Purdue’s Trent Pellini and Northwestern’s Kevin Houseman reached 51.8s again for seventh and eighth place, respectively.
In final B, Andrew Benson of Wisconsin swam 52.65 to win the battery.
The Buckeyes are ahead of Michigan now, with Indiana not far behind in third. Purdue is 9.5 points ahead of Wisconsin, and the Badgers have a 34 point advantage over Northwestern going to the 200 fly. Down in the standings, Iowa got a big boost here, pulling just 12 points behind the seventh position in Penn State.
200 FLIGHTS – FINAL
Record of Big Ten meetings – 1: 39.28, Vini Lanza (Indiana) – 2019Big Ten record – 1: 39.28, Vini Lanza (Indiana) – 2019- 2020 NCAA Invitation Schedule – 1: 43.18
- Title champion: Brendan Burns (Indiana) – 1: 40.98
Top 3
- Brendan Burns (Indiana) – 1: 39,22
- Corey Gambardella (Indiana) – 1: 42.53
- Connor LaMastra (Northwest) – 1: 42.68
This race was everything Brendan Burns, when Indiana’s second year opened a big advantage in the first 100 meters. Burns set the field on fire, eliminated at 46.94 and returned home at 52.28, erasing Vini Lanza’s Indiana program and the Big Ten conference record of 1: 39.22. Burns came into the competition with 1: 40.98 from his swim to win the title in 2020, and he gets a second of his morning swim, which is now his second best performance of all time (1: 40.34) .
Burns teammate Corey Gambardella came in second at 1: 42.53, a great dive after swimming in final B last year.
Northwestern appeared here as a senior Connor LaMastra shook Federico Burdisso’s school record of 1: 41.92 with 1: 42.68 to come in third. This is the first podium for the Wildcats, while their second-year teammate Ben Miller finished fifth at 1: 44.35. Sandwiched between them was another Hoosier, Van Mathias, at 1: 43.25 for the fourth.
Final B went to the OSU rookie Jean-Pierre Khouzam at 1: 45.42, just playing in Minnesota the first year Kaiser Neverman (1: 45.45) and Wisconsin’s second year Drew Nixdorf (1: 45.47) as all three fell from the preliminaries.
The lead changes again, with Indiana and Michigan jumping ahead of OSU, the Hoosiers now in the lead with Michigan in second and OSU in third. Purdue is in fourth place, 36.5 points ahead of Wisconsin, while the Badgers are 3 points ahead of the NU after Wildcat’s rise in this event.
200 FREE RELAY – TIMED FINALS
- Record of Big Ten meetings – 1: 16.01, Indiana – 2019
- Big Ten record – 1: 15.41, Indiana – 2019
- NCAA 2020 automatic qualification standard: 1: 17.17
- Champion in title: Indiana – 1: 16.30
Top 3
- Indian – 1: 16,24
- Purdue – 1: 16.50
- Ohio State – 1: 16.57
Ohio State, Indiana and Purdue made it to the final stage practically tied, as the two Indiana teams went 1-2 here.
The Hoosiers had a 1: 16.24 victory time, with Jack Franzman going 18.59 on the second hand and Van Mathias 19.00 on the anchor leg. Purdue had two 19.0s of Ryan Hrosik and Ryan Lawrence in the second and fourth stages, respectively, while Nick Sherman had a third highlight stage of 18.98 for the Boilermakers.
It is a tremendous drop for Purdue in her school record, staying more than a second at her 2020 mark.
The Buckeyes were 1: 16.57 for third place, with Without Andreis dividing 18.65 taking and Hunter Armstrong starting at 19.17.
Michigan won the second heat in 1: 16.60, led by Cam Peel19.30 and anchored by Gus Borges (18.56). to finish fourth.
In heat one, Penn State scored 1: 17.07 to get an automatic qualifying cut from the NCAA. In your middle legs, Will Roberson (18.96) and freshman Jake Houck (18.82) had great divisions and played in fifth place.
TEAM SCORE (THROUGH DAY FOUR)
- Indian – 1036.5
- Michigan – 1010
- Ohio State – 1000
- Purdue – 615.5
- Wisconsin – 571
- Northwest – 554
- Penn State – 496.5
- Iowa – 444.5
- Minnesota – 396
- Michigan State – 149