2017 Men's Big Ten Championships

Big Ten Day Two Finals: Powers Unloads 18.80 50 Free, Indiana Widens Lead

Big Ten Day Two Finals: Powers Unloads 18.80 50 Free, Indiana Widens Lead

Day two finals at the 2017 Men's Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championship featured fast swimming from Felix Auboeck in the 500 freestyle, Vini Lanza in the 200 individual medley, and Paul Powers in the 50 freestyle.

Feb 24, 2017 by Maclin Simpson
Big Ten Day Two Finals: Powers Unloads 18.80 50 Free, Indiana Widens Lead
Day two finals of the men's 2017 Big Ten Championship on Thursday night continued the brawl between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Michigan Wolverines in Columbus, Ohio, but Indiana holds on to a 100-point lead after winning the 200-yard IM, 50 freestyle, and 400 medley relay.

500-YARD FREESTYLE


Big 10 Record: 4:08.60 (Peter Vanderkaay - Michigan, 2006)
Meet Record: 4:12.37 (Peter Vanderkaay - Michigan, 2005)
NCAA "A": 4:13.22
2016 Invited: 4:17.73


Michigan's Felix Auboeck, Wisconsin's Matt Hutchins​, and Indiana's Marwan El Kamash kept this close all the way until the last 100 yards. Auboeck came home with a 49.7 split (25.59/24.12). Wisconsin's Hutchins was 50.24 (25.27/24.97) on the last 100, setting a new school record in the process and passing El Kamash, who was 50.78 (25.72/25.06) over the final four lengths. But in the end, it was Auboeck taking the victory with a 4:10.63 and new Big Ten meet record.

1.) Felix Auboeck (Michigan): 4:10.63 (BIG TEN MEET RECORD)
2.) Matt Hutchins (Wisconsin): 4:11.98 (NCAA 'A')
3.) Marwan El Kamash (Indiana): 4:12.11 (NCAA 'A')
4.) Patrick Ransford (Michigan): 4:14.27
5.) Jordan Wilimovsky (Northwestern): 4:15.93
6.) Brayden Seal (OSU): 4:16.13
7.) Jackson Miller (Indiana): 4:17.36
8.) Joseph Long (OSU): 4:18.57


200 IM


Big 10 Record: 1:41.14 (Kyle Whitaker - Michigan, 2014)
Meet Record: 1:41.14 (Kyle Whitaker - Michigan, 2014)
NCAA "A": 1:42.15
2016 Invited: 1:44.41

Indiana made it a 1-2 finish, with teammates Vini Lanza and Ian Finnerty both going under 1:42, just off ​Kyle Whitaker's​ Big Ten meet record. Finnerty had a strong breaststroke split of 29.00, which gave him a slight lead, but Lanza overpowered him with a quick 24.16 last 50 to take the win and a new Hoosier record. Jacob Montague of Michigan had the fastest breaststroke split of the field (28.66), so look out for his 200 breaststroke on day four. 

1.) Vini Lanza (Indiana): 1:41.59 (NCAA 'A')
2.) Ian Finnerty (Indiana): 1:41.86 (NCAA 'A')
3.) Evan White (Michigan): 1:43.45
4.) Blake Pieroni (Indiana): 1:43.50
5.) Jacob Montague (Michigan): 1:43.58
6.) Brett Pinfold (Wisconsin): 1:43.60
7.) Christopher Klein (Michigan): 1:44.08
8.) Jakub Maly (Minnesota): 1:45.05


50 FREESTYLE


Big 10 Record: 18.85 (Paul Powers - Michigan, 2016) 18.80 (Paul Powers - Michigan, 2017)
Meet Record: 18.85 (Paul Powers - Michigan, 2016) 18.80 (Paul Powers - Michigan, 2017)
NCAA "A": 19.09
2016 Invited: 19.53


What a race. The night's first conference record went down at the hands of Michigan's Paul Powers. Taking down his old record from last year, the Wolverine went 18.80, the second-fastest time in the NCAA this year. Indiana's Ali Khalafalla went under 19 seconds for the first time, finishing in 18.94 to set a new school record in the process. Shane Ryan may have been missing some coffee in the morning session, because his 19.03 was .60 seconds faster than his prelim time. Minnesota's Bowen Becker was also close to breaking the 19-second barrier with a 19.08, creeping up on Derek Toomey's team record. 

1.) Paul Powers (Michigan): 18.80 (BIG TEN MEET RECORD)
2.) Ali Khalafalla (Indiana): 18.94 (NCAA 'A')
3.) Shane Ryan (PSU): 19.03 (NCAA 'A')
4.) Bowen Becker (Minnesota): 19.08 (NCAA 'A')
5.) Cannon Clifton (Wisconsin): 19.39
6.) Mossimo Chavez (OSU): 19.45
7.) Matt McHugh (OSU): 19.50
8.) Samuel Lorentz (Indiana): 19.53


400 MEDLEY RELAY


Big 10 Record: 3:04.40 (Northwestern, 2007) 3:03.28 (Indiana, 2017)
NCAA "A": 3:07.75
2016 Invited: 3:09.86


The Indiana Hoosiers broke the long-standing Big Ten record that featured Northwestern's Matt Grevers, Mike Alexandrov, Kyle Bubolz, and Bruno Barbic from 2007. Vini Lanza made a huge impact with a ridiculous 44.64 butterfly split, and Olympian Blake Pieroni followed suit by anchoring in 41.35. Ohio State came in second thanks to a fast 45.63 backstroke split from Matt McHugh and an impressive 45.09 butterfly leg from freshman Noah Lense. But it was Penn State's Shane Ryan who stole the show in the first four lengths, setting a new Big Ten record with his 44.95 backstroke leadoff. Minnesota came in third thanks to strong butterfly and freestyle splits from Tuomas Pokkinen (46.34) and Bowen Becker (41.92.)    

1.) Indiana 3:03.28 (Glover 46.11, Finnerty 51.18, Lanza 44.64, Pieroni 41.35) (BIG TEN MEET RECORD)
2.) OSU 3:04.13 (McHugh 45.63, Barone 51.97, Lense 45.09, Fleagle 41.44) (NCAA 'A')
3.) Minnesota 3:07.03 (Turner 47.14, McHugh 51.63, Pokkinen 46.34, Becker 41.92) (NCAA 'A')
4.) Michigan 3:07.71 (Sanders 46.77, Montague 51.98, White 46.83, Powers 42.13) (NCAA 'A')
5.) Penn State 3:08.04 (Ryan 44.95, Freund 52.40, Zamir 47.19, Bantley 43.50)
6.) Wisconsin 3:08.44 (Pinfold 46.25, Back 54.00, Tran 46.68, Clifton 41.51)
7.) Purdue 3:08.59 (Komlenic 47.11, Amaltdinov 52.33, Flager 46.09, Bujoczek 43.06) 
8.) Iowa 3:11.36 (Mende 47.47, Credit 55.13, Twarowski 46.05, Smith 42.71)
9.) Michigan State 3:12.57 (Trompke 48.78, Kandt 52.55, Leshok 47.37, Woods 43.87)
10.) Northwestern 3:13.44 (Jovanovic 49.14, Hofstadter 53.18, Tate 47.29, Olshtein 43.83)

Indiana has a substantial lead going into day three, but Michigan and Ohio State remain far ahead of the rest of the field.

TEAM SCORES


1.) Indiana: 562   
2.) Michigan: 461.5
3.) Ohio State: 430   
4.) Wisconsin: 276
5.) Minnesota: 262   
6.) Purdue: 236.5
7.) Penn State: 207   
8.) Iowa: 191
9.) Northwestern: 160  
10.) Michigan State: 126