The No. 4-ranked Indiana University men’s swimming and diving team qualified 21 swimmers and divers for the evening finals at the 2017 Big Ten Championships on Friday morning at the McCorkle Aquatic Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Among the 21 qualifiers, the Hoosiers will have eight swimmers and two divers competing in Championships Finals. IU will also have five in B Finals and six in C Finals.
Entering competition on Friday night, Indiana sits atop the team standings with a total of 562 points. Michigan is second with 461.5, while Ohio State is third with a score of 430 points.
100 Butterfly
Indiana will bring back all four of the team’s swimmers from prelims to Friday night’s finals, led by Vini Lanza, who tied his own school record with a NCAA A cut time of 45.56 to qualify second overall for the Championship Final.
Max Irwin will swim in the B Final for the Hoosiers after qualifying 16th overall with a NCAA B cut time of 47.19. Oliver Patrouch (47.69) and Josh Romany (47.92) will both swim in the C Final after posting personal-best and NCAA B cut times. Patrouch is tied for the eighth-best performer in the event in school history, while Romany ranks 15th.
400 IM
Both Trey Hubbuch (3:53.26) and Jack Collins (3:54.44) qualified for the C Final of the 400 IM, posting personal-best and NCAA B cut times. Brian Valedon finished 29th overall with a time of 3:57.71.
200 Freestyle
Indiana had a tremendous showing in the 200 freestyle, qualifying four swimmers for the Championship Final and another in the B Final.
Marwan Elkamash is the top seed after touching with a personal-best and NCAA B cut time of 1:33.25 that ranks him as the second-best performer in school history with the eighth-best time at IU. Mohamed Samy earned the No. 2 seed with a personal-best and NCAA B cut time of 1:33.55. Samy’s time ranks him as the third-best swimmer in the event at Indiana.
Blake Pieroni, the defending Big Ten champion in the event, qualified fifth overall with a NCAA B cut time of 1:33.72. On Wednesday, Pieroni set the Big Ten, Big Ten meet and school record in the event with his split of 1:31.83 in the 800 freestyle relay. Rounding out IU’s quartet in the A Final will be Jackson Miller, who touched with a personal-best and NCAA B cut mark of 1:34.07. Miller now ranks as the fifth-best swimmer in the event in school history.
After tying for eighth place with a NCAA B cut time of 1:34.32, Anze Tavcar placed second in a swim-off with another B cut of 1:34.66 and will be the top seed in the B Final of the 200 freestyle.
Adam Destrampe placed 32nd overall with a personal-best and NCAA B cut time of 1:37.54, while Matthew Anderson took 48th with a personal-best mark of 1:39.64.
100 Breaststroke
Defending champion in the 100 breaststroke Ian Finnerty will be the top seed in the A Final tonight after touching the wall with a NCAA B cut time of 52.05. The time is the second-fastest for Finnerty in his career and ranks as the fifth-best time in school history.
Joining Finnerty in the Championship Final will be Levi Brock, who qualified sixth overall with a personal-best and NCAA B cut time of 52.88. Brock now ranks as the fifth-best performer in the event at Indiana.
Sam Apa will swim in the C Final on Friday night after posting a NCAA B cut time of 54.34. Jack Kucharczyk placed 28th overall with a personal-best time of 55.46.
100 Backstroke
All three IU swimmers in the 100 backstroke qualified for finals on Friday night, led by Bob Glover who finished as the No. 3 seed for the Championship Final with a NCAA B cut time of 46.32.
Wilson Beckman will be in the B Final after qualifying 11th overall with a personal-best and NCAA B cut time of 47.26. Beckman now ranks as the fifth-best performer in the event in school history. Ali Khalafalla will be the top seed in the C Final with a NCAA B cut time of 47.91.
3-Meter Dive
Michael Hixon (458.65) qualified second overall for the Championship Final of the 3-meter dive, while James Connor (425.10) qualified third for the A Final as both divers notched NCAA qualifying scores.
Cody Coldren posted a career-best score of 390.85, while Joshua Arndt totaled a 377.45, as both qualified for the Consolation Final. Coldren’s mark ranks him as the 19th-best 3-meter diver in school history.
The Indiana Hoosiers will continue competition at the 2017 Big Ten Championships on Friday evening with the finals of the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 3-meter dive and 200 freestyle relay. The action gets started at 11:00 a.m. ET at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio.
