Indiana Wins Big Ten with Walk-Off Relay Performance

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Every single point mattered.

Indiana women’s swimming and diving won its seventh Big Ten Championship – first since 2019 – on Saturday (Feb. 24), outscoring runner-up and four-time defending champion Ohio State by one-half of a point at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.

The Hoosiers walked it off, placing second in the 400-yard freestyle ahead of third-place Ohio State to earn the necessary two-point advantage over the Buckeyes. OSU led through three legs, but sophomore Kristina Paegle’s 46.65 anchor got IU home in 3:11.37, over a second quicker than Ohio State’s relay.

The previous closest difference between first and second at a Big Ten women’s championships was 2004, when Michigan edged Penn State 604.5-590.5.

Because the team results were decided by such a small margin, every performance was crucial. Juniors Ching Hwee Gan, Brearna Crawford and Skyler Liu all won individual Big Ten Championships during the final night, but the Hoosiers could not have done it without freshman MacKenna Lieske, who had to win a swim-off in the morning to get into the 200-yard breaststroke C final, earning maximum points from her heat. It could not have happened without springboard specialist Anne Fowler’s perhaps last performance on platform, getting her own 17th-place finish and the nine points with it. Anna Freed swam an exhausting 200 fly, 200 back double and finished fifth in both races. There’s a hero in every Hoosier that swam, dove or encouraged her teammates.

“I am still in a state of disbelief,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “What our women did tonight was simply unbelievable. We basically witnessed a near-perfect performance by everyone. This is a championship that I will never forget!”

Moments before the relay, Liu hinted that perhaps destiny was having its day. As the top seed stepped to the end of the 10-meter platform for her final dive, she needed 78.80 points to summit the top of the leaderboard. She said her arms were “trembling” as she went into her handstand 30 feet above the water. Somehow, she got into position, executed three-and-a-half somersaults into a pike position and glided into the water. Liu scored 79.20 points, winning her second Big Ten title in two days. She was named the Big Ten Diver of the Championships.

“That was the ultimate team victory,” IU head diving coach Drew Johansen said. “I have never seen four days of competition come down to half of a point. Every girl on this team made a difference. To see Skyler hit that last dive to win by less than a point was spectacular, and then to see our relay out-touch OSU was like a storybook ending.”

Crawford captured her second-career 200-yard breaststroke title in a season-best 2:07.25. She previously won it as a freshman in 2022 but was foiled last season by teammate Noelle Peplowski, now an assistant coach for the program. Indiana has won eight of the last nine Big Ten 200-yard breaststroke championships. The junior also earned a bronze medal for her performance in the 100-yard event on Friday.

Gan and fellow junior Mariah Denigan kicked off the evening session in style with their medal performances in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Swimming out of the first of five heats, Denigan dropped a 15:59.66 in her first mile swim of the season. Only Gan and Wisconsin’s Madeline Waggoner would beat that in the remaining four heats. Gan was ruthless in her victory, going wire-to-wire in the top-seeded heat and touching in 15:54.83. It’s Gan’s first individual Big Ten championship after finishing third in the event as a freshman and second last season and IU’s first mile title since 2014.

All four Hoosiers on the clinching relay previously competed in 100-yard freestyle finals. Junior Anna Peplowski (47.53) and Paegle (47.65) both medaled. Senior Ashley Turak (49.09) was eighth, and Ella Ristic (49.89) finished 24th. Peplowski led off the relay in 47.72, followed by Turak’s nearly identical 47.71. Ristic was 49.29, giving way to Paegle’s incredible 46.65 anchor.

IU had three top-10 finishers in the 200 fly via Freed’s fifth (1:57.76), sophomore Katie Forrester’s sixth (1:57.97) and Ava Whitaker winning the B final in 1:57.67. In the 200 back, Freed (1:54.80), sophomore Mya DeWitt (1:54.620 and junior Kacey McKenna (1:57.19) followed suit. A pair of freshmen also earned points on platform as Ella Roselli and Lily Witte each performed in the consolation final, their third final in three days.


TEAM SCORES
1. Indiana – 1,359

  1. Ohio State – 1,358.5
  2. Michigan – 1,207
  3. Wisconsin – 978
  4. Minnesota – 816
  5. Purdue – 572.5
  6. Northwestern – 463.5
  7. Nebraska – 409
  8. Penn State – 382
  9. Rutgers – 363.5
  10. Iowa – 303
  11. Illinois – 204

    RESULTS

1,650 FREESTYLE

  1. Ching Hwee Gan – 15:54.83 (Big Ten Champion, NCAA B Cut)
  2. Mariah Denigan – 15:15.66 (Bronze, NCAA B Cut)
  3. Elyse Heiser – 16:16.88 (NCAA B Cut)
  4. Katie Carson – 16:00.89 (Exhibition, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)


200 BACKSTROKE
4. Mya DeWitt – 1:54.62 (NCAA B Cut)

  1. Anna Freed – 1:54.80 (NCAA B Cut)
  2. Kacey McKenna – 1:57.19

    100 FREESTYLE
    2. Anna Peplowski – 47.54 (Silver, NCAA B Cut)

  3. Kristina Paegle – 47.65 (Bronze, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
  4. Ashley Turak – 49.09 (NCAA B Cut)
  5. Ella Ristic – 49.89

200 BREASTSTROKE

  1. Brearna Crawford – 2:07.25 (Big Ten Champion, NCAA B Cut)
  2. Reese Tiltmann – 2:14.38
  3. MacKenna Lieske – 2:13.34 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best)

200 BUTTERFLY

  1. Anna Freed – 1:57.76 (NCAA B Cut)
  2. Katie Forrester – 1:57.97 (NCAA B Cut)
  3. Ava Whitaker – 1:57.67 (NCAA B Cut)

PLATFORM

  1. Skyler Liu – 342.40 (Big Ten Champion, NCAA Zone Qualifier)
  2. Ella Roselli – 246.65 (NCAA Zone Qualifier)
  3. Lily Witte – 209.55
  4. Anne Fowler – 210.75

400 FREESTYLE RELAY

  1. Anna Peplowski, Ashley Turak, Ella Ristic, Kristina Paegle – 3:11.37 (Silver, Program Record, NCAA A Cut)

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