WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – No. 4 Indiana men’s swimming and diving will have 18 final swims and three diving finalists as it looks to clinch a Big Ten title Saturday (Feb. 26) night inside Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.

The Hoosiers set themselves up well during the preliminary session. In the four trial races, IU clinched 15 final swims, with 11 of those earning A final positions. Indiana will also compete in the 400 Freestyle Relay and senior Michael Brinegar and sophomore Warren Briggs will race the 1,650 Freestyle.

In the Platform dive prelim, Indiana clinched two spots in the A final and one in the B final. Freshman Carson Tyler scored 410.30 to finish second in the trial event. Senior Andrew Capobianco will go for his third medal of the meet after finishing fifth in the prelim. After medaling in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives, freshman Quinn Henninger narrowly missed the A final, placing 10th.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
200 Backstroke – Gabriel Fantoni (1st), Brendan Burns (2nd), Jacob Steele (4th)

100 Freestyle – Bruno Blaskovic (3rd), Rafael Miroslaw (4th)

200 Breaststroke – Josh Matheny (2nd), Maxwell Reich (3rd), Luke Barr (7th)

200 Butterfly – Brendan Burns (1st), Corey Gambardella (5th), Tomer Frankel (7th)

Platform – TBD

CONSOLATION FINAL
200 Backstroke – None.

100 Freestyle – Gavin Wight (11th), Jack Franzman (13th)

200 Breaststroke – None.

200 Butterfly – Van Mathias (9th)

Platform – TBD

C FINAL
200 Backstroke – Tristan DeWitt (19th)

100 Freestyle – None.

200 Breaststroke – None.

200 Butterfly – None.

TEAM SCORES
1. Indiana – 972.5

2. Ohio State – 940.5
3. Michigan – 756.5
4. Wisconsin – 564.5
5. Purdue – 556
6. Northwestern – 511
7. Penn State – 427
8. Minnesota – 404

   NOTABLES
   • Of Indiana’s 11 Championship final spots, nine are top five seeds and six are top three seeds.

• Two Hoosiers earned No. 1 seeds in Saturday night’s finals. Senior Gabriel Fantoni earned the top time in the 200 Backstroke, and Brendan Burns is the top qualifier in the 200 Butterfly.
• In an awesome moment in heat four of the 200 Breaststroke prelim, freshman Josh Matheny (1:53.16) and sophomores Maxwell Reich (1:53.83) and Jassen Yep (1:53.86) swept the top three positions.

  PRELIMINARY RESULTS
  200 BACKSTROKE

Gabriel Fantoni – 1:40.06 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

Brendan Burns – 1:40.75 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

Jacob Steele – 1:41.07 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

Tristan DeWitt – 1:45.69 (Consolation Final, Career Best)

 

100 FREESTYLE

Bruno Blaskovic – 42.31 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

Rafael Miroslaw – 42.33 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

Gavin Wight – 42.99 (Consolation Final, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)

Jack Franzman – 43.08 (Consolation Final, NCAA B Cut)

Finn Brooks – 44.19 (Exhibition, NCAA B Cut)

Jacob Destrampe – 44.23 (Exhibition)

Brandon Hamblin – 44.42 (Exhibition)

200 BREASTSTROKE

Josh Matheny – 1:53.16 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

Maxwell Reich – 1:53.83 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)

Luke Barr – 1:55.44 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)

Jassen Yep – 1:53.86 (Exhibition, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)

Andrew Davis – 2:01.40 (Exhibition)

 

200 BUTTERFLY

Brendan Burns – 1:40.65 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

Corey Gambardella – 1:42.95 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

Tomer Frankel – 1:43.65 (Championship Final, NCAA B Cut)

Van Mathias – 1:43.70 (Consolation Final, NCAA B Cut)

PLATFORM DIVE

Carson Tyler – 410.30 (Championship Final, NCAA Zone Qualifier)

Andrew Capobianco – 398.95 (Championship Final, NCAA Zone Qualifier)

Quinn Henninger – 359.55 (Consolation Final, NCAA Zone Qualifier, Career Best)

22. Lenin Hibler – 249.80

    UP NEXT
    The Big Ten Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships will conclude Saturday (Feb. 26) evening, starting with the 1,650 Freestyle at 3:15 p.m. ET. The remaining finals will start at 6:30 p.m. ET.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The No. 4-ranked Indiana men’s swimming and diving team shook things up Friday (Feb. 25), retaking the team lead at the 2022 Big Ten Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships inside Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.

Indiana won nine medals across seven events during Friday’s evening session to jump the previous night’s leader, Ohio State. The Hoosiers now sit 32.5 points ahead going into the final day of the meet.

The night was highlighted by Indiana’s dominance in the 100 Backstroke. Hoosiers finished first, third and fourth in the race, led by junior Brendan Burns’ meet, pool and program record swim. Burns beat Ohio State Olympian Hunter Armstrong by less than half a second, touching the wall in 44.31 for the fastest time in the country. Four-time Big Ten 100 back champion Gabriel Fantoni took third (45.05), and fellow senior Jacob Steele finished fourth (45.66).

“The men had an outstanding morning and an even better night,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “I am so proud of the Hoosiers. Every single team member has laid their heart on the line and dug deep. We need to keep the pedal fully to the metal!”

In the very next event, Hoosier diving finished first, third and fifth in the 3-meter dive. Senior Andrew Capobianco captured his second gold of the meet, scoring a 467.75. Freshman Quinn Henninger also earned his second medal in two days, this time bronze with a 451.40. Fellow freshman Carson Tyler placed fifth at 438.90.

“It was a great team day, swimming and diving,” IU head diving coach Drew Johansen said. “I saw the divers feeding off the energy from the swimmers and the team standings. Andrew winning with his teammates Quinn and Carson right behind him was electric. We’re looking forward to finishing with the Platform dive tomorrow.”

TEAM SCORES
1. Indiana – 972.5

2. Ohio State – 940.5
3. Michigan – 756.5
4. Wisconsin – 564.5
5. Purdue – 556
6. Northwestern – 511
7. Penn State – 427
8. Minnesota – 404
   

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Tennis (5-1) scored their first regional victory of the spring season after defeating University Missouri-St. Louis (0-2), 6-1, at the Evansville Tennis Center Friday. The Screaming Eagles have won three consecutive matches in six days.
 
“That was a huge win for our team,” says USI Head Men’s Tennis Coach Chris Crawford. “They beat us last year 6-1 so that was a really good win for our team today.”

DOUBLES: USI started off hot with junior Lucas Sakamaki (Floyd Knobs, Indiana)/senior Marvin Kromer (Germany) combination recording the first doubles win, 6-0. Doubles duo junior Yahor Bahdanovich (Belarus)/freshman Quinten Gillespie (Whiteland, Indiana) sealed the doubles point for the Eagles after capturing a 6-4 win.

SINGLES: Gillespie picked back up where the Eagles left off, completing the 6-2, 6-0 singles victory. Graduate student Spencer Blandford (Louisville, Kentucky) nabbed the third point for USI after his 6-2, 6-1 win. Bahdanovich used a tiebreaker to tally USI’s fourth point after defeating his opponent 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6) respectfully. Kromer needed two tiebreakers to capture a 6-4, 6-7 (6-4), 1-0 (10-4) victory. Sakamaki surged with a 7-5, 6-3 win to end the Tritons’ night.

Aces Open Weekend With 7^th Win Of The Season

 HATTIESBURG, Miss. – For the second weekend in a row, outfielder Jenna Nink had the game-winning hit for the University of Evansville softball team, delivering a 2-out single in the 7^th inning to give the Purple Aces a 5-4 win over Alcorn State in Friday’s Hub City Challenge opener.

Evansville (7-4) held a 4-3 lead entering the seventh before the Braves (7-5) rallied to tie it up.  In the bottom half of the frame, Nink’s single brought in Jessica Fehr to clinch the win.  Fehr was a perfect 3-for-3 on Friday while adding two runs, two RBI, and a walk.  Marah Wood added a double and two RBI as the Aces picked up nine hits.  Izzy Vetter picked up the win for UE, tossing the final two innings.

Alcorn State took a 2-0 lead to open the third inning before the Aces knotted it right up.  Alexa Davis was hit by a pitch to lead the inning off before Sydney Weatherford singled and advanced on the throw to put runners on second and third.  Marah Wood came through with a 2-RBI double to left-center.

Two more runs crossed the plate in the fourth to give Evansville its first lead of the day.  Haley Woolf, Mackenzie McFeron, and Davis each singled to load the bases.  With two outs, Jessica Fehr brought in a pair of runs with a single.  Alcorn State got one of the runs back in the fifth before a 2-out single tied it in the 7^th.

UE was unphased by the rally and used more 2-out magic to respond.  Fehr picked up her third hit of the day with one out before Alyssa Barela picked up a walk-in-a-pinch-hit appearance with two outs.  That brought Jenna Nink to the plate, who delivered once again with a single up the middle to clinch a 5-4 win.

Saturday’s action features an 11 a.m. rematch with Alcorn State before a 2 p.m. contest versus Southern Mississippi.

VINCENNES, Ind. – Vincennes University Lady Blazer guards sophomore Laila Grant (Derwood, Md.) and freshman Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.) earned All-Region 24 honors Friday afternoon.

Grant earned First-Team All-Region 24 honors and Newsom earned a Third-Team All-Region 24 spot.

Grant earned a First-Team selection after leading the Lady Trailblazers by averaging 14.4 points per game.

Grant also averaged 4.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game this season for Vincennes.

Grant transferred to Vincennes this season after spending the previous two seasons at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Fla.

Grant scored in double-figures in 20 of her 24 games this season, with her highest total of the season coming against John A. Logan in December when she scored 25 points.

Grant also had season-highs of nine rebounds, eight assists, five steals and five three-pointer game against Lindsey Wilson earlier this year.

“This honor means a lot to me, especially coming back from an injury my freshman year and not being able to play,” Grant said. “This shows the hard work that I have been putting in these past couple of years.”

“I have really liked how everyone is on the same page on this team about wanting to win,” Grant added. “Coach Meeks has been very positive about everything this season. Overall, it has made my time at Vincennes a more positive experience.”

Cherrelle Newsom came away with Third-Team All-Region honors after averaging 12.5 points and 3.4 assists per game for the Blue and Gold.

Newsom joined the Lady Blazers this season after playing the 2020-21 season at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas.

Newsom leads the Lady Blazers with 81 three-point makes this season and an outstanding 40-percent shooting percentage from long range.

Newsom has scored in double figures 20 times this season, which her highest scoring games this season coming when she scored 23 points against Three Rivers and John A. Logan.

Newsom also handled most of the point guard duties for VU this season as she just missed a double-double against Olney Central earlier this year by dishing out nine assists.

“This honor means a lot to me,” Newsom said. “Coming back from an injury and being able to bounce back and play with people that I enjoy playing with is special. I really couldn’t have done this without my teammates.”

“I feel like my favorite part of playing at VU is just being able to have fun,” Newsom added. “Being able to play with people who enjoy playing. The coaching here is great. They are really encouraging and that’s one thing that I really love.”

This backcourt duo will look to guide the Lady Blazers through the upcoming Midwest District Tournament at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Ill.

Vincennes will begin their postseason run Sunday, Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. eastern when VU takes on Kaskaskia College.

“I just hope that we all come out strong and hopefully be able to go as far as we can in the tournament and possibly make it to Nationals in Lubbock,” Grant said.

“I hope to help bring a high level of communication for our team this postseason,” Newsom added. “Being able to do what I need to do on both ends of the floor and encourage everyone and makes sure everyone’s heads are up so we can hopefully continue to win.”

FULL REGION 24 HONORS

Player of the Year – Dais’Ja Trotter – Rend Lake

Freshman of the Year – Kiara Cruz – Shawnee

FIRST TEAM

Dais’Ja Trotter – Rend Lake

Jeniah Thompson – John A. Logan

Daijah Smith – Wabash Valley

LAILA GRANT – VINCENNCES

Shaulana Wagner – Wabash Valley

SECOND TEAM

Megan Barton – Rend Lake

Alayasia Douglas – Lincoln Trail

Kiara Cruz – Shawnee

Jasmine Elder – Wabash Valley

Niya Danfort – Rend Lake

THIRD TEAM

CHERRELLE NEWSOM – VINCENNES

Jaya Hedgepeth – Kaskaskia

Jordan Scroggins – Lincoln Trail

Bonnie Lew Ludlow – Southwestern Illinois

Darlisha Reed – Wabash Valley