Peplowski Ties Big Ten Record on Relay Day

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Indiana swimming and diving kicked off its Big Ten Championships title defense with a conference record and a silver-medal relay performance Wednesday (Feb. 19) night inside the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the campus of the Ohio State University.

Indiana sits second in the team standings after two events and the first of four days of conference championship competition.

“Solid start to the competition, but we have six important sessions to go,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “Preliminaries will be key.”

Senior Anna Peplowski led off IU’s 800 freestyle relay with a 200 free split of 1:40.69, matching Michigan’s Siobhan Haughey’s Big Ten record swim from the 2018 Championships to rank tied-for-ninth all-time. Peplowski’s swim also shattered Haughey’s meet record from 2019 and beat her own program record by 28 tenths. Only Gretchen Walsh’s 1:39.34 is faster this season.

Peplowski will swim the 200 free again Friday, looking to defend her Big Ten title in the event.

Despite almost matching its winning time from the 2024 championships (6:55.45), the Hoosiers finished fourth in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a 6:55.53. Sophomores Miranda Grana (1:43.68) and Reese Tiltmann (1:45.50) and junior Kristina Paegle (1:45.66) followed Peplowski’s leadoff.

Indiana finished just a tenth off the winning time in the 200-yard medley relay, settling for silver in 1:34.52. The quartet of seniors Kacey McKenna (23.63) and Brearna Crawford (26.86), Grana (22.70) and Paegle (21.33) dropped the program’s fastest time since 2018 and No. 2 all-time performance.

TEAM SCORES
1. Michigan – 128

2. Indiana – 108
3. Ohio State – 106
4. USC – 106
5. Wisconsin – 104
6. Minnesota – 92
7. Northwestern – 92
8. Nebraska – 76
9. Purdue – 74
10. Illinois – 72
11. Penn State – 64
12. Iowa – 56
13. Rutgers – 56
14. UCLA – 48

    RESULTS
    200 MEDLEY RELAY
    2. Kacey McKenna, Brearna Crawford, Miranda Grana, Kristina Paegle – 1:34.52 (NCAA A Cut)

    800 FREESTYLE RELAY
    4. Anna Peplowski, Ella Ristic, Ching Hwee Gan, Kristina Paegle – 6:55.53 (NCAA A Cut)

• Anna Peplowski (leadoff) – 1:40.69 (Big Ten Record, Championship Record, Program Record, NCAA A Cut)