Big Ten Weekly Analysis: Indiana Knocks off Defending Champion Texas

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - APRIL 10: Marwan Elcamash of Egypt during the heats session on day 1 of the SA National Aquatic Championships and Olympic Trials on April 10 , 2016 at the Kings Park Aquatic Center pool in Durban, South Africa. Photo Credit / Anesh Debiky/Swim SA

Indiana's Marwan Elkamash. Photo Courtesy: Anesh Debiky/Swimming South Africa

By Dan D’Addona.

It is tough to make a statement so early in the season, but the Indiana men’s and women’s swim teams did just that in a three-headed monster meet.

The Hoosier men posted two wins on Friday, beating two-time defending NCAA Champion Texas, 149-132, and taking down Florida, who placed third at last season’s NCAA Championships, 181-100. For the Indiana women, the Hoosiers beat Florida, 150-131, but fell to Texas, 170-106.

The statement was the Indiana men knocking off No. 1 Texas. They got contributions from a lot of new faces on the short-course second day.

For the Hoosier men, transfer and 2016 Olympian for Egypt Marwan Elkamash won the 800-yard freestyle with a time of 8:19.42.

Rio gold medalist Blake Pieroni took second in the 200 freestyle (1:51.44).

The Hoosiers swept the 100 breaststroke with Lilly King winning for the women and Ian Finnerty touching first on the men’s side. King, the 2016 Olympic champion in the event, won with a time of 1:09.05, while teammate Laura Morley placed fifth with a mark of 1:15.02. Finnerty won the men’s 100 breast with a time of 1:05.11.

Northwestern sweeps Chicago quad

Northwestern men’s swimming and diving team swept its quad dual meet at the University of Chicago on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats topped UIC, 210-90, Olivet Nazarene, 201.50-96.50, and University of Chicago, 214-83, in the team’s second meet of the season.

This was a big debut for another Olympian.

Valerie Gruest Slowing, a 2016 Olympian for Guatemala, made a statement in her collegiate debut, running away from the competition in the 1,000 free, 200 butterfly (2:04.21) and 200 backstroke (2:03.76). She set a Myers-McLoraine Pool record in the 1,000 free with a time of 10:01.06, the eighth-fastest mark in Northwestern history.

Purdue has strong tune-ups

The Purdue men won 15 of the 16 events to roll to a 201.5-93.5 victory over Miami (Ohio). The Purdue women were victorious in 11 events to win the night 174-124.

It was a tune-up meet, but the Boilermakers performed well on a back-to-back meet weekend.

In the Indiana Intercollegiates on Saturday, the Purdue women win with 861, almost doubling the score of second-place Ball State. The men scored 1,038 to win, more than 800 points ahead of second-place Ball State.

Illinois tops Michigan state and wins 4

Very quietly, the Illinois women’s swim team had a stellar weekend.

Illinois defeated Michigan State 152-148 and beat Marshall 167-133 on Friday. then defeated Illinois State and Southern Illinois on Saturday on Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

Senior Amelia Schilling got the Illini on the board in the second event of the night, touching the wall first in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 10:20.00. The Illini kept rolling.

Freshman Monica Guyett followed that performance by winning the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 10:18.08.

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