Big Ten Weekly Analysis: Iowa, Purdue, Nebraska Eye Momentum

Photo Courtesy: Nebraska Athletics

By Dan D’Addona.

The Big Ten is full of powerhouse teams in the pool.

Michigan, Indiana, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Minnesota are all ranked teams. The Michigan women and Indiana men are ranked No. 1 in the country, proving how dominant the conference can be.

But within that domination are teams that get lost in the shuffle sometimes. Iowa, Purdue and Nebraska are teams trying to do their best to hang with the power five in the Big Ten. It is not easy to do, but teams must make the most of the meets against other teams, so when they face the power five in the Big Ten, they have some momentum and confidence.

The Iowa men and Purdue women each won at their dual meet with some big swims on either side. Meanwhile, the Nebraska women snapped a 12-year skid against Kansas with a victory this week to start the season 4-0.

These are the kinds of moments that need to be remembered in the Big Ten. Momentum and confidence can go a long way.

Here is what happened in the key victories for Iowa, Purdue and Nebraska.

Iowa, Purdue split

The University of Iowa men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams hosted Missouri State and Purdue in a triple dual on Friday. The Iowa men topped both Purdue (151-149) and Missouri State (176-118), while the women split, topping the Bears (237-622) and falling to the Boilermakers (178-122).

Iowa’s Kenneth Meade and Jack Smith each won two events on Friday. Mende touched first in the 100 (48.98) and 200 back (1:47.10), swimming to season-best times in both events. Smith sprinted to first-place finishes in the 50 and 100 free, recording times of 20.21 and 44.7.

The Purdue women won 10 of the 16 events, improving to 5-1 in duals this season with the head-to-head wins against the Hawkeyes (178-122) and Missouri State (252-48).

Kaersten Meitz was a three-time winner, posting two NCAA provisional-qualifying times with an impressive sweep of the 200, 500 and 1,000 freestyle races.

Marat Amaltdinov, Meagan Lim and Steele Johnson each won two events for Purdue.

Amaltdinov swept the breaststroke events with a pair of season-best times for the second Friday in a row, improving on his NCAA provisional-qualifying times. Johnson swept the springboard diving events to improve to 7-for-8 in event victories this season. Lim swept the butterfly events and helped the Purdue women open the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay.

Check out the full results here.

Nebraska ends skid vs. Kansas

All-American Anna Filipcic smashed the Nebraska record in the 3-meter dive while adding a Devaney Natatorium record on the one-meter board to power the Nebraska swimming and diving team’s 198-101 victory over Kansas on Saturday.

With the victory, Nebraska improved to 4-0 to start the season for the first time since 2012-13, while snapping an eight-dual losing streak that spanned 12 years against Kansas.

Filipcic, a senior out of Omaha Burke, shattered her own school with a whopping six-dive total of 372.30 on the three-meter dive. Her previous career best came with a 359.03 against Illinois last season. She added a Devaney Natatorium record with a six-dive total of 330.52 in the one-meter diving event.

Erin Oeltjen raced to wins in the 100 (56.56) and the 200-yard backstrokes (2:01.62). Allie Worrall won the 50 freestyle (23.82) before adding a victory in the 100 freestyle (51.50).

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