Big Ten Weekly Preview: Indiana Faces Purdue in Rivalry Showdown

gabriel-fantoni

One of the best rivalries in the Midwest returns to the pool this week as Indiana faces Purdue on Saturday.

The Indiana men are ranked No. 3, while Purdue is No. 22. Meanwhile, the Indiana women are No. 14 and Purdue is an honorable mention.

The Hoosiers are coming off of an impressive victory over No. 4 Michigan, winning 173.5-126.5.

Gabriel Fantoni led the Hoosiers with three victories — 200 medley relay (1:26.87), 100 backstroke (46.51), 200 backstroke (1:45.44).

Zach Apple won the 100 free (43.58) and divers Andrew Capobianco and James Connor each earned victories. Mohamed Samy and Ian Finery also earned individual victories head-to-head with the Wolverines. It was the 28th consecutive dual meet victory for Indiana.

The Boilermakers last competed against Michigan State two weeks ago and were led by their divers.

Victorious on 1-meter with all-time top 10 scores in the dual meet sweep at Michigan State, Purdue’s Emily Bretscher and Greg Duncan were recognized as the Big Ten Divers of the Week.

Bretscher was recognized by the conference office for the second time this season. She becomes Purdue’s first female to win Diver of the Week twice in the same season since Mary Beth Dunnichay in 2014-15.

Duncan was a conference champion on both springboards at the ACC Championships as a freshman at North Carolina last season, but this is his first weekly honor from either league after transferring.

In a smaller rivalry, Nebraska will swim at Illinois in a battle of smaller Big Ten schools that only have women’s swimming.

Illinois is coming off of a big win over Youngstown State and St. Francis last week.

The Illini came away with their best 3-meter diving performance of the season, sweeping the top three spots on the event. Senior Ling Kuhn led the way, posting the second-best score in program history (312.90) to win the event. Elizabeth Rumsey also posted a career-best 252.29 to place second and Taylor Shegos placed third with a 240.00.

Nebraska freshman diver Jessica Warak is coming off of a second-place finish on the platform board at the Wally Nakamoto Diving Invitational in Honolulu on Jan. 5. The freshman from Bellevue posted a career-high 241.80.

On Friday, Penn State will swim at Villanova in a non-conference matchup. Another non-conference meet will see Northwestern travel to Louisville on Friday. The Wildcats will then turn and head to Cincinnati

On Friday and Saturday, Iowa and Ohio State will compete in the Notre Dame Shamrock Invitationals.

For more Big Ten coverage click here.

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