COLUMBUS – Rarely does a relay disqualification hurt more than the one that delivered the Big Ten Women’s Championship title to Minnesota Golden Gophers\u00a0this weekend.<\/p>\n
Last night, the Indiana Hoosiers put themselves behind the 8 ball in a serious way by drawing a disqualification to what would have been a fifth-place finish in the women’s 400-yard medley relay. \u00a0Under the standard championship-meet scoring format observed by the Big Ten Conference, that’s a loss of 28 points.<\/p>\n
Tonight, after a wicked back-and-forth battle that featured nearly knockout blows on both sides, the Minnesota Golden Gophers wound up winning 618.5-591. Yes, that’s a gap of 27.5 points, which means the Hoosiers would have won by just a half-a-point tonight without the DQ.<\/p>\n
Who knows? Maybe Minnesota swims a bit faster without playing it safe to guarantee no dramatic 400 free relay DQ, and beats the Hoosiers in the 400 free relay to make it a moot point anyway. But that’s still a pretty tough loss for Indiana.<\/p>\n
Either way, Minnesota is happy to have won its fourth straight title.<\/p>\n
Iowa’s Rebecca Stoughton began the night with a victory in the women’s 1650-yard freestyle as she clocked a 15:57.43 for the title.<\/p>\n
Ohio State’s Lindsey Clary finished second in 16:03.75 with Minnesota’s Brooke Zeiger earning third in 16:03.94.<\/p>\n
In the huge team battle taking place between Minnesota and Indiana, Minnesota went 3-4-10-14 in the mile. \u00a0The Hoosiers placed fifth with Haley Lips (16:06.85) and Stephanie Marchuk (16:12.32) to hold serve a bit before the 200 back.<\/p>\n
Minnesota led Indiana, 462.5 to 397, after the 1650 free.<\/p>\n
The Hoosier claimed the team lead after an unreal amount of scoring in the women’s 200-yard backstroke finale.<\/p>\n
First, reigning NCAA champion Brooklynn Snodgrass won the title in 1:50.60, just off her personal best of 1:50.52 to win the event last year at NCAAs.<\/p>\n
Allie Day (1:54.14), Cynthia Pammett (1:54.40), Marie Chamberlain (1:55.87) and Justine Ress (1:55.92) went 3-4-7-8 for the Hoosiers in the A final. Additionally, Dorina Szekeres topped the B final in 1:56.42 with Shelby Carroll taking 15th in 1:59.64.<\/p>\n
Michigan’s Clara Smiddy (1:51.76) took second overall to split Snodgrass and Day on the podium.<\/p>\n
IU moved into the lead with a 482-462.5 advantage after the event.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin’s Ivy Martin, who scorched prelims with a Big Ten record of 47.58 in the women’s 100-yard free, wound up taking the title tonight in a bit slower time of 47.75.<\/p>\n
Michigan’s Ali DeLoof snared second in 48.32 with Wisconsin’s Aja Van Hout taking third in 48.60.<\/p>\n
Minnesota cut a bit into Indiana’s lead, as the Hoosiers were ahead 501-490.5 after the 100 free.<\/p>\n
Minnesota’s Kierra Smith scorched the 200-yard breaststroke finale with a conference record 2:05.69 for the win. \u00a0Michigan’s Emily Kopas touched second with a 2:09.58, while Penn State’s Melissa Rodriguez took third in 2:09.87.<\/p>\n
The Gophers reclaimed the lead, 510.5 to 501, with Indiana scoring zero points in the event.<\/p>\n
Although Indiana’s Gia Dalesandro (1:55.10) and Bailey Pressey (1:56.54) went 1-2 in the women’s 200-yard fly, Danielle Nack’s second-place finish of 1:56.31 for the Gophers might have been the biggest swim of the race.<\/p>\n
Along with Devin Ste Marie’s fifth-place 1:57.06, the Gophers were able to hold off the Hoosiers in the team race after the 200 fly to lead 541.5 to 539 heading into a stacked platform diving finals event for Minnesota.<\/p>\n
Minnesota piled it on in the platform even though Indiana’s Jessica Parratto won the event with 424.45 points as a freshman.<\/p>\n
Zhou Yu (371.80), Lexi Tenenbaum (312) and Jessica Ramberg (286.10) went 2-5-7 for the Gophers to take a 588.5 to 559 lead into the 400 free relay.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin’s Chase Kinney (49.07), Ivy Martin (47.35), Aja Van Hout (47.94) and Annie Tamblyn (48.60) blew the doors off the women’s 400-yard free relay finale with a 3:12.96. That crushed the Big Ten record by nearly a full second.<\/p>\n
Michigan’s Clara Smiddy (49.36), Ali DeLoof (47.78), Claudia Goswell (49.23) and Gillian Ryan (48.85) placed second in 3:15.22 with Indiana’s Haley Lips (49.43), Kennedy Goss (48.75), Grace Vertigans (48.99) and Brooklynn Snodgrass (48.58) touching third in 3:15.75.<\/p>\n
Minnesota’s Lauren Votava (49.27), Rebecca Weiland (48.62), Jessica Plant (49.13) and Tori Simenec (49.28) claimed fourth in 3:16.30, making sure they were safe on the relay exchanges, to lock down the team title. \u00a0The top four teams all cleared the NCAA A Cut.<\/p>\n