IOWA CITY – The Michigan Wolverines continued on their path to the Big Ten Men’s Championship title with another big night.<\/p>\n
Michigan kicked off what should be a huge night for the Wolverines with a pool record in the 200-yard free relay. \u00a0Paul Powers (19.46), Vinny Tafuto (19.26), Jason Chen (19.47) and Bruno Ortiz (18.61) won in 1:16.80 to clear Iowa’s pool mark of 1:17.61 from 2012.<\/p>\n
Indiana, definitely showing signs of assistant coach Dennis Dale’s sprint expertise, grabbed a school record 1:17.60 for second and an NCAA A cut. Anze Tavcar (19.83), Blake Pieroni (19.45), Yianni Thermos (19.33) and Ali Khalafalla (18.99) put together that strong swim.<\/p>\n
Ohio State’s Josh Fleagle (19.75), Matt McHugh (19.27), Thomas Trace (19.51) and Michael DiSalle (19.56) took third overall in 1:18.09.<\/p>\n
Michigan won again as Dylan Bosch took down the pool record in the men’s 400-yard IM with a 3:40.61. \u00a0Meanwhile, Indiana’s Steve Schmuhl also picked up an NCAA A cut with a second-place time of 3:41.88. \u00a0Minnesota’s Jakub Maly rounded out the top three in 3:42.54.<\/p>\n
Ohio State’s Matt McHugh lowered his own pool record in the men’s 100-yard fly with an NCAA A cut 45.75 to win tonight. \u00a0That swim cleared his prelim pool record of 45.89.<\/p>\n
Michigan’s Aaron Whitaker chased down second-place honors with a time of 46.37, while Minnesota’s Daryl Turner posted a third-place 46.52.<\/p>\n
Ohio State’s Josh Fleagle led a trio of swimmers under the NCAA A cut with a 1:33.16. That swim just missed Blake Pieroni’s pool record of 1:33.10 set as a relay leadoff on night one.<\/p>\n
Michigan’s Anders Nielsen touched second overall in 1:33.49 with Indiana’s Blake Pieroni earning third overall with a time of 1:33.52.<\/p>\n
Michigan’s Bruno Ortiz (51.83) and Richard Funk (52.19) then went 1-2 in the men’s 100-yard breast to keep piling up the team points and clear the NCAA A cut. \u00a0Ortiz already posted a pool record with a 51.77 this morning.<\/p>\n
Ohio State’s DJ MacDonald posted a third-place time of 52.43 with Purdue’s Lyam Dias earning fourth in 52.72.<\/p>\n
Penn State went 1-2 in the men’s 100-yard back. \u00a0Shane Ryan took down the pool record with a 45.54 for an NCAA A cut. That swim eclipsed the 45.56 set by Iowa’s Grant Betulius last December.<\/p>\n
Nate Savoy placed second for Penn State with a 46.10, off his prelim 46.05, while Ohio State’s Matt McHugh took third in 46.37.<\/p>\n
Indiana’s James Conner closed out the night with 494.60 points to win the three-meter diving competition. \u00a0Purdue’s Steele Johnson took second with 476.05 points, while Ohio State’s Stephen Ettienne placed third in 462.50.<\/p>\n
Indiana’s Michael Hixon, who won the one-meter last night and topped NCAAs in this event last year for Texas, took fourth with 461.70 points.<\/p>\n
The result is surprising only in that Hixon likely should not have even been trying to dive. Hixon was in the emergency room until 5 a.m. this morning getting IVs due to flu-like symptoms that included bouts with nausea. And, yes, he still finished fourth with his best score while at IU.<\/p>\n