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Indiana Leads After Day 1 of Big Ten Men's Champs

The No. 4-ranked Indiana University men’s swimming and diving team got off to a historic start, winning two titles and setting three school records on the first night of the 2017 Big Ten Championships at the McCorkle Aquatic Center in Columbus, Ohio.
 
With the two victories in the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays, Indiana sits in first place with a total of 128 points. Michigan sits in second place with 110 points, while Ohio State is third with 106. Also with the two wins, IU took home the titles in the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays in the same year for the first time in program history.
 
IU wasted little time on Wednesday, as the 200 medley relay team of Bob Glover, Ian Finnerty, Vini Lanza and Ali Khalafalla won the conference championship in the event with a school record and NCAA A cut time of 1:23.61.
 
The win in the 200 medley relay is the first for Indiana since 2008 and marks the fifth win in the event in Indiana history. The time of 1:23.61 is currently the third-best mark in the country this season.
 
All four Hoosiers had great splits, but Glover and Khalafalla each posted the top times in both their legs. Glover led off with a mark of 21.19 in his 50 backstroke, while Khalafalla came home with a split of 18.43 in his 50 freestyle.
 
The Hoosiers put an exclamation point on the first night of the Big Ten Championships, as the team of Blake Pieroni, Marwan Elkamash, Anze Tavcar and Mohamed Samy won the crown in the 800 freestyle
 
The win in the 800 freestyle relay is the first for IU since 1986 and marks the 15th victory in the event in school history. The time of 6:11.98 is currently the fastest in the NCAA this season.
 
Pieroni got the relay off to an unbelievable start, as the junior set the Big Ten, Big Ten meet, pool and IU school record in the 200 free with a time of 1:31.83. Pieroni’s time is a NCAA A cut and is also the top-time in the country so far this season.
 
The Indiana Hoosiers will continue competition at the 2017 Big Ten Championships on Thursday morning with the prelims of the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle and 1-meter dive. The action gets started at 11:00 a.m. ET at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio.

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