The No. 4-ranked Indiana University men's swimming and diving team went wire-to-wire at the 2017 Big Ten Championships, winning the conference championship on Saturday night at the McCorkle Aquatic Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Indiana's Big Ten championship is the 25th in program history and the first for the team since 2006. IU also won four more titles on Saturday, pushing the team's total to 12 for the week. The dozen league crowns are the most for the team since winning 13 in 1976.
For the week, IU won a total of 19 medals – 12 gold, five silver and two bronze. Indiana also won four of the five relays at the Big Ten Championships, marking the first time in program history the team accomplished that impressive feat.
IU won the team title with a total score of 1,504 points. Michigan and Ohio State tied for second place with scores of 1,382 points, while Minnesota placed fourth with 879. Rounding out the top-five was Wisconsin with 763 points.
Vini Lanza was named Swimmer of the Championships after winning four gold medals and one silver over the course of the week. The sophomore won gold in the 200 IM, 200 butterfly, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay. Lanza claimed silver in the 100 butterfly.
The honor is the fifth in program history, as Lanza becomes just the fourth Hoosier swimmer to earn the accolade.
Joining Lanza on the All-Big Ten First-Team were Marwan Elkamash, Ian Finnerty, Bob Glover, Michael Hixon, Ali Khalafalla, Blake Pieroni, Mohamed Samy and Anze Tavcar. Glover was also named Indiana's recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
Pieroni continued his dominance in the 100 freestyle, defending his crown and winning gold on Saturday with a Big Ten, Big Ten Meet and school record time of 41.44. Pieroni is the first Hoosier to break 42 seconds with his NCAA A cut time.
Pieroni's win in the event marks the 10th time in program history that a Hoosier has touched first in the 100 free. Pieroni's time is currently second-fastest in the country this season.
In the B Final of the 100 freestyle, Samy touched the wall first with a NCAA B cut time of 43.13 to finish ninth overall. Sam Lorentz also had a nice swim, placing third to finish 11th overall with a NCAA B cut time of 43.24.
Josh Romany finished 22nd overall swimming in the C Final, posting a NCAA B cut time of 43.93, while Oliver Patrouch placed 24th with a NCAA B cut mark of 44.11.
Lanza put an exclamation point on his tremendous Big Ten Championships, winning gold in the 200 butterfly with a school and pool record time of 1:40.97. Lanza's time is also a NCAA A cut and gives him the top-eight marks in school history.
Lanza's win in the 200 butterfly is the first for the Hoosiers since 1985 and gives Indiana 16 wins in the event in school history. On the week, Lanza won an impressive four gold medals and one silver for the Hoosiers.
Also in the A Final, Max Irwin placed sixth overall with a NCAA B cut time of 1:45.15. In the C Final, Brian Valedon placed second to finish 17th overall with a personal-best and NCAA B cut time of 1:46.38. With his time, the freshman ranks as the 10th-best performer in school history.
After winning silver last year, Glover took home the gold in the 200 backstroke this season, winning the Championship Final with a personal-best and NCAA B cut time of 1:41.25. The senior's time ranks him as the third-best 200 backstroke swimmer in school history.
Glover's win gives Indiana 23 victories in the 200 backstroke all-time at the Big Ten Championships, as he becomes the first IU swimmer to win the event since Eric Ress in 2014.
In the B Final of the 200 back, Wilson Beckman had a personal-best swim to win it, placing ninth overall with a NCAA B cut time of 1:43.31. With his time, Beckman now ranks as the seventh-best performer in the event in school history.
In the 400 freestyle relay, the Hoosiers made history, winning with a Big Ten, Big Ten Meet, school and pool record time of 2:48.29. The team of Tavcar, Khalafalla, Samy and Pieroni touched in a NCAA A cut time that gave IU the team's fourth relay win of the week, marking the first time that IU accomplished the feat in school history.
Pieroni ended his meet with a fantastic anchor leg, taking down the leading Buckeyes with a remarkable 100 freestyle split of 40.99 – almost two seconds fastest than OSU's anchor leg.
Elkamash led six IU swimmers in the 1,650 freestyle who scored, placing fourth overall with a NCAA B cut time of 14:50.22. Elkamash's time is the second-best in program history.
Jack Collins had a great swim in the 1,650, placing seventh with a NCAA B cut and personal-best time of 15:03.75 that ranks him as the sixth-best swimmer in the event in IU history. Matthew Anderson also posted a PR, touching the wall in a NCAA B cut time of 15:07.21 to place ninth. Anderson now ranks as the ninth-best swimmer at Indiana in the event.
Trey Hubbuch finished 14th overall with a NCAA B cut time of 15:11.56, while Jackson Miller came in 15th place with a NCAA B cut mark of 15:16.51. Rounding out the great effort for the Hoosiers in the event was Adam Destrampe, who placed 19th with a NCAA B cut time of 15:20.73.
Hixon ended his tremendous week at the Big Ten Championships by placing sixth in the Championship Final of the platform dive with a personal-best and NCAA qualifying score of 427.75. With his mark, Hixon now ranks as the seventh-best platform diver in school history.
Over the course of the week, Hixon was tremendous, winning gold in both the 1 and 3-meter dives.
In the Consolation Final of the platform dive, James Connor took first place, winning with a NCAA qualifying score of 412.20. Cody Coldren set his personal-best for the second time on the day, taking fourth to place 12th overall with a total of 377.05. With his score, Coldren becomes the 14th-best platform diver in school history.
Diving played a huge part in the Hoosiers claiming the program's 25th Big Ten championship, as the four IU divers combined to score a total of 242 points on the week.
In the B Final of the 200 breaststroke, Jack Kucharczyk had a fantastic swim, touching first with a personal-best and NCAA B cut time of 1:56.20. With his mark, the freshman ranks as the ninth-best swimmer in the event at IU.
Levi Brock also had a PR swim in the B Final, placing fourth to finish 12th overall with a NCAA B cut time of 1:57.07. Brock now ranks as the 11th-best performer in the event in program history. Also in the B Final, Finnerty touched seventh to place 15th with a NCAA B cut time of 1:58.31.
Indiana had one of the best meets in school history, as the Hoosiers totaled 14 school records, five Big Ten records, six Big Ten Meet records, seven pool records, 16 NCAA A cuts, 87 NCAA B cuts and 64 personal-best marks.
