Hoosiers Medal, Set Program Record on Big Ten Opening Night

Wednesday, February 16

Madison, Wis.

Indiana University

Big Ten Championships - Finals

Hoosiers Medal, Set Program Record on Big Ten Opening Night

2/16/2022 5:46:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

Results (PDF)

MADISON, Wis. – Indiana's women's 800 Freestyle Relay team set a program record to highlight a strong first night at the 2022 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships on Wednesday (Feb. 16) inside Soderholm Family Aquatic Center.

The Hoosiers sit third in the team ranking after earning silver in the 800 Freestyle Relay (6:58.60) and fourth place in the 200 Medley Relay (1:36.07) Wednesday (Feb. 16) night inside Soderholm Family Aquatic Center. Both times set NCAA A Cuts, automatically qualifying each relay squad for NCAA Championships.

"I'm super excited about the program record in the 800 free relay," IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. "That was a long time coming, and hopefully we can push it down even more four weeks from now."

Freshman Anna Peplowski led off the relay with a 1:43.53 split before sophomore Ella Ristic tallied a 1:45.08 in her 200 to give Indiana a lead at the halfway point. Freshman Dominika Kossakowska (1:44.99) and seniorr Mackenzie Looze (1:45.00) closed out the tightly contested race to finish just behind Ohio State (6:58.17) and right in front of Michigan (6:58.82).

"It was a great race. It came to three teams duking it out, and we were winning with 50 to go. I'll take that any day. It would have been nice to get the win, but we're moving in the right direction as a program, and I'm really proud of all those girls tonight."

The Hoosiers finished fourth in the 200 Medley Relay to gain valuable points in the first race of the championships and a spot in the NCAA meet.

"It was a good first night for us compared to the past couple years," Looze said. "In the medley relay, if we went a 1:35:00-anything, I thought that would have been a perfect swim. So, that was probably the best place we could get. I do think we can go 1:35:00, which will help us in the NCAA Championships."

TEAM SCORES
1. Ohio State – 128
2. Michigan – 110
3. Indiana – 108
4. Northwestern – 104
5. Wisconsin – 102
6. Minnesota – 96
7. Rutgers – 90
8. Penn State – 86
9. Nebraska – 84
10. Purdue – 68
11. Illinois – 64
12. Iowa – 60

NOTABLES
• Indiana's 6:58.60 in the 800 Freestyle Relay ranks ninth in Big Ten Championship history.
• The Hoosiers bested their previous program record, 6:59.10, that was set in the 2015 conference championships by Haley Lips, Kennedy Goss, Grace Vertigans and Brooklyn Snodgrass.
• Two freshmen, Anna Peplowski and Dominika Kossakowska, took part in IU's record-setting relay. Peplowski's 1:43.53 leadoff split beat her previous personal best in the 200 Free (1:44.34). Peplowski has dropped almost four seconds in the event during her freshman season after owning a 1:47.26 personal best coming into college.
• Indiana's 1:36.07 in the 200 Medley Relay ranks seventh in program history.

RESULTS
200 MEDLEY RELAY
4. Kacey McKenna, Noelle Peplowski, Elizabeth Broshears, Ashley Turak – 1:36.07 (NCAA A Cut)

800 FREESTYLE RELAY
2. Anna Peplowski, Ella Ristic, Dominika Kossakowska, Mackenzie Looze – 6:58.60 (Program Record, NCAA A Cut)

UP NEXT
The 2022 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships resume Thursday for day two, the first full day of action. Athletes will compete in the 500 Freestyle, 200 IM, 50 Freestyle, 1-meter dive and 400 Medley Relay, with preliminaries beginning at 11 a.m. ET. Finals are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET.

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