Hoosiers Hold Lead, Win Third Relay Thursday

Thursday, February 29

Columbus, Ohio

5 p.m.

Indiana University

Big Ten Championships - Finals

2/29/2024 10:10:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Indiana swimming and diving won its ninth-straight Big Ten title in the 400-yard medley relay, capping a Thursday (Feb. 29) night through which it remains on top of the team leaderboard at the 2024 Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Championships inside the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the campus of the Ohio State University.

The Hoosiers have 466 points to sit first in the team race, followed by Michigan's 437 and Ohio State's 437. IU trailed through two days in each of its last two Big Ten Championships in 2022 and 2023.

"Well, today was, simply put, a grind for our team," IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. Nothing came easy. We had to put everything out there time and time again and just kind of fell short of where we'd like to be. I feel grateful that we are in any sort of position with a lead right now, but I think we all know that we need to do a much better job tomorrow starting in prelims.

"I know we're going to come out tomorrow and bring a lot more energy and be the team we've been all season. I think we've accepted at this point, it's going to be a grinding-type meet, and, sometimes, in athletic contests, you have that, and we have to adapt to our environment."

Indiana closed the day winning the 400 medley relay for the 30th time in program history and ninth time in as many seasons. The quartet of senior Brendan Burns, junior Josh Matheny, senior Tomer Frankel and junior Rafael Miroslaw have been on each of the last three winning relays and have finished runner-up at the NCAA Championships each of the last two seasons. Their 3:01.61 ranks No. 4 in the country this season and No. 5 in program history – the active quartet owns four of the school's top six times, including the program record 2:59.09 set at last year's national meet.

The first three in the group all had the top split in their stroke. Burns went 45.00, Matheny 51.09 and Frankel 43.88. Miroslaw was the second-best anchor, finishing in 41.64.

Indiana has won all three relays to start the meet. The win also marks Burns' 20th Big Ten Championship and 11th relay title as a member of all three relays at this meet.

The relay came right after IU had two top-five finishes on the 1-meter springboard. Junior Carson Tyler won his second-straight medal on the board as the defending champion took silver with a 405.5 score. Tyler was just 2.75 points behind Minnesota freshman Yutong Wang. Junior Quinn Henninger took fifth place with a 375.60. Henninger has been an A finalist each season. Sophomores Maxwell Weinrich (335.80) and Dash Glasberg (308.90) both earned points out of the B final, placing 11th and 16th.

"Today was a good day for the team," IU head diving coach Drew Johansen. "There were a lot of ups and downs, and the team never surrendered.

"Max and Dash fighting to get into that B final by hitting their final dives in the prelim was so important to the team as was Carson knowing the rules of the game and requesting a re-dive in the fifth round."

"I want to give a big shoutout to our divers, two B finals, two A finals," Looze said. "Carson gave everything he had to try to get the win – they were fantastic."

"It was great to watch the relay continue to dominate that event," Johansen said. "This team has shown that they will never give up, and they will fight to the very end. I can't wait to see what they bring tomorrow."

Indiana had podium finishes from junior Luke Barr, taking sixth in the 200-yard IM in 1:43.20, and junior Finn Brooks tied for fourth in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 19.37.

TEAM SCORES
1. Indiana – 466
2. Michigan – 437
3. Ohio State – 428
4. Wisconsin – 388.5
5. Minnesota – 271.5
6. Purdue – 254.5
7. Penn State – 229
8. Northwestern – 215

RESULTS
500 FREESTYLE
13. Warren Briggs – 4:20.84 (NCAA B Cut)
t15. Mason Carlton – 4:21.72 (NCAA B Cut)
20. Kai van Westering – 4:22.42

200 IM
6. Luke Barr – 1:43.20 (NCAA B Cut)
10. Jassen Yep – 1:44.00 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
13. Toby Barnett – 1:44.32 (NCAA B Cut)
14. Drew Reiter – 1:45.32 (NCAA B Cut)
15. Collin McKenzie – 1:45.34 (NCAA B Cut)
16. Maxwell Reich – 1:45.39 (NCAA B Cut)

50 FREESTYLE
t4. Finn Brooks – 19.37 (NCAA B Cut)
9. Mikkel Lee – 19.48 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
13. Rafael Miroslaw – 19.69 (NCAA B Cut)
14. Gavin Wight – 19.71 (NCAA B Cut)

1-METER DIVING
2. Carson Tyler – 405.50 (Silver, NCAA Zone Qualifier)
5. Quinn Henninger – 375.60 (NCAA Zone Qualifier)
11. Maxwell Weinrich – 335.80 (NCAA Zone Qualifier)
16. Dash Glasberg – 308.90 (NCAA Zone Qualifier)

400 MEDLEY RELAY
1. Brendan Burns, Josh Matheny, Tomer Frankel, Rafael Miroslaw – 3:01.61 (Big Ten Champion, NCAA A Cut)

UP NEXT
Indiana will look to set the tone for a great night when they open day three with the morning preliminary session on Friday (March 1) beginning at 10 a.m. ET. The 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 3-meter dive and 200 freestyle relay will be contested on Friday.

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