Clark, Shackell First Titles Lead Four-Medal Night

Thursday, February 19

Minneapolis

6 p.m.

Indiana University

Big Ten Championships - Finals

Clark, Shackell First Titles Lead Four-Medal Night

2/19/2026 11:42:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

MINNEAPOLIS – Indiana women's swimming and diving freshmen Liberty Clark and Alex Shackell captured their first-career individual Big Ten Championships, leading the Hoosiers to a four-medal night on Thursday (Feb. 19) at the 2026 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships inside the Jane K. Freeman Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

The momentous evening pushed Indiana into second place in the team standings with 398 points.

Shackell led a two-medal finish in the 100-yard butterfly, as junior Miranda Grana – the reigning champion in the event – took bronze. Touching in 49.95, Shackell broke the program record, surpassing Grana's previous mark by six hundredths. Shackell now owns the school standards in both butterfly events.

Clark dethroned the reigning Big Ten 200-yard freestyle champion – Michigan's Stephanie Balduccini – with a confident, wire-to-wire win. The freshman went sub-1:41 for the first time in her career, touching in 1:40.84. That time makes her the 14th fastest in the event all-time and the No. 10 American. Program record holder Anna Peplowski won the NCAA 200 free title last season as a senior with a 1:40.50.

Indiana set another program record in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a 1:26.20, good for a silver medal finish. Clark and Shackell led off the relay with splits of 21.48 and 21.69, and seniors Mya DeWitt and Kristina Paegle followed up with splits of 22.08 and 20.95. Paegle's anchor ranked second-fastest in the field.

"Great night for the Hoosiers," IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. "Outstanding efforts by Alex Shackell and Liberty Clark winning the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle. We had a solid relay to end the night, and we're excited to get back to work tomorrow morning."

Juniors Macky Hodges and Reese Tiltmann gave Indiana maximum points from the 400-yard IM consolation final. Hodges dropped personal bests twice on the day with a 4:09.12 in the prelim and a 4:06.63 in the final to place ninth. Tiltmann followed with a 4:07.72 to come in 10th.

Three divers scored on the first day of diving. Junior Ella Roselli was the last of eight divers to qualify for the 1-meter springboard A final but improved to sixth in the championship to provide 24 points. Freshman Kaylee Bishop made her conference meet debut with a 15th-place finish, and Lily Witte placed 20th in the preliminary to score points as a C finalist.

"Ella led the team today with another A final added to her list of accomplishments," IU head diving coach Drew Johansen said. "I am so proud of how she mentally took on the challenge today.

"It was great to see freshman Kaylee (Mini) Bishop handle the pressure and fight her way into the B-final. She showed her experience in diving under pressure. There are over 60 girls in the preliminary events today and tomorrow. I look forward to seeing the entire team get a handle on this event."

TEAM SCORES
1. Michigan – 517.5
2. Indiana – 398
3. Ohio State – 390
4. Wisconsin – 384
5. USC – 296
6. Minnesota – 290
7. UCLA – 255
8. Northwestern – 202
9. Nebraska – 184.5
10. Rutgers – 171.5
11. Purdue – 164
12. Iowa – 149
13. Illinois – 114.5
14. Penn State - 106

RESULTS
100 BUTTERFLY
1. Alex Shackell – 49.95 (Program Record, Big Ten Champion, NCAA Cut)
3. Miranda Grana – 50.69 (Big Ten Bronze, NCAA Cut)
17. Chiok Sze Yeo – 52.52 (Personal Best, NCAA Cut)
19. Mya DeWitt – 52.76 (Personal Best, NCAA Cut)
24. Amelia Bray – 52.99

400 IM
9. Macky Hodges – 4:06.63 (Personal Best, NCAA Cut)
10. Reese Tiltmann – 4:07.72 (Personal Best, NCAA Cut)

200 FREESTYLE
1. Liberty Clark – 1:40.84 (Big Ten Champion, Personal Best, NCAA Cut)
6. Grace Hoeper – 1:43.99 (Personal Best, NCAA Cut)
12. Kristina Paegle – 1:45.21 (NCAA Cut)

100 BREASTSTROKE
16. Jonette Laegreid – 1:01.14
24. MacKenna Lieske – 1:02.36

1-METER DIVING
6. Ella Roselli – 282.75 (NCAA Zone Qualifier)
15. Kaylee Bishop – 263.65 (NCAA Zone Qualifier)
20. Lily Witte – 242.35

200 FREESTYLE RELAY
2. Liberty Clark, Alex Shackell, Mya DeWitt, Kristina Paegle – 1:26.20 (Big Ten Silver, Program Record, NCAA Cut)

UP NEXT
The 2025 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships resume Friday for day three of four. Athletes will compete in the 100 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 500 freestyle, 50 freestyle, 3-meter diving and 400 medley relay with preliminaries beginning at 11 a.m. ET. Finals are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

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