Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Michigan Begins Big Ten Championships Tied for Second
2/21/2018 9:11:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
» Led by PJ Ransford's anchor leg, the 800-yard freestyle relay took second, getting an NCAA "A" cut (6:16.51). Michigan was in third at the anchor leg, but Ransford overtook Ohio State on the last 50 yards with a 25.45 split for second.
» The 200-yard medley relay of Paul Powers, Jacob Montague, Evan White and James Peek took fourth to open the meet, achieving an NCAA "A" cut (1:24.79).
Site: Minneapolis, Minn. (Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center)
Event: Big Ten Championships (Day 1 of 4)
U-M Team Standing: T-2nd of 10 Teams (108 points)
Next U-M Event: Thursday, Feb. 22 -- at Big Ten Championships -- Day Two (Minneapolis, Minn.), 11 a.m./6:30 p.m. CST
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- A pair of NCAA "A" cuts on the opening relays powered the No. 7-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team on the first night of the Big Ten Championships, held Wednesday (Feb. 21) at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. The Wolverines finished the night in a tie for second (108 points). Indiana won both relays and lead the team competition (128 points).
The Wolverines closed the night with a second-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay, as the foursome of junior Mokhtar Al-Yamani, sophomore Felix Auböck, junior Kai Williams and senior PJ Ransford nabbed an NCAA "A" cut (6:16.51). They were two hundredths-of-a-second behind Ohio State at the anchor leg, but Ransford erased that in the last 50 and closed in 25.45 to ensure the second spot on the podium. Of note was Al-Yamani's opening split of 1:34.42, which sits just off the school's top-10 all-time list.
Prior to that, Michigan opened the meet with a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay, achieving an NCAA "A" cut (1:24.79). The relay included senior Paul Powers on backstroke, sophomore Jacob Montague on breaststroke, senior Evan White on butterfly and graduate student James Peek anchoring on freestyle in 18.94.
"It was a great evening for us," said head coach Mike Bottom. "We battled hard and scored points for the team. We were a little cautious on that first relay, but that's OK. We got points, which is what we wanted to do."
The Big Ten Championships continue tomorrow (Thursday, Feb. 22) at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. Preliminaries begin at 11 a.m. CST, with the finals at 6:30 p.m.
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Indiana 128
T2. MICHIGAN 108
Ohio State 108
4. Minnesota 106
T5. Iowa 96
Wisconsin 96
Penn State 96
8. Purdue 90
9. Northwestern 80
10. Michigan State 68
200-yard Medley Relay
1. Indiana 1:23.95* (Gabriel Fantoni, Ian Finnerty, Vini Lanza, Ali Khalafalla) 4. MICHIGAN 1:24.79* (Paul Powers, Jacob Montague Evan White, James Peek)
800-yard Freestyle Relay
1. Indiana 6:11.50*& (Mohamed Samy, Blake Pieroni, Vini Lanza, Ian Finnerty) 2. MICHIGAN 6:16.51* (Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Felix Auböck Kai Williams, PJ Ransford)
* NCAA A # NCAA B ^ NCAA Zone Diving cut & Pool Record M School Record B Big Ten Record ! Big Ten Championships Record S Swim-Off T Time Trial
Players Mentioned
