Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Crom Wins 500-Yard Freestyle Gold; U-M Second on Day Two at B1G Championships
2/22/2024 9:33:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Site: West Lafayette, Ind. (Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center)
Event: Bog Ten Championships (Day 2 of 4)
Score: 2nd Place after Day 2 (433 points)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Feb. 23 -- at Big Ten Championships - Day 3 (West Lafayette, Ind.), 10 a.m./ 5 p.m.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Behind a championship effort from Katie Crom, the No. 16-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team continued its momentum on the second day of the Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday (Feb. 22) at Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.
The Wolverines now boast a total of 433 points, moving up one spot to finish day two in second behind Ohio State (444 points).
Michigan shined early with 15 swimmers qualifying for finals across three individual events. Katie Crom posted the third-best time among all swimmers in the 500-yard freestyle preliminary with a time of 4:40.77. Stephanie Balduccini, Claire Donan and Devon Kitchel finished inside in the top eight to qualify for the 200-yard IM A-final. Lindsay Flynn, Brady Kendall and Claire Newman posted solid marks in the 50-yard freestyle to reach the championship final round.
In the dive well, Kiarra Milligan qualified for the consolation final and finished second in the round and 10th overall with a score of 281.55 to start the evening session.
Crom outdid herself in the 500-yard freestyle final, outlasting Indiana's Anna Peplowski over the final 50-yards to touch the wall first in a personal-best 4:37.24, the fourth-fastest time in Michigan women's program history, to capture Michigan's first individual conference win of the championships.
In the 200-yard individual medley, Balduccini paced all Wolverines with a season-best time of 1:56.60 to finish fifth overall. Kitchel clocked a 1:57.37 while Donan logged a mark of 1:58.23, setting new tops in the event this season, to finish seventh and eighth, respectively.
The Wolverines also had strong results in the 50-yard freestyle as Kendall set a new personal best, clocking a 21.84 seconds and taking fourth overall. Flynn posted a season-best mark of 21.94 to finish sixth; Newman rounded the top finalists for the Maize and Blue by securing seventh overall with a time of 22.26.
Michigan stayed hot in the relays as the quartet of Balduccini, Casey Chung, Kendall and Kitchel combined to post a time of 3:32.17 in the 400-yard medley relay to initially finish fourth. However, after a disqualification, Michigan secured third to capture its third medal in as many relay races.
U-M will return to Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center on Friday (Feb. 23) for the third day of the Big Ten Championships. Preliminaries will get underway at 10 a.m., and the finals will start at 5 p.m.
Team Standings (Through Day Two)
1. No. 8 Ohio State 444 points 2. No. 16 Michigan 433 3. No. 6 Indiana 426 4. No. 14 Wisconsin 381.5 5. Minnesota 286.5 6. Purdue 199 7. Nebraska 170 8. Penn State 153 9. Iowa 152 10. Northwestern 148 11. Rutgers 123 12. Illinois 86
Players Mentioned
