Big Ten Weekly Recap: Purdue Sweeps Michigan State; Iowa Splits

Twenty-five event victories and all-time top 10 scores posted by divers Emily Bretscher and Greg Duncan highlighted Purdue swimming & diving’s dual meet sweep at Michigan State on Friday.

The Purdue women swept all 16 events. Taite Kitchel, Jinq En Phee, Jackie Smailis and Maizie Seidl all won a pair of individual events. Kitchel swept the butterfly events, Phee the breaststroke races, Smailis the backstroke events, and Seidl was victorious in the 200 and 500 freestyle.

For the Purdue men, Nick McDowell swept the distance freestyle events. Kiki Komlenic (100 back), Joe Young (200 back) and Trent Pellini (100 breast) all won an individual event and contributed to the victorious 200 medley relay.

Bretscher was victorious on 1-meter by 17.5 points with a career-best score of 329.32, which moved the sophomore into sixth place in program history. Morgan Meixner also posted a personal season-best score of 311.77 as the runner-up in the event. Meanwhile, Emily Meaney was victorious on 3-meter in her season debut. The platform All-American was sidelined by injury during the fall semester.

Duncan led the way as the Purdue men had the top four finishers on 1-meter. He (380.02), Brandon Loschiavo (373.87) and Ben Bramley (342.60) all posted season-best scores, with Duncan moving into seventh place on the program’s all-time list.

Erik Juliusson and Natalie Myers were victorious in the non-traditional 100 individual medley for the Boilermakers. Juliusson’s winning time of 49.75 ranks eighth nationally in the event this season.

Other event winners included Danielle Auckley (50 free), James Boone (100 free), Megan Johnson (100 free) and Emily Meckstroth (1,000 free).

Iowa splits with Illinois, Notre Dame

The University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving team split a Friday double dual at the Activities and Recreation Center in Champaign, Illinois. The Hawkeyes posted a Big Ten road dual victory, downing Illinois, 157-143, while falling to 12th-ranked Notre Dame, 204-95.

Senior Abbey Schneider began the individual events with a second-place finish in the 1,000 free. She swam the event in a time of 10:16.30.

Freshman Lauren McDougall made her debut for the Hawkeyes, competing in four events. The Australia native finished second in the 100 free (52.05), fifth in the 200 free (1:53.13), and swam on the second place 400-free relay and fifth place 200-medley relay.

Illinois had some strong performances.

Jimena Martinez continued to shine in her second season as an Illini, clocking a 2:20.58 in the 200 breast and a 2:05.67 in the 200 IM to come away with the top spot in both events. Gabriele Serniute claimed the top time in the 100 breast, as the Lithuanian touched the wall in a time of 1:05.03. Martinez wasn’t far behind, finishing with a 1:05.40 to place second in the event.

The Saturday men’s portion of the meet was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Penn State beats Navy, falls to UNC

The Penn State women’s swimming & diving team beat Navy 156-144, but fall to foe North Carolina 127-173 in the pool at Lejeune Hall at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Senior captain Ally McHugh secured two first-place finishes in both the 500 freestyle and 400 IM with times of 4:49.40 and 4:17.40, respectively and took second in the 200 free with a time of 1:50.15.

Freshman swimmer Madison Murtagh came in first place in the 1000 free, completing the race in 10:02.38. Murtagh also saw a fourth-place finish in the 500 free (5:01.03).

Rutgers falls to Villanova, Princeton

Rutgers senior Francesca Stoppa and the butterfly squad continued their dominance, but the Rutgers swimming and diving team suffered its first dual meet losses of the season by falling to Princeton (164-117) and Villanova (145-136) in Princeton’s tri-meet on Saturday.

Stoppa finished her weekend 4-for-4 in winning individual butterfly races. She claimed the 100- and 200-yard events in Saturday’s tri-meet, one night after sweeping Princeton on Friday.

Nebraska meet cancelled

Nebraska’s dual at Omaha has been canceled and the Huskers will open their 2019 dual season against Big Ten Foe Illinois Saturday, Jan. 26.

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