Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Michigan Collects Four Medals on Day Three of Big Ten Championships
2/23/2024 10:17:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Site:Â West Lafayette, Ind. (Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center)
Event:Â Bog Ten Championships (Day 2 of 4)
Score:Â 3rd Place after Day 3 (835 points)
Next U-M Event:Â Friday, Feb. 23 -- at Big Ten Championships - Day 4 (West Lafayette, Ind.), 10 a.m./ 5 p.m.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The No. 16-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team wrapped up the third day of competition of the Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday (Feb. 23) at Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.
The Wolverines collected four medals (three individual, one relay) and now rank third with 835 points behind No. 6 Indiana (884 points) and No. 8 Ohio State (907 points).
It was another productive morning in the preliminaries as 17 swimmers and two divers qualified for a final. Natalie Kan led the way in the 100-yard butterfly, posting the fastest time in the preliminary round with a mark of 51.97 to earn the top seed in the championship final. Kathryn Ackerman logged the fourth-best time in the 400-yard IM to reach the final. Two Wolverines punched their ticket to the A-final in the 200-yard freestyle as Stephanie Balduccini and Katie Crom registered top-eight times. Claire Donan and Casey Chung claimed their finals spots in the 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard backstroke, respectively. In the dive well, Kiarra Milligan and Evie Johnson logged preliminary scores in the three-meter dive that ranked in the top 16 to advance to the consolation final.
Claire Newman was honored as Michigan's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree prior to the night session.
Milligan and Johnson got the evening session underway, registering scores of 280.45 and 269.75 to secure 12th and 14th overall, respectively. Over in the pool, the Maize and Blue got off to a good start as three Wolverines finished in the top four in the 100 fly. Brady Kendall secured the silver medal with a personal-best time of 51.79; Kan took the bronze with a season-best mark of 51.88, and Anna Boemer finished fourth, clocking a 51.99, a new career best.
Ackerman maintained the momentum in the 400-yard IM, logging a mark of 4:09.54 to set a new best time in 2023-24 and finish fourth overall. Balduccini secured the third medal of the night for Michigan, posting a 200-yard freestyle time of 1:43.75 to take bronze. A day after winning the Big Ten title in the 500-yard freestyle, Crom followed up with a fourth-place result in the 200 free, touching the wall at 1:43.93. In the 100-yard backstroke, Chung secured fourth overall with a time of 52.08.
Michigan closed out the session with a strong race in the 200-yard freestyle relay as Balduccini,
Lindsay Flynn, Kendall and Claire Newman combined to post a time of 1:26.75, good for a silver medal.
U-M will wrap up the Big Ten Championships on Saturday (Feb. 24) at Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Facility. The Wolverines will compete in 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, 1,605-yard freestyle and platform diving. Preliminaries will start at 10:00 a.m., and finals will get underway at 5:00 p.m.
Team Standings Through Day Three
1. No. 8 Ohio State 907 2. No. 6 Indiana 884 3. No. 16 Michigan 835 4. No. 14 Wisconsin 624.5 5. Minnesota 574.5 6. Purdue 363 7. Penn State 305 8. Northwestern 298.5 9. Nebraska 296 10. Rutgers 237.5 11. Iowa 217 12. Illinois 152
Players Mentioned
