Thursday Results / Dive-by-Dive Scoring / Purdue Notables / Photos / B1G Meet Central
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Top three medalist finishes in A finals from Joe Cifelli and Adam Johnston highlighted the first full day of action at the Big Ten Championships for Purdue men's swimming and diving Thursday at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
The Boilermakers had nine athletes score in individual events Thursday, headlined by Cifelli finishing as the runner-up in the A final of 1-meter diving and Johnston taking third in the A final of the 50 freestyle.
Hardware for Adam Johnston of @PurdueMSwimDive as he takes bronze in the 50 Free at Big Ten Championships! https://t.co/qsqfhEShpm
-- Purdue Athletics (@PurdueSports) February 26, 2016
As freshmen, Max Showalter and Cifelli both qualified for the A final in their first career events at Big Tens. Cifelli's score of 401.10 in the finals was a personal best, becoming just the fourth Boilermaker ever to hit the 400-point mark on a 1-meter list. His third dive, a reverse 2 ½ somersault tuck, was particularly impressive and received six scores of nine or better for a total award of 81.
Showalter settled for eighth in the 1-meter A final with a score of 320.85. He and Cifelli teamed up to earn Purdue 50 team points in the event.
Led by Johnston's career-best finish, three Boilermakers scored in the 50 free to rack up 45 team points in the event. Johnston's prelim time of 19.58 to reach the A final ranks as the third fastest in program history. Austin Flager took fourth in the B final of the 50 free after posting the fifth-fastest time (19.80) in the team record book. Nate Thomas chipped in three more team points by taking sixth in the C final with a career-best time of 20.21.
Purdue (246 points) remained in sixth place in the team scoring and will enter Friday's action 20 points behind fifth-place Wisconsin and 38 points in front of seventh-place Iowa.
Freshman diver Joey Cifelli takes the silver medal in the 1-meter springboard. #BoilerUp https://t.co/E6ncBb0hXa
-- Purdue Athletics (@PurdueSports) February 26, 2016
The Boilermakers had two swimmers score in the C final of both the 200 individual medley and 500 free. Erik Juliusson took third in the C final of the 200 IM in his first career event at Big Tens. The freshman's time of 1:46.46 was good for seventh in program history. Adam Noens was seventh in the same race and his career-best time of 1:47.27 moved him into eighth place in program history.
Josh Brooks rallied to win heat three of the 500 free prelims. Jared Schimmelpfenning (4:26.68) and Brooks (4:27.03) both posted season-best time while finishing sixth and seventh in the C final, respectively.
Purdue's 400 medley relay team of Alex Toetz, Marat Amaltdinov, Flager and Filip Bujoczek accounted for the fourth fastest time (3:11.40) in program history while taking seventh. Toetz led off the race with a 100 backstroke split of 48.81 that ranks ninth in the team record book.
New pool records at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center were posted in all four swimming events Thursday. Chief among them was Michigan's Paul Powers winning the A final of the 50 free in 18.85 to become just the second Big Ten swimmer ever to post a sub-19 second time in the 50. Powers set meet and Big Ten records as well. Michigan's Anders Nielsen (4:12.83 in 500 free) and Dylan Bosch (1:43.02 in 200 IM) also accounted for new pool records while winning A finals. Indiana's 400 medley relay (3:05.61) team did likewise while touching first in the event. The 500 free pool record had stood since the 2004 Big Ten Championships while the other three standards dated back to the 2009 Big Tens.
Action continues Friday with prelims at 11 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m.
Team Scoring
1. #5 Michigan, 496
2. #9 Indiana, 452
3. #15 Ohio State, 427.5
4. #25 Minnesota, 308
5. #16 Wisconsin, 268
6. Purdue, 246
7. Iowa, 208
8. Northwestern, 194
9. Penn State, 187.5
10. Michigan State, 114
An eighth place finish in the finals for freshman Max Showalter. Two for two on podiums for Purdue divers tonight! https://t.co/DFn14495pn
-- Purdue Swim-Dive (@PurdueMSwimDive) February 26, 2016