WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Tyler Downs won bronze in his meet debut and Nick Sherman eclipsed his own program record in the 200 IM as one of three Boilermakers to win consolation finals, highlighting Thursday at the Big Ten Championships for Purdue men's swimming & diving.
Downs (427.55) and Greg Duncan (416.05) finished 3-4 in the 1-meter diving championship final with a pair of season-best scores, leading the way as all five Boilermakers that competed in the first diving event of the week scored. The divers racked up a combined 85 team points, a big total helped vault Purdue into fourth place in the team scoring. The Boilermakers have finished fourth at Big Tens in three of the last years.
Nikola Aćin (50 free) and Jordan Rzepka (1-meter diving) also won consolation finals Thursday. Aćin (19.53) and Ryan Hrosik (19.71) teamed up to win consecutive races in the 50 free, with Hrosik taking the C final. With Brady Samuels also qualifying for the B final in individual event debut at Big Tens, Purdue earned 38.5 team points in the 50.
Racing in lane 1, Aćin was a co-winner of the B final along with Northwestern's Federico Burdisso. Both men competed at the Olympics Games this past summer.
WATCH PURDUE'S THURSDAY HIGHLIGHTS
• 1-Meter Diving Prelims & Rzepka Winning Consolation Final
• Sherman Wins B Final of 200 IM with Team Record Time
• Aćin & Hrosik Win B & C Finals of 50 Free
• Downs & Duncan Finish 3-4 in 1-Meter Diving Championship Final
Sherman's time of 1:43.42 while winning the B final of the 200 IM clipped one hundredth of a second off the program record he set at the NCAA Championships last season. Coincidentally, it was just one hundredth of a second Thursday that kept Sherman out of a berth in the championship final of the event. Sherman's record time would have been good enough for third in the A final.
Sherman won a B final at Big Tens for the second year in a row, taking the consolation final of the 200 free last season. Aćin also won the B final of the 50 free at Big Tens as a freshman in 2019 and the Boilermakers have now won that race at the conference championships in three of the last four years. Meanwhile, the three consolation finals winners Thursday matched the same total Purdue had compiled in each of the last two years at Big Tens combined.
Rzepka's victory continued a trend for the Purdue divers going back to last week's women's championships in Madison. Classmate Sophie McAfee swept the springboard consolation finals, meaning Purdue freshmen are 3-for-3 in winning consolation finals of the springboard events.
Duncan posted his fifth career top-four finish in a springboard event at Big Tens. Downs improved on his fifth-best score in program history and became Purdue's ninth freshman diver on the men's side to medal at the conference championships.
The Boilermakers closed the night by posting the third-fastest time (3:07.01) in team history in the 400 medley relay. Coleman Modglin teamed with Sherman, Samuels and Aćin in the event. They've registered top-four times in the record book in each of the first three relays contested this week. Sherman's time of 47.12 on the leadoff leg elevated the senior into fifth place in program history in the 100 backstroke.
Brett Riley was the runner-up in the C final of the 200 IM, step one for the senior as he aims to score in all three of his individual events at Big Tens for the third consecutive season.
The Big Ten Championships continue Friday with swimming prelims at 10 a.m. ET, 3-meter diving prelims at noon and the finals session at 5:30 p.m.
THURSDAY TEAM SCORES
1.) #9 Ohio State 487.5
2.) #4 Indiana 449
3.) #13 Michigan 408
4.) Purdue 288.5
5.) #24 Wisconsin 278
6.) #25 Northwestern 236
7.) Penn State 230
8.) Minnesota 179
Downs (427.55) and Greg Duncan (416.05) finished 3-4 in the 1-meter diving championship final with a pair of season-best scores, leading the way as all five Boilermakers that competed in the first diving event of the week scored. The divers racked up a combined 85 team points, a big total helped vault Purdue into fourth place in the team scoring. The Boilermakers have finished fourth at Big Tens in three of the last years.
Nikola Aćin (50 free) and Jordan Rzepka (1-meter diving) also won consolation finals Thursday. Aćin (19.53) and Ryan Hrosik (19.71) teamed up to win consecutive races in the 50 free, with Hrosik taking the C final. With Brady Samuels also qualifying for the B final in individual event debut at Big Tens, Purdue earned 38.5 team points in the 50.
Racing in lane 1, Aćin was a co-winner of the B final along with Northwestern's Federico Burdisso. Both men competed at the Olympics Games this past summer.
WATCH PURDUE'S THURSDAY HIGHLIGHTS
• 1-Meter Diving Prelims & Rzepka Winning Consolation Final
• Sherman Wins B Final of 200 IM with Team Record Time
• Aćin & Hrosik Win B & C Finals of 50 Free
• Downs & Duncan Finish 3-4 in 1-Meter Diving Championship Final
Sherman's time of 1:43.42 while winning the B final of the 200 IM clipped one hundredth of a second off the program record he set at the NCAA Championships last season. Coincidentally, it was just one hundredth of a second Thursday that kept Sherman out of a berth in the championship final of the event. Sherman's record time would have been good enough for third in the A final.
Sherman won a B final at Big Tens for the second year in a row, taking the consolation final of the 200 free last season. Aćin also won the B final of the 50 free at Big Tens as a freshman in 2019 and the Boilermakers have now won that race at the conference championships in three of the last four years. Meanwhile, the three consolation finals winners Thursday matched the same total Purdue had compiled in each of the last two years at Big Tens combined.
Rzepka's victory continued a trend for the Purdue divers going back to last week's women's championships in Madison. Classmate Sophie McAfee swept the springboard consolation finals, meaning Purdue freshmen are 3-for-3 in winning consolation finals of the springboard events.
Duncan posted his fifth career top-four finish in a springboard event at Big Tens. Downs improved on his fifth-best score in program history and became Purdue's ninth freshman diver on the men's side to medal at the conference championships.
The Boilermakers closed the night by posting the third-fastest time (3:07.01) in team history in the 400 medley relay. Coleman Modglin teamed with Sherman, Samuels and Aćin in the event. They've registered top-four times in the record book in each of the first three relays contested this week. Sherman's time of 47.12 on the leadoff leg elevated the senior into fifth place in program history in the 100 backstroke.
Brett Riley was the runner-up in the C final of the 200 IM, step one for the senior as he aims to score in all three of his individual events at Big Tens for the third consecutive season.
The Big Ten Championships continue Friday with swimming prelims at 10 a.m. ET, 3-meter diving prelims at noon and the finals session at 5:30 p.m.
THURSDAY TEAM SCORES
1.) #9 Ohio State 487.5
2.) #4 Indiana 449
3.) #13 Michigan 408
4.) Purdue 288.5
5.) #24 Wisconsin 278
6.) #25 Northwestern 236
7.) Penn State 230
8.) Minnesota 179