Big Ten Men’s Championships, Day 2: Owen McDonald Posts Sub-1:40 Performance in 200 IM as Indiana Leads
The Big Ten Men’s Championships began Wednesday evening with Indiana taking a narrow lead over USC, Michigan and Ohio State. The Hoosiers then extended the margin in Thursday evening’s session as Owen McDonald posted the country’s second sub-1:40 performance in the 200 IM. His teammate Zalan Sarkany was the winner of the 500 freestyle while Ohio State’s Matthew Klinge finished first in the 50 free. The Thursday evening session also includes 1-meter diving and the 200 free relay.
500 Freestyle
The first individual final of the meet saw Indiana’s Zalan Sarkany lead wire-to-wire and capture the conference title. Sarkany, the reigning NCAA champion in the 1650-yard event from his time at Arizona State, has yet to post any exceptional times in the 20-lap event this season, but here he moved into the national top-16 with a mark of 4:11.62. In 2024, Sarkany had a best mark of 4:09.19, the fourth-best time posted all season, although he fell to 12th at the NCAA Championships.
Michigan’s Eduardo Moreas trailed Minnesota’s Bar Soloveychik for much of the race, but he moved ahead in the final 100 yards to claim second place by 11-hundredths, 4:12.72 to 4:12.83. The Wolverines got an additional points boost from Lorne Wigginton taking fourth (4:15.25).
Event 3 Men 500 Yard Freestyle
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B1G Meet: ! 4:09.29 2/22/2018 Felix O Auboeck, Michigan
POOL: $ 4:07.37 3/23/2023 Hobson, Luke, Texas
Name Year School Prelims Finals
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=== A - Final ===
1 Sarkany, Zalan JR Ind 4:13.41 4:11.62
22.87 47.72 (24.85)
1:12.82 (25.10) 1:38.13 (25.31)
2:03.59 (25.46) 2:29.20 (25.61)
2:54.97 (25.77) 3:20.90 (25.93)
3:46.73 (25.83) 4:11.62 (24.89)
2 Moraes, Eduardo JR MICH 4:13.93 4:12.72
23.67 48.96 (25.29)
1:14.28 (25.32) 1:39.76 (25.48)
2:05.17 (25.41) 2:30.71 (25.54)
2:56.20 (25.49) 3:21.80 (25.60)
3:47.27 (25.47) 4:12.72 (25.45)
3 Soloveychik, Bar SR MINN 4:13.92 4:12.83
23.06 47.87 (24.81)
1:13.17 (25.30) 1:38.60 (25.43)
2:04.14 (25.54) 2:29.90 (25.76)
2:55.75 (25.85) 3:21.68 (25.93)
3:47.55 (25.87) 4:12.83 (25.28)
4 Wigginton, Lorne FR MICH 4:15.72 4:15.25
23.31 48.85 (25.54)
1:14.54 (25.69) 1:40.40 (25.86)
2:06.52 (26.12) 2:32.95 (26.43)
2:58.76 (25.81) 3:24.36 (25.60)
3:49.57 (25.21) 4:15.25 (25.68)
5 Staples, Joshua FR NU 4:15.83 4:17.56
23.10 48.74 (25.64)
1:14.87 (26.13) 1:41.32 (26.45)
2:08.08 (26.76) 2:34.31 (26.23)
3:00.85 (26.54) 3:27.46 (26.61)
3:53.52 (26.06) 4:17.56 (24.04)
6 Edmund, Mason JR OSU 4:16.64 4:17.60
23.61 49.07 (25.46)
1:14.98 (25.91) 1:41.13 (26.15)
2:07.32 (26.19) 2:33.51 (26.19)
2:59.28 (25.77) 3:25.53 (26.25)
3:52.12 (26.59) 4:17.60 (25.48)
7 Tepper, Joseph 5Y MINN 4:16.30 4:17.83
23.40 48.90 (25.50)
1:14.69 (25.79) 1:40.68 (25.99)
2:06.68 (26.00) 2:32.92 (26.24)
2:59.61 (26.69) 3:26.38 (26.77)
3:52.54 (26.16) 4:17.83 (25.29)
8 Aslan, Yigit SR WISC 4:16.95 4:19.47
23.45 48.92 (25.47)
1:14.78 (25.86) 1:41.04 (26.26)
2:07.28 (26.24) 2:33.58 (26.30)
2:59.83 (26.25) 3:26.57 (26.74)
3:53.36 (26.79) 4:19.47 (26.11)
200 IM
A second Hoosier who transferred last offseason from Arizona State got a Big Ten win as Owen McDonald recorded the country’s second-fastest time in the 200 IM. McDonald jumped out to a significant lead in the front half of the event, splitting 45.23 at the halfway point to lead by more than a second. The field closed in after that, with Indiana teammate Luke Barr leading the way with his 28.95 split, but McDonald never gave up the lead as he finished in 1:39.89.
That time broke the Big Ten meet record of 1:40.48 established by Michigan’s Gal Groumi last season, and McDonald joined Florida’s Julian Smith as the only sub-1:40 performers in the event this season. Challengers await at the national level, with defending national champion and American-record holder Destin Lasco having yet to record any elite marks this season, but McDonald is in good position as he tries to match or attempt his national runnerup result from last year. He owns a best time of 1:39.23, established last March.
Groumi passed Barr on the freestyle leg to claim second in 1:40.34, good for No. 3 in the national rankings. Barr was third in 1:40.62, just ahead of Michigan’s Colin Geer (1:40.65), and those times rank fifth and sixth in the country, respectively. Just behind was Ohio State’s Tristan Jankovics (1:41.09).
Event 4 Men 200 Yard IM
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B1G Meet: ! 1:40.48 2/29/2024 Gal Cohen Groumi, Michigan
POOL: $ 1:36.34 3/23/2023 Marchand, Leon, Arizona State
Name Year School Prelims Finals
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=== A - Final ===
1 McDonald, Owen JR Ind 1:40.68 1:39.89!
20.78 45.23 (24.45)
1:15.15 (29.92) 1:39.89 (24.74)
2 Groumi, Gal SR MICH 1:41.70 1:40.34!
21.53 46.48 (24.95)
1:15.77 (29.29) 1:40.34 (24.57)
3 Barr, Luke SR Ind 1:41.08 1:40.62
21.74 46.65 (24.91)
1:15.60 (28.95) 1:40.62 (25.02)
4 Geer, Colin SO MICH 1:41.13 1:40.65
21.84 46.61 (24.77)
1:16.10 (29.49) 1:40.65 (24.55)
5 Jankovics, Tristan JR OSU 1:41.78 1:41.09
22.21 47.22 (25.01)
1:16.67 (29.45) 1:41.09 (24.42)
6 Lu, Tyler SR NU 1:43.08 1:42.49
23.10 49.21 (26.11)
1:18.44 (29.23) 1:42.49 (24.05)
7 Knedla, Miroslav FR Ind 1:42.35 1:42.67
21.64 47.68 (26.04)
1:17.43 (29.75) 1:42.67 (25.24)
8 Ben-Shitrit, Eitan JR MICH 1:42.97 1:43.00
22.06 48.26 (26.20)
1:17.66 (29.40) 1:43.00 (25.34)
50 Freestyle
Ohio State earned a victory in the 50 free as freshman Matthew Klinge blasted a mark of 18.78 to defeat Michigan’s Tyler Ray by five hundredths. Klinge was more than two tenths back of Ray at the halfway point while sitting in seventh place, but he came home in 9.54 to secure the conference title. Klinge now sits just outside of the national top-eight in the event.
Ray was second in 18.83 while Indiana’s Matt King, a U.S. Olympian who joined the Hoosiers this year, took third in 18.92. Ohio State’s Daniel Baltes also had a strong result in the top heat, breaking 19 to finish fourth (18.96).
Event 5 Men 50 Yard Freestyle
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B1G Meet: ! 18.69 2/22/2018 Bowen Becker, Minnesota
POOL: $ 17.63 3/22/2018 Dressel, Caeleb, Florida
Name Year School Prelims Finals
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=== A - Final ===
1 Klinge, Matthew FR OSU 18.84 18.78
9.24 18.78 (9.54)
2 Ray, Tyler JR MICH 19.08 18.83
9.02 18.83 (9.81)
3 King, Matthew JR Ind 19.10 18.92
9.10 18.92 (9.82)
4 Baltes, Daniel SR OSU 18.96 18.96
9.33 18.96 (9.63)
5 Szabados, Bence 5Y MICH 19.10 19.06
9.05 19.06 (10.01)
6 Brooks, Finlay SR Ind 19.12 19.12
9.08 19.12 (10.04)
7 McDonald, Mario 5Y OSU 18.97 19.13
9.19 19.13 (9.94)
8 Seymour, Stuart SO NU 19.22 19.26
9.14 19.26 (10.12)
1-Meter Diving
The Indiana diving machine went to work in the 1-meter event as Quinn Henninger took down the Big Ten meet record with his score of 414.84 and teammate Carson Tyler placed third (393.30). In the same event at last year’s NCAA Championships, the two divers second and third, respectively. USC’s Moritz Wesemann split the difference in second place (396.90).
Event 6 Men 1 mtr Diving
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B1G Meet: ! 493.60 2/22/2018 Michael Hixon, Indiana
Name Year School Prelims Finals
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=== A - Final ===
1 Henniger, Quinn Ind 379.65 414.85
2 Wesemann, Moritz GR USC 392.35 396.90
3 Tyler, Carson Ind 387.05 393.30
4 Miller, Max SO PUR 335.45 392.60
5 Rzepka, Jordan SR PUR 338.70 381.30
6 Welsh, Zach FR PUR 340.65 375.40
7 Chaplin, Clay SR OSU 334.40 359.85
8 Wang, Shangfei SR USC 327.60 309.65
200 Freestyle Relay
