Wisconsin finishes fifth at Big Ten championships

Saturday, February 27

West Lafayette, Ind.

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Wisconsin Badgers

Big Ten Championships

Wisconsin men cheer on at 2016 Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships

Photo by: David Wegiel

Wisconsin finishes fifth at Big Ten championships

February 27, 2016 | Men's Swimming & Diving

School record relay, Hutchins and Byrd highlight final day

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Led by a school record relay and top-three finishes from Matt Hutchins and Austin Byrd, the Wisconsin men's swimming and diving team secured a fifth-place finish with 832.5 points at the 2016 Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships in West Lafayette, Indiana, on Saturday night.

Hutchins sparked the Badgers early, starting the final night of competition at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center with a runner-up finish in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 15 minutes, .80 seconds. For his swim Saturday night and overall performance throughout the four-day conference meet, Hutchins was named to the 2016 All-Big Ten Second Team.

"I thought our guys did a really nice job competing the whole time," head coach Whitney Hite said. "We were pleased with fifth place, but not really satisfied. I'm really proud of the way they fought. Going out with a school record and an NCAA 'A' cut in the relay was a great way to end the meet.

"We had someone in a championship final in every event tonight. We got some diving points as well and that's always appreciated and helpful. Overall, this was a really good meet for us."

Led by Hutchins, the Badgers racked up a total of 85 team points in the 1650-yard freestyle. Joining Hutchins in the A-Final, Nathan Mueller finished in seventh place (15:14.60) and Sean Maloney was just behind in eighth place (15:15.96). Josh Anderson also scored for UW in the event by finishing 15th (15:26.07).

"To have three of our swimmers in the top eight of the mile was awesome," Hite said. "Nathan swam the sixth-fastest time ever in our program for that event and Sean swam the seventh-fastest time. Those were great performances."

Earning a top-three finish of his own was Byrd, who tied for third place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:42.09. Earlier in the day during preliminaries, Byrd swam a career-best time of 1:41.69 in the event, which ranks as the second-fastest time in school history.

Brett Pinfold also swam in the A-Final and finished seventh (1:43.96). His time of 1:42.38 earlier in prelims ranks as the third-fastest in UW history.

The Badgers finished off the meet with a bang on Saturday night, as the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Clifton, Pinfold, Ryan Stack and Ryan Barsanti swam a school record 2:52.69 and finished in fourth place.

In the 100-yard freestyle, Cannon Clifton earned a fifth-place finish (42.87). His time of 42.67 earlier in prelims marked a season best and ranks as the second-fastest time in program history, nearly besting his school record of 42.66.

Jake Mandli finished eighth in the 200-yard breaststroke with a finals swim of 1:56.70. His time of 1:55.49 from earlier in the day during prelims marked a career best by two seconds and ranks as the second-fastest all-time at Wisconsin.

In the 200-yard butterfly, Harrison Tran finished in seventh place in 1:46.05. A career-best time, Tran actually swam the exact same time during preliminaries earlier in the morning. The time ranks as the sixth-fastest in UW history for the event.

The Wisconsin men now prepare to take qualified swimmers to participate at the 2016 NCAA Championships, which will be held March 24-26 in Atlanta, Georgia.

"The NCAA championships is always our focus," Hite said. "We had some really good success at this meet, but it's most important to be swimming the fastest and performing our best to score points at NCAAs. We'll get back to work and make sure that when we land the plane in Atlanta we'll be at our best and ready to go."