WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A second relay championship propelled Wisconsin to its best Big Ten finish in more than a decade.
Buoyed by a win in the meet's final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, the 12th-ranked Badgers secured a third-place finish in a tight team race as the 2017 Big Ten Championships came to a close on Saturday at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
The foursome of Chase Kinney, Emmy Sehmann, Marissa Berg and Cierra Runge wrapped up the Badgers' second crown of the championships by beating Michigan to the wall in a time of 3:13.33. The Wolverines finished in 3:13.59.
That runner-up showing helped the Wolverines secure the conference team title with 1,287 points. Indiana took second with a score of 1,125, while the Badgers tallied 1,101.5 points to claim third ahead of rival and fourth-place finisher Minnesota (1,086).
The finish marks Wisconsin's best showing at the Big Ten meet since taking third place in 2005.
"That's a long meet and there's a lot of ups and downs," UW head coach Whitney Hite said. "It wasn't perfect, and it didn't have to be, but they just really did a nice job and I couldn't be more proud of this group of women.
"It's just really impressive."
Kinney got the Badgers out to a strong lead with an opening swim of 48.55 seconds, but Michigan managed to mount a charge and took a slight advantage at the race's halfway point thanks to 200 free champion Siobhan Haughey's fast split of 47.53. Berg put the Badgers back out front on the third leg before turning UW's fate over to Runge on the anchor.
Runge — a four-time runner-up finisher in her first Big Ten meet, including Saturday's 1,650-yard freestyle — grabbed gold for the Badgers in a back-and-forth final 100 by closing with a fantastic anchor swim of 47.72.
"I just really wanted to get my hand on the wall first for these girls and for the team, and I knew that the points were going to be close going with Minnesota for third and fourth," Runge said. "Just being able to get that win was incredible, and I couldn't be more proud of those girls."
Kinney, Sehmann, Berg and Runge joined Jess Unicomb, who contributed to UW's title in the 200 free relay, as first-team All-Big Ten honorees. Berg, Kinney and Sehmann were part of both winning relays.
Saturday's performance in the 400 free relay also has the Badgers automatically qualified for next month's NCAA championships. Wisconsin now owns "A" qualifying marks in all five relay events.
"It was the perfect way to end the meet," Hite said. "Just scratching and clawing and doing everything we could to get our hand on the wall."
Individually, Runge's school-record swim of 15:51.72 in the 1,650 free was part of a major point-scoring finish that saw her take second place and senior teammate Danielle Valley grab third in a personal-best 15:53.16.
"It's about as good as it gets," Hite said. "Cierra not being fully rested, swam tough all the way through and I couldn't ask for more out of any of them. It's nice to see Danielle happy. She's doing lifetime-best times that she has been chasing for four, five years. So it just shows the type of person she is."
The 100 freestyle was also key to the Badgers' point total with Kinney clocking in at 48.52 to take fourth, Sehmann claiming sixth in 48.89 and Berg taking eighth in 49.07. Abby Jagdfeld also scored out of the "B" final, taking 12th in 49.77. All four Badgers recorded personal-best swims during the morning prelims session.
Freshman Beata Nelson and senior Maria Carlson both claimed third-place finishes. Nelson took third in the 200 backstroke after recording a personal-best 1:52.31 in the prelims.
Carlson continued her late-season surge by logging a lifetime-best 2:08.15 to grab third in the 200 breaststroke.
"She was the spark that ignited the whole thing," Hite said of Carlson. "Her swim on Thursday morning in the 200 IM, it's just unbelievable. No one works harder and no one is more deserving."
Dana Grindall (10th, 1:56.49), Megan Doty (12th, 1:58.13) and Grace Wold (14th, 1:58.97) were point-scorers in the 200 butterfly, and senior Ashley Peterson led the way in diving by taking 10th place on the 10-meter platform with a score of 265.40.
UP NEXT
The NCAA Zone Diving competitions are set for March 6-8 in Columbia, Missouri. The 2017 NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships follow March 15-18 in Indianapolis.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Whitney Hite on winning the 400 free relay:
"Thank God Cierra's 6-4, but it's not just Cierra. It took four girls and the energy from everyone else on the team and it all just kind of came together. The great thing is we can be better across the board."
