COLUMBUS, Ohio — Whitney Hite will tell you that the climb is far from over, but Saturday was another indication that the Wisconsin men's swimming and diving program has found solid ground.
The 23rd-ranked Badgers saw school records fall in four events and solidified NCAA qualifying spots for two of their relays on the final day of the 2017 Big Ten Championships at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
It all added up to a fifth-place showing for Wisconsin, which secured a third-consecutive top-five finish at the Big Ten meet for the first time since doing so six straight years between 1999 and 2004.
Indiana took home the title, its first since 2006, by compiling 1,504 points. Michigan and Ohio State tied for runner-up honors with 1,382 points apiece, followed by Minnesota (879) and the Badgers (763).
"I think it shows progress. When I got here, the men's team was a little down but certainly we're much more competitive," said Hite, the Badgers' sixth-year head coach. "We're not satisfied with fifth, but certainly there's been a rise. This is a very good men's team and I think we match up very well on the NCAA level.
"We had a heck of a meet and I'm really proud of the way the guys competed and really fought for every point from start to finish."
Wisconsin secured automatic NCAA qualifying times in both the 400 freestyle and 200 freestyle relays, breaking school records in both.
Individually, senior Cannon Clifton briefly held the Big Ten record in the 100-yard freestyle after laying down a fantastic time of 42.00 in the morning preliminaries, but Indiana's Blake Pieroni toppled that mark by turning in a 41.44 to take the title.
The bronze medal effort in the 100 free was one of two school-record performances for Clifton on Saturday. He also blasted his own UW mark in the 50 freestyle by laying down a fantastic opening split of 19.21 in a 200 freestyle relay time trial.
"He not only had a good day but a really great meet overall," Hite said. "Up until this evening, every time he dove in he got a best time. Not only was he great for himself, but most importantly, he was great for Wisconsin."
Wisconsin didn't score any points with its time trial in the relay, but it got a terrific performance that will carry the Badgers into next month's NCAA championships in the event. Clifton combined with Brett Pinfold, Ryan Barsanti and Ryan Stack to log a school-record time of 1:17.59 that is good for an automatic NCAA qualifying spot.
That trimmed nearly a second off the record of 1:18.47 that UW's squad laid down less than 24 hours earlier in Friday's event final.
"I was a bit surprised," Hite said. "That would have put us, I think, one one-hundredth of a second behind Michigan (in Friday's final). As I told the team, this would be the first year in the six years that I've been here that we would compete in the 200 free relay at NCAAs. That shows progress and I'm really proud of the guys.
"They did a really nice job of taking care of business and I think it surprised everybody, but it was a good surprise."
The same quartet of Clifton, Barsanti, Stack and Pinfold then wrapped up the meet with a third-place finish in the 400 free relay, posting a school-record time of 2:50.66.
"That's really hard with as much swimming as those guys have done, with as much competing as they've done," Hite said. "It was a really impressive swim and I'm just so proud of them. It's a great way to end a very good meet for us."
Aside from his relay efforts, Pinfold finished fourth in the 200 backstroke by turning in a time of 1:42.24 after laying down a personal-best mark of 1:41.75 — which ranks No. 3 all-time at UW — in the prelims.
The Badgers got a pair of strong finishes in the 1650 freestyle, with junior Victor Goicoechea leading the way by continuing his fantastic meet with a personal-best swim of 14:50.59 that made him just the second swimmer in school history to break the 15-minute barrier.
The time was good for fifth place, with Hutchins — the school record-holder at 14:33.09 — clocking a time of 14:56.72 to take sixth.
Senior Harrison Tran swam a personal-best 1:45.70 to qualify for the "A" final in the 200 butterfly and then clocked a time of 1:46.40 to take eighth place. Freshman Michael Milinovich took second in the consolation final, good for 10th place overall, in a personal-best 1:46.38 that moved him to No. 7 on UW's all-time list.
Freshman diver Kevin Pomeroy saved his best for the last day of competition, scoring a 15th-place finish on the 10-meter platform with a career-best score of 329.85.
UP NEXT
The Badgers' divers will compete in the NCAA Zone Diving competition March 6-8 in Columbia, Missouri, before the 2017 NCAA Championships get underway for both swimmers and divers March 22-25 in Indianapolis.
"We've got a lot of confidence," Hite said. "We should have a lot of confidence with the way we performed, and there's still meat on the bones, so to speak. We can be faster."
QUOTABLE
Head coach Whitney Hite on the team's goals for the NCAA championships: "Our goal is not to be the fifth-best Big Ten team at NCAAs. I know that the teams that are ahead of us in the Big Ten are very, very good teams. They're very well coached and they've got a lot of talent, but we feel like on a national stage we can maybe place a little bit higher than some and we're going to do everything we can to have that happen."
