Badgers fast to the last at Big Ten meet

Saturday, February 24

Minneapolis, MN

11 AM / 6:30 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

Big Ten Championships

Photo by: Walt Middleton

Badgers fast to the last at Big Ten meet

February 24, 2018 | Men's Swimming & Diving

Complete Results

Wisconsin closes out conference meet with strong swims from seniors

Complete Results

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Badgers wrapped up the Big Ten championships on Saturday knowing one thing for certain: they left their all in the pool.

"I'm really proud of the way we competed," Wisconsin head coach Whitney Hite, whose team put the finishing touches on a sixth-place finish.

"I thought we swam above expectations, and it was nice to see the whole group step up. I thought they competed and raced very well, they put us in a position to get as high as fourth. We preformed awesome in the mornings, we just ran out of gas.

"With who we lost last year, for us to come within 40 points of fourth-place at Big Tens is a heckuva job. I'm really proud of these guys."

Senior captain Victor Goicoechea saved one of his best swims for last, earning a fourth-place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle in a time of 14 minutes, 52.13 seconds, his fastest swim of the season.

In what has become a theme, UW was dominant in the backstroke. Between the preliminary and final rounds, three Badgers established new top-10 times in school history.

With a 1 minute, 43.40-second swim during prelims, Cameron Tysoe now owns the fourth-fastest swim by a Badger. Matt Novinski earned the sixth-best all-time mark with a 1:42.93 during finals, and Justin Temprano now owns the seventh spot on UW's list with his 1:42.99 during prelims.

Each qualifying for the "A" final, Tysoe took seventh place and Temprano eighth.

"It's kind of like on the women's side, the 200 backstroke is a strength for us," Hite said. "The future is bright for us with those three guys; they're only going to get better."

Todd McCarthy also earned a spot in the 200 back finals with a 1:43.40 during prelims. He added to his stellar showing by swimming the seventh-best 200 butterfly in Wisconsin history during prelims (1:46.35).

"Todd had a heckuva double. Doing the 200 back/200 fly double is not easy," Hite said. "People always talk about the 100 fly/100 back double, but this is twice as hard. He did a great job — he laid it out there in the morning."

As Hite predicted before competition began, another senior captain, Ryan Stack, stood out all week. After finishing seventh in the 200 free on Friday, Stack swam the third-fastest 100 free in Wisconsin history on Saturday. His time of 43.27 was good for 11th place in the final.

"I'm really proud of our seniors. Victor, Ryan, Todd and Anthony Lyons, who really stepped up and had a great meet," Hite said. "Anthony also earned a well-deserved Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

"Just to have our seniors leave on a great note, they really deserve it. They've gone through the program, put in the work and have been great leaders for us."

Two more top-10 times were put up by Michael Milinovich, who finished the 200 fly in 1:45.37, the fourth-fastest time in school history, and MJ Mao, whose 200 breast (1:57.63) earned him the fifth-fastest swim by a Badger.

Kevin Pomeroy, who also qualified for the 3-meter diving final Friday, scored a 332.20 on the 10-meter platform Saturday.

"Kevin did a great job again," Hite said. "To be top-16 in this conference is awesome. He has an opportunity to make the (NCAA) meet at the zone meet."

The Badgers finished the competition with a sixth-place finish in the 400 free relay. Stack, Kevin Braun, Tyler Zelen and Griffin Back finished in 2:54.18, the ninth-fastest swim in school history.

The Badgers entered the day just a half-point shy of fifth place but could not get over that hump. Their sixth-place finish came with a total of 696.5 points. Indiana claimed its second-straight Big Ten title by tallying 1,658, followed by Michigan (1,617.5), Ohio State (1,300.5), Purdue (735.5) and Minnesota (712.5).