Hoosiers sit in 3rd place after Day 1 of Big Ten Championships

As Indiana’s quest for its first men’s swimming and diving Big Ten title in six years began Wednesday, the Hoosiers found themselves 20 points behind at the end of the day.

After the first day of competition at the Campus Wellness and Recreation Center at the University of Iowa, the Hoosiers currently stand in third place with 60 points, 20 behind leading Michigan, which won both events thus far.

The Hoosiers started off the night with the 200-yard medley relay, as the team of junior Daniel Kanorr, sophomores James Wells and Cody Miller and freshman Steve Schmuhl finished in fourth place with a time of 1:25.79. Their time was not only an NCAA B Cut, it was also the third-fastest time in school history, only .42 seconds shy of the school record.

Following the medley relay, the Hoosiers finished fourth again in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 6:25.85, an NCAA B Cut time. The team of seniors John Schnittker and Tyler Shedron, junior Jim Barbiere and Schmuhl also set the second-best time in school history in the event, four seconds slower than the school record set in 2011.

IU also finished first in the 3-meter synchronized diving exhibition, as the duo of junior Mick Dell’Orco and sophomore Darian Schmidt scored a 326.49 to lead the way for the Hoosiers.

Day two of the Big Ten Championships starts at 1:00 p.m.  Thursday with preliminaries in the 500- and 50-yard freestyles, 200-yard Individual Medley and 1-meter dive.

— Jordan Littman