Big Ten Men’s Championships, Night 3: Max McHugh Goes 4-for-4 in 100 Breast

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Big Ten Men’s Championships, Night 3: Max McHugh Goes 4-for-4 in 100 Breast

Max McHugh has done just about everything in the college realm: Records, NCAA championships, a claim as one of the best breaststrokers in Big Ten history.

He added a 4-for-4 title streak in the men’s 100 breaststroke at the Big Ten Men’s Championships Friday night.

McHugh won the 100 breast for the fourth straight year with a time of 50.80 seconds. It’s shy of his best, in this meet and overall. But it’s plenty fast for a special bit of history for the Minnesota senior. He’s the 18th man to win four consecutive Big Ten titles in the same swimming event and the first from Minnesota. He joins Indiana’s Ian Finnerty (2016-19) as the only 100 breaststrokers to do that.

That event was notable in two ways Friday in Ann Arbor, both for McHugh’s history and as the one that may have turned a three-horse race in the team competition into an Indiana domination.

The night’s action:

2023 Big Ten Men’s Championships Links

2023 Big Ten Men’s Championships Team Scores

(through the end of Night 3)

Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 14                      
 
  1. Indiana University             1030.5   2. Ohio State University           924.5
  3. University of Michigan            806   4. Wisconsin, University of, Madi  665.5
  5. University of Minnesota           516   6. Purdue University                 483
  7. Pennsylvania State University   407.5   8. Northwestern University           392

100 butterfly

It’s a second title in as many nights from Gal Groumi, and this one was a classic race with Indiana’s Tomer Frankel. Groumi won in 44.50, a meet record and pool record. It also lowers his school record in the event, which had been 44.82. He took the pool mark in the morning, but the meet record bests the time used last year by Alex Quach of Ohio State (who finished eighth Friday).

Frankel was second in 44.66, also quicker than the record. They were out in identical 20.87s, but Groumi came back .16 quicker.

Frankel’s disappointment should be salved by he and Finn Brooks going 2-3 for the Hoosiers. Michigan went 1-5, with Wyatt Davis. Ohio State settled for sixth, seventh and eighth.

 Event 8  Men 100 Yard Butterfly
=========================================================================
     B1G Meet: # 44.74  2/25/2022 Alex Quach, Ohio State
         Pool: ! 45.34  2/24/2023 Gal Cohen Groumi, Michigan
                 44.82  A NCAA Qualifying
                 47.23  B NCAA Provisional
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Cohen Groumi, G  SO Michigan-MI         45.34      44.50#A       32  
                 20.87        44.50 (23.63)
  2 Frankel, Tomer   JR IU-IN               45.49      44.66#A       28  
                 20.87        44.66 (23.79)
  3 Brooks, Finn D   SO IU-IN               46.01      45.40 B       27  
                 21.00        45.40 (24.40)
  4 Baganha, Victor  SO Penn State-MA       45.42      45.48 B       26  
                 21.47        45.48 (24.01)
  5 Davis, Wyatt M   JR Michigan-MI         46.17      45.60 B       25  
                 21.33        45.60 (24.27)
  6 Ward, James P    SR Ohio St-OH          45.74      45.74 B       24  
                 20.79        45.74 (24.95)
  7 Khouzam, JP      JR Ohio St-OH          46.14      45.94 B       23  
                 21.44        45.94 (24.50)
  8 Quach, Alex      SO Ohio St-OH          45.72      45.95 B       22  
                 21.26        45.95 (24.69)

400 individual medley

It’s a changing of the guard in the 400 IM, with rookie Dominik Torok upsetting reigning champ Jared Daigle. Torok, who dropped 16 seconds in the morning, went 3:39.96 to get the win, the Hungarian making huge strides in his first short-course yards season. It denied Daigle, who was quicker than last year but settled for silver in 3:40.99. Eitan Ben-Shitrit made it medals in both IMs, taking third for the Wolverines.

 Event 9  Men 400 Yard IM
=========================================================================
     B1G Meet: # 3:38.03  2009      Tyler Clary, Michigan
         Pool: ! 3:38.51  2014      Kyle Whitaker, Michigan
                 3:39.16  A NCAA Qualifying
                 3:51.31  B NCAA Provisional
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Torok, Dominik   FR Wisconsin-WI      3:43.92    3:39.96 B       32  
                 24.29        51.21 (26.92)
        1:19.88 (28.67)     1:48.48 (28.60)
        2:19.04 (30.56)     2:49.67 (30.63)
        3:15.65 (25.98)     3:39.96 (24.31)
  2 Daigle, Jared B  SR Michigan-MI       3:42.24    3:40.99 B       28  
                 23.68        51.28 (27.60)
        1:19.85 (28.57)     1:47.78 (27.93)
        2:18.13 (30.35)     2:49.23 (31.10)
        3:15.44 (26.21)     3:40.99 (25.55)
  3 Ben-Shitrit, Ei  FR Michigan-MI       3:45.73    3:43.49 B       27  
                 23.78        51.13 (27.35)
        1:18.10 (26.97)     1:45.25 (27.15)
        2:16.18 (30.93)     2:48.59 (32.41)
        3:16.39 (27.80)     3:43.49 (27.10)
  4 Calvillo, Mikey  PG IU-IN             3:44.90    3:44.25 B       26  
                 24.25        51.15 (26.90)
        1:19.98 (28.83)     1:48.44 (28.46)
        2:20.13 (31.69)     2:52.80 (32.67)
        3:18.98 (26.18)     3:44.25 (25.27)
  5 Bansberg, Willi  SO Ohio St-OH        3:45.68    3:45.29 B       25  
                 23.62        51.20 (27.58)
        1:20.02 (28.82)     1:48.01 (27.99)
        2:19.91 (31.90)     2:51.81 (31.90)
        3:18.52 (26.71)     3:45.29 (26.77)
  6 Jankovics, Tris  FR Ohio St-OH        3:46.58    3:45.32 B       24  
                 24.02        51.71 (27.69)
        1:20.36 (28.65)     1:48.33 (27.97)
        2:20.32 (31.99)     2:52.90 (32.58)
        3:19.49 (26.59)     3:45.32 (25.83)
  7 Lulek, Will      GS Penn State-MA     3:46.04    3:46.96 B       23  
                 24.58        51.98 (27.40)
        1:21.56 (29.58)     1:50.31 (28.75)
        2:21.74 (31.43)     2:53.65 (31.91)
        3:20.55 (26.90)     3:46.96 (26.41)
  8 Christenson, Wi  JR Minnesota-MN      3:46.08    3:47.23 B       22  
                 24.75        51.32 (26.57)
        1:20.89 (29.57)     1:50.46 (29.57)
        2:22.05 (31.59)     2:55.70 (33.65)
        3:21.54 (25.84)     3:47.23 (25.69)

200 freestyle

Wisconsin’s Jake Newmark knows what it is to repeat as the 500 free champion. Now he can add a title double to his resume.

Newmark set a pool record of 1:31.61, which downs Michael Wynalda’s time from 2014. He was out in 45.09 and worked the third 50 to the tune of 23.03 to put distance on the field.

Ohio State’s Ruslan Gaziev was second. Rafael Miroslaw, the top seed out of prelims and the defending champ, was third.

 Event 10  Men 200 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
     B1G Meet: # 1:31.14  2/23/2018 Blake J Pieroni, Indiana
         Pool: ! 1:32.14  2014      Michael Wynalda, Michigan
                 1:31.98  A NCAA Qualifying
                 1:35.88  B NCAA Provisional
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Newmark, Jake Q  JR Wisconsin-WI      1:33.53    1:31.61!A       32  
                 21.90        45.09 (23.19)
        1:08.12 (23.03)     1:31.61 (23.49)
  2 Gaziev, Ruslan   JR Ohio St-OH        1:34.47    1:31.94!A       28  
                 21.70        45.11 (23.41)
        1:08.80 (23.69)     1:31.94 (23.14)
  3 Miroslaw, Rafae  SO IU-IN             1:33.51    1:32.10!B       27  
                 21.50        44.73 (23.23)
        1:08.19 (23.46)     1:32.10 (23.91)
  4 Navikonis, Toma  FR Ohio St-OH        1:34.23    1:33.60 B       26  
                 21.91        45.38 (23.47)
        1:09.13 (23.75)     1:33.60 (24.47)
  5 Sherman, Nick S  SR PUR               1:33.56    1:33.95 B       25  
                 21.92        45.39 (23.47)
        1:09.58 (24.19)     1:33.95 (24.37)
  6 Soloveychik, Ba  SO Minnesota-MN      1:35.38    1:34.83 B       24  
                 22.33        46.28 (23.95)
        1:10.42 (24.14)     1:34.83 (24.41)
  7 Frankel, Tomer   JR IU-IN             1:34.93    1:34.84 B       23  
                 21.96        45.84 (23.88)
        1:10.25 (24.41)     1:34.84 (24.59)
  8 Moraes, Eduardo  SO Michigan-MI       1:35.42    1:35.18 B       22  
                 22.50        46.17 (23.67)
        1:10.48 (24.31)     1:35.18 (24.70)

100 breaststroke

You can call Max McHugh Mr. 4-for-4. The Minnesota senior added his fourth consecutive 100 breast title to his voluminous CB, winning 50.80. He went out first in 23.84 and it was pretty well over from there. He had the fastest first 50 and the second-fastest second 50 (only Josh Matheny of Indiana was quicker coming home). The NCAA champ lowered the pool record, which had belonged to Thomas Cope. He holds the meet mark from 2021 at 50.19.

Indiana’s Van Mathias was massive again in stepping up for silver in 51.32. Matheny was third and Jassen Yep was fifth as Indiana went from 60 points behind Ohio State to 15 points up in one event.

 Event 11  Men 100 Yard Breaststroke
=========================================================================
     B1G Meet: # 50.19  3/5/2021  Maxwell J McHugh, Minnesota
         Pool: ! 51.09  2021      Thomas Cope, Michigan
                 51.40  A NCAA Qualifying
                 53.87  B NCAA Provisional
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 McHugh, Max J    SR Minnesota-MN        51.59      50.80!A       32  
                 23.84        50.80 (26.96)
  2 Mathias, Van L   PG IU-IN               51.72      51.32 A       28  
                 24.14        51.32 (27.18)
  3 Matheny, Josh M  SO IU-IN               52.31      51.50 B       27  
                 24.90        51.50 (26.60)
  4 Houseman, Kevin  SR Northwestern-IL     52.47      51.90 B       26  
                 24.09        51.90 (27.81)
  5 Yep, Jassen J    JR IU-IN               52.65      52.10 B       25  
                 24.59        52.10 (27.51)
  6 Myhre, Will D    SR Wisconsin-WI        52.43      52.11 B       24  
                 24.25        52.11 (27.86)
  7 Fitzpatrick, Br  SO Michigan-MI         52.77      52.42 B       23  
                 24.48        52.42 (27.94)
  8 Lazzerini, Mari  FR Penn State-MA       52.49      52.58 B       22  
                 25.07        52.58 (27.51)

100 backstroke

Make it a seventh individual Big Ten title and 15th overall for Brendan Burns, the Indiana senior going 44.65 to win the event. It lowers his pool record of the morning, though it’s short of his meet record from last year. It’s the second straight year Burns has won the event and the sixth straight year the event has been won by a Hoosier.

He led Michigan’s Wyatt Davis to the wall by six tenths, the Michigan junior grabbing silver in 45.20. It lowers the program record of 45.48, set in 2012 by Miguel Ortiz. Wisconsin’s Wes Jekel was third. Gavin Wright’s sixth-place finish is good news for IU.

 Event 12  Men 100 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
     B1G Meet: # 44.31  2/25/2022 Brendan A Burns, Indiana
         Pool: ! 44.78  2/23/2023 Brendan A Burns, IU
                 44.79  A NCAA Qualifying
                 47.59  B NCAA Provisional
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Burns, Brendan   SR IU-IN               45.09      44.65!A       32  
                 21.69        44.65 (22.96)
  2 Davis, Wyatt M   JR Michigan-MI         45.32      45.20 B       28  
                 21.90        45.20 (23.30)
  3 Jekel, Wes B     SR Wisconsin-WI        46.35      45.80 B       27  
                 21.96        45.80 (23.84)
  4 Samuels, Brady   SO PUR                 45.87      45.86 B       26  
                 22.07        45.86 (23.79)
  5 Morley, Cooper   FR Penn State-MA       45.89      46.04 B       25  
                 22.46        46.04 (23.58)
  6 Wight, Gavin R   JR IU-IN               45.79      46.27 B       24  
                 22.35        46.27 (23.92)
  7 Watkins, Thomas  SR Ohio St-OH          46.48      46.31 B       23  
                 22.15        46.31 (24.16)
  8 Quach, Alex      SO Ohio St-OH          46.55      46.89 B       22  
                 22.32        46.89 (24.57)

3-meter diving

Ohio State’s divers have been outstanding this week. But there’s no stopping Indiana’s nationally elite program. Andrew Capobianco and Quinn Henninger went 1-2 on 3-meter, an accelerate to the Hoosiers running away from the pack on the team standings.

Capobianco tallied 500.30 points to win the event for the second straight year, the three-time Big Ten Diver of the Year tossing his name into the rings for a third. It’s no shock for the two-time NCAA champ in this event. It’s his second career 500-point score (505.20 at NCAAs in 2021) and just the fourth 500-point score in Indiana history.

Henninger was second with a score of 484.75, the Indiana duo separating itself from the pack. One-meter champ Carson Tyler missed the final in ninth, but Max Weinrich grabbed seventh for the Hoosiers. It neutralized Clay Chaplin getting a bronze medal for Ohio State.

 Event 13  Men 3 mtr Diving
=========================================================================
     B1G Meet: # 540.55  2/23/2018 Steele Johnson, Purdue
                 320.00  A NCAA Qualifying
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Capobianco, And  PG IU-IN              435.75     500.30 A       32  
  2 Henninger, Quin  SO IU-IN              419.15     484.75 A       28  
  3 Chaplin, Clay    SO Ohio St-OH         419.15     411.30 A       27  
  4 Gammage, Camero  SO Michigan-MI        374.70     409.85 A       26  
  5 Rzepka, Jordan   SO PUR                357.40     399.60 A       25  
  6 Muller, Daniel   JR Wisconsin-WI       358.60     389.00 A       24  
  7 Weinrich, Max    FR IU-IN              364.35     365.00 A       23  
  8 Noaman, Mo       SR Ohio St-OH         384.60     361.70 A       22

200 free relay

Even Indiana coach Ray Looze may not have scripted Friday night this perfectly. An even 100 points in the 100 breast. Burns winning the 100 back. A 3-meter 1-2. And then a win in the 200 free relay to cap it off and leave the Hoosiers more than 100 points up heading into the final day of competition.

Van Mathias, Gavin Wright, Finn Brooks and Rafael Miroslaw went 1:16.29, a pool record and an NCAA A cut to win the 200 free relay. The consistency was insane, with all four between 19.04 and 19.12.

Ohio State was second in 1:16.39. James Ward pushed hard to make up a .43-second deficit on the anchor leg, but his 18.89 wasn’t enough to get it done. It was the second-fastest split of the night, though; the only one better came via Bence Szabados on the second leg for Michigan, which notched an A cut and a bronze medal in 1:16.60. Wisconsin was fourth and also under the pool mark in a high B cut, .17 off the standard.

Event 14  Men 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
     B1G Meet: # 1:15.28  2/25/2022 Ohio State
                          J Armstrong, S Andreis, A Quach, R Gaziev
         Pool: ! 1:17.06  2015      Michigan
                          Powers, Tafuto, Glanda, B. Ortiz
                 1:16.80  A NCAA Qualifying
                 1:17.58  B NCAA Provisional
    School                           Seed     Finals       Points 
==================================================================================
  1 IU-IN  'A'                    1:16.71    1:16.29!A       64  
     1) Mathias, Van L PG             2) Wight, Gavin R JR            
     3) Brooks, Finn D SO             4) Miroslaw, Rafael SO          
                  9.25        19.04 (19.04)
           28.00 (8.96)       38.13 (19.09)
           47.08 (8.95)       57.17 (19.04)
         1:06.27 (9.10)     1:16.29 (19.12)
  2 Ohio St-OH  'A'               1:17.51    1:16.39!A       56  
     1) Gaziev, Ruslan JR             2) Baltes, Daniel W SO          
     3) Quach, Alex SO                4) Ward, James P SR             
                  9.18        19.09 (19.09)
           27.95 (8.86)       38.08 (18.99)
           47.26 (9.18)       57.50 (19.42)
         1:06.30 (8.80)     1:16.39 (18.89)
  3 Michigan-MI  'A'              1:17.41    1:16.60!A       54  
     1) Peel, Cam R SR                2) Szabados, Bence JR           
     3) Cohen Groumi, Gal SO          4) Acin, Nikola SR              
                  9.29        19.35 (19.35)
           28.31 (8.96)       38.18 (18.83)
           47.25 (9.07)       57.39 (19.21)
         1:06.55 (9.16)     1:16.60 (19.21)
  4 Wisconsin-WI  'A'             1:17.55    1:16.97!B       52  
     1) Benson, Andrew T JR           2) Newmark, Jake Q JR           
     3) Wiegand, Ben A SO             4) Scharff, Cooper FR           
                  9.55        19.51 (19.51)
           28.68 (9.17)       38.66 (19.15)
           47.61 (8.95)       57.65 (18.99)
         1:06.78 (9.13)     1:16.97 (19.32)
  5 PUR  'A'                      1:17.35    1:17.39 B       50  
     1) Sherman, Nick S SR            2) Samuels, Brady C SO          
     3) Muhammad, Idris I SO          4) Walker, Liam A SR            
                  9.47        19.47 (19.47)
           28.48 (9.01)       38.68 (19.21)
           47.71 (9.03)       57.88 (19.20)
         1:07.09 (9.21)     1:17.39 (19.51)
  6 Minnesota-MN  'A'             1:19.40    1:18.58         48  
     1) Farrar, Lucas E JR            2) Neverman, Kaiser E JR        
     3) Stowe, Casey E JR             4) Morris, Chris G SO           
                  9.61        19.73 (19.73)
           28.73 (9.00)       38.93 (19.20)
           48.47 (9.54)       58.75 (19.82)
         1:08.23 (9.48)     1:18.58 (19.83)
  7 Penn State-MA  'A'            1:18.63    1:18.63         46  
     1) Baganha, Victor SO            2) Lazzerini, Mariano FR        
     3) Byrne, Lachlan SR             4) Hurley, Tommy J JR           
                  9.21        19.37 (19.37)
           28.43 (9.06)       38.99 (19.62)
           48.14 (9.15)       58.81 (19.82)
         1:08.26 (9.45)     1:18.63 (19.82)
  8 Northwestern-IL  'A'          1:19.83    1:19.15         44  
     1) Schuster, Collin R JR         2) Churilla, Ethan A SR         
     3) Lu, Tyler Y SO                4) Forbes, Ben T SR             
                  9.60        20.09 (20.09)
           29.07 (8.98)       39.52 (19.43)
           48.58 (9.06)       59.04 (19.52)
         1:08.47 (9.43)     1:19.15 (20.11)

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use