Peplowski Sister Combine for Five Individual Wins as Indiana Sweeps Kentucky
The Peplowski sisters, Anna and Noelle, combined for five individual and two relay wins plus four NCAA B cuts as Indiana opened its season with a sweep of Kentucky on Wednesday night.
The Hoosier women prevailed, 161-139, in a matchup of teams that finished 11th and 12th at NCAAs last year. The men’s team won by a 201-96 score.
Noelle Peplowski, a senior, swept the breaststroke events. She went 1:01.03 to win the 100 and 2:20.87 in the 200, which is the fastest time in the country this season. She was nearly two seconds faster than Gillian Davey, the Kentucky senior who made the A final in the event at NCAAs last year. Peplowski also swam breaststroke on the winning 200 medley relay.
Anna Peplowski had a quick turnaround mid-meet in her debut with the Hoosiers. The freshman won the 100 backstroke in 53.48, outdueling Caitlin Brooks by .39 seconds. She then claimed the 50 freestyle in 23.12 seconds, a 1-2 with teammate Ashley Turak. The returned after diving to claim the 200 backstroke in 1:56.80, edging Kentucky freshman Lydia Hanlon by .42 seconds.
Anna Peplowski led off the Hoosiers’ winning 400 free relay in 50.04, leading the foursome of Ella Ristic, Turak and Kristina Paegle to a time of 3:21.20.
Paegle was impressive on the relays, anchoring the 400 free in 49.99. The freshman’s 22.04 anchor leg in the 200 medley relay clawed back a deficit of nearly a second on the leading Wildcats. She also won the 100 free in 49.79, another 1-2 with Turak.
Indiana doubled up on distance crowns, with Mariah Denigan and Ching Gan going 1-2 in both the 1,000 free and 500.
Lauren Poole picked up a couple of wins for Kentucky, edging IU’s Lilly Hann by .02 in the 200 butterfly. She also denied Denigan a third win in the 400 IM with a winning time of 4:14.00. Brooks earned a 1-2 finish with Hanlon in the 100 fly. Izzy Gati won the 200 free. Kentucky occupied three of the top four spots in each diving event, with Kyndal Knight picking up a pair of wins.
The men’s victory was emphatic, and Brendan Burns was at the center of it. The senior started by giving teammate Rafael Miroslaw a go of it in the 200 free, just about even for 150 meters before Miroslaw pulled away to win in 1:37.24 and Burns touched second in 1:37.98. Back in his wheelhouse, he dominated in the 200 fly (1:45.07) and 200 back (1:45.91). He won both races by more than two seconds.
Miroslaw won the 100 free, with 100 back winner Gavin Wight second, and was third in the 50 free behind teammates Van Mathias and Finn Brooks. Brooks was second to Tomer Frankel in the 100 fly.
Jassen Yep and Max Reich went 1-2 in both breaststroke events. Mikey Calvillo was second in the three longest events, the 1,000 free, 500 free and 400 IM. The Hoosiers swept both diving podiums, with Quinn Henninger topping 400 points to win 3-meter and Carson Tyler claiming 1-meter.
Levi Sandidge was the clear standout for the Wildcats. The freshman won the 1,000 free, 500 free and 400 IM. His time in the 1,000 of 9:02.22 is fourth-best in program history.
Mason Wilby was second in the 200 fly and third in the 200 back, while Jackson Mussler had those placements reversed.