Thursday Results | Dive-by-Dive Scoring | Meet Central
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Guillermo Blanco and Stephen Seliskar established new program records in individual events for Purdue men's swimming and diving Thursday on the first full day of action at the Big Ten Championships.
Led by all five divers scoring on 1-meter, the Boilermakers jumped from eighth to fourth place in the team scoring. However, only 4.5 points separates fourth-place Purdue (136.5) and sixth-place Minnesota (132) in the team scoring.
Guillermo Blanco broke the program record in the 200 individual medley twice, finishing third in the A final with a time of 1:43.87. The senior also holds the team's top all-time mark in the 400 IM. Stephen Seliskar opened the 400 medley relay with a 100 backstroke split of 47.42, which was also a new record time as well as his first individual career record.
Steele Johnson finished as the runner-up in the championship final of 1-meter diving in the freshman's first event at the Big Ten Championships. Jamie Bissett also qualified for the championship final. Nate Cox and Alec Back finished 1-2 in the consolation final, which Sean Mokhtari also qualified for. Together the quintet accounted for 48 team points.
Adam Johnston also scored for the Boilers Thursday by qualifying for the B final of the 50 freestyle thanks to a career-best time of 19.98 in prelims, improving on his ninth-fastest mark in program history.
Blanco initially eclipsed Louis Paul's 2005 program record (1:44.65) in the 200 IM with a time of 1:44.57 in the morning prelims. By posting a sub-1:44 mark in the finals, the Spaniard lowered the record by more than three quarters of a second. Blanco was also part of new Purdue benchmarks in the 200 medley and 800 free relays Wednesday on the opening night of Big Tens.
Seliskar eclipsed Tim Watts' 2009 team record (47.60) in the 100 backstroke. The 400 medley relay team of Seliskar, Lyam Dias, Blanco and Austin Flager went on to post the third-fastest time (3:11.31) in program history while finishing eighth.
Johnson improved on his third-best score (415.82) in program history on 1-meter, surpassing 400 points for the first time. Springboard specialist Michael Hixon (474.45) of Indiana won the event by eclipsing David Boudia's conference and meet-record score. Hixon also topped Johnson on 1-meter in the Indiana-Purdue dual meet at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center last month and remains the only diver who has outscored Johnson in an event since the calendar changed to 2015.
Nate Hopkins improved on his career-best time in the 500 free , moving up to sixth in program history with a prelim time of 4:24.15 to qualify for the C final. Danny Conway did likewise in the 200 IM, taking over seventh place in the record book with a time of 1:47.48.
Action continues Friday with prelims at noon ET and finals at 7:30 p.m. ET. The 200 free, 100 back, 100 breast, 100 fly and 3-meter diving are among the individual events on the schedule Friday.
Team Scoring
1. #5 Michigan, 281
2. #8 Ohio State, 211
3. #9 Indiana, 199
4. Purdue, 136.5
5. #19 Wisconsin, 134
6. #22 Minnesota, 132
7. Northwestern, 98
8. #24 Penn State, 89
9. #21 Iowa, 83.5
10. Michigan State, 46
Purdue's Top Finishers & Notables
* - New Purdue Season-Best Time/Score
^ - New Personal Season-Best Time/Score
(B) - NCAA Provisional Qualifying Time
(Z) - NCAA Zone Qualifying Score
1-Meter Diving
Steele Johnson, 415.85* (Z) - Finished 2nd in A Final (17 Points); Improved on His 3rd Best Score in Program History
Jamie Bissett, 378.05 (Z, Prelim Score) - Finished 8th in A Final (11 Points)
Nate Cox, 349.45^ (Z) - Won B Final (9 Points)
Alec Back, 347.95^ (Z) - Finished 2nd in B Final (7 Points)
Sean Mokhtari, 322.35^ (Z) - Finished 5th in B Final (4 Points)
50 Free
Adam Johnston, 19.98* (B, Prelim Time) - Finished T-6th in B Final (2.5 Points); Improved on His 9th Best Time in Program History
Austin Flager, 19.99^ (B, Prelim Time) - Finished 2nd in C Final
Stephen Seliskar, 20.18^ (Prelim Time) - Finished 7th in C Final
500 Free
Jan Karel Petric, 4:23.86* (Prelim Time) - Finished 8th in C Final
Nate Hopkins, 4:24.15^ (Prelim Time) - Finished 4th in C Final; 6th Fastest in in Program History
200 IM
Guillermo Blanco, 1:43.87* (B) - Finished 3rd in A Final (16 Points); NEW PROGRAM RECORD
Danny Conway, 1:47.48^ (B) - Finished 2nd in C Final; 7th Fastest Time in Program History
Josh Brooks, 1:48.10^ (B, Prelim Time) - Finished 4th in C Final
Josh Ehrman, 1:48.44^ (Prelim Time) - Finished 7th in C Final
400 Medley Relay
Seliskar, Dias, Blanco & Flager, 3:11.31* - Finished 8th (22 Points); 3rd Fastest in Program History
Seliskar Program-Record 100 Back Split of 47.42 on Opening Leg
New Purdue Records Established at 2015 Big Ten Championships
100 Back (Thursday)
Stephen Seliskar, 47.42 (On Opening Leg of 400 Medley Relay)
200 IM (Thursday)
Guillermo Blanco,1:43.87
200 Medley Relay (Wednesday)
Seliskar, Dias, Blanco & Flager, 1:26.57
800 Free Relay (Wednesday)
Blanco, Petric, Ehrman & Brooks, 6:27.10