University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Big Ten Championships
Three School Records Achieved at B1G Meet
2/24/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Saturday Finals Results 
Full Meet Results
MINNEAPOLIS - Three school records were etched in to the Minnesota record books Saturday night inside an electrifying Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. The Gophers finished in fifth place at the Big Ten Championship with 712.5 points. Six student-athletes received All-Big Ten second team accolades while junior Bowen Becker received All-Big Ten first team honors.
"I thought out men did a great job to come out and finish this meet tonight," head coach Kelly Kremer said. "After tonight, I let the team know that there is a bright future for us. We only have two seniors graduating, we're probably returning the most student-athletes and the most points of anyone in the conference so the future is really bright. I'm looking forward to having a great NCAA meet and going on from there."
Minnesota was represented by two swimmers in the 200 backstroke finals, both swimming NCAA "B" cut times. Cale Berkoff (1:44.64) set a new personal best while finishing 20th overall and Nicholas Saulnier (1:43.16) finished 18th.
Things started to heat up as Becker continued to amaze us with his second place in the 100 freestyle finals. He swam a 41.61, a NCAA "A" cut time while also setting a new personal record and broke the school record he set last year.
In his final Big Ten meet as a Gopher, senior Conner McHugh continued turning heads as he broke the school record he set in the prelims (1:51.66) with a NCAA "A" cut time of 1:51.41.
"This is still soaking in for me. I talked to coach beforehand, and this is basically a dry race before NCAA's," explained McHugh following his silver medal finish. "I just wanted to make sure I went in to it relaxed."
Eitan Yudashkin (1:57.52) and Justin Torres (1:57.69) placed 19th and 20th respectively in the 200 breast C final.
The Maroon and Gold made a sixth place podium appearance in the 200 butterfly finals after Matt Thomas swam to a NCAA "B" cut time of 1:44.60 while also setting a new personal best. Thomas Pokkinen earned a 12th place finish setting a new personal record in a NCAA "B" cut time of 1:46.18.
The Gophers placed two divers in the A finals for platform diving. Nick Yang wowed the crowd with his silver medal finish after scoring 518.85 on the platform to break the school record set by Matt Barnard back in 2015. Yang did not receive a judge award below 8.5 and averaged 86.48 points a round.
"I am feeling so good, I have never done this before" Yang said. "I just found myself relaxed. This is my pool, this is my home, I needed to be relaxed, and that's what I did."
Junior captain, Alan LeBlang finished off the weekend with a seventh place finish, setting a new personal record with 413.10 points.
The team closed out competition with the 400 freestyle relays, where Becker, Pokkinen, Thomas, and Saulnier swam to a fifth place finish touching the wall at a NCAA "B" cut time of 2:52.50.
QUOTABLES
Kelly Kremer, Minnesota Head Coach
On team's performance in final day of the meet...
"It was so much fun to see Bowen to finish so well, and to see Connor finish his last Big Ten meet Championships with a school record and a second place finish. It was great to see Nick [Yang] break the school record in the platform. I thought our men did a great job to come out and finish this meet tonight."
On what he said to the team after the meet...
"After tonight, I let the team know that there is a bright future for us. We only have two seniors graduating, we're probably returning the most student athletes and the most points of anyone in the conference so the future is really bright. I'm looking forward to having a great NCAA Meet and going on from there."
On fan support at home...
"It was phenomenal. It meant so much to see so many people, especially in the athletic department and in the University of Minnesota community volunteering their time and being on deck, and doing things to help the meet. Our fans tonight, our alumni, our parents, were just outstanding. They were throughout the whole weekend, and that helps our team a lot."
Connor McHugh
On being named All-Big Ten Second Team...
"Obviously it's a huge honor to be named to the top of the Big ten Conference. I really think this is the strongest swimming conference out there right now across the board. Being able to do that in my home pool, senior year, was a great finish."
On emotions going into the final race the 200 breaststroke...
"This is still soaking in for me. I talked to coach beforehand, and this is basically a dry race before NCAA's. I just wanted to make sure I went in to it relaxed. I dropped two full seconds from this morning, so to be able to continue to drop time is great. Obviously it wasn't the finish I wanted, but I have another meet left, so I'm excited."
Final medal count (8)
GOLD (1)
50 free - Bowen Becker - 18.93 (18.63 prelims - NCAA "A" cut, school record, B1G meet record, personal record) (Thursday)
SILVER (5)
200 medley relay - Matt Thomas, Conner McHugh, Tuomas Pokkinen and Bowen Becker- 1:24.25 (NCAA Qualifying time, School Record) (Wednesday)
400 medley relay - Tom Donker, Conner McHugh, Matt Thomas, Bowen Becker - 3:06.90 (NCAA qualifying time and school record)
200 breaststroke - Conner McHugh, 1:51.41 (NCAA "A" Cut, personal record, school record)(Saturday)
100 free - Bowen Becker, 41.61 (NCAA "A" Cut, personal record, school record) (Saturday)
Platform - Nick Yang, 518.85 (NCAA qualifying, personal record, school record) (Saturday)
BRONZE (2)
100 breaststroke - Conner McHugh - 51.68 (NCAA "A" Cut, personal record, school record) (Friday)
200 freestyle relay - 1:17.02 - Matt Thomas, Nicholas Saulnier, Tuomas Pokkinen and Bowen Becker (NCAA Qualifying time) (Friday)
All-Big Ten First Team: Bowen Becker
All-Big Ten Second Team: Matt Thomas, Conner McHugh, Tuomas Pokkinen, Tom Donker, Nick Yang
Sportsmanship Honoree: Matt Thomas
Players Mentioned
