University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, February 28
Bloomington, IN
10:00 AM
University of Minnesota
at
Big Ten Championships
Players Mentioned
Backstroke
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Distance Freestyle
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Distance Freestyle
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Breaststroke/Freestyle
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Backstroke
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Butterfly
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Sprint Freestyle
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Backstroke/Freestyle
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Butterfly
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Breaststroke
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Breaststroke
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography 2020
McHugh Claims B1G Title as Four Gophers Record Top-Eight Finishes at B1G Championships
2/28/2020 8:09:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
by Matt Little, Athletic Communications Student Assistant
The Minnesota swimming & diving team improved their position in the standings for the second consecutive day at the 2020 Big Ten Men's Championships on Friday, moving into sixth place with 420 points.
Although it was a strong night overall for the Gophers, the highlight of the evening clearly belonged to Max McHugh. Whether it was setting a new pool record at Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center, earning the top time in the nation or taking first place overall at Big Tens, McHugh did it all in the 100 breaststroke.
In the preliminaries session, McHugh took advantage of his top seed, finishing first with a time of 50.77 and just 0.03 seconds off of his season best. During the 100 breast finals, McHugh took the lead early and refused to be caught, earning every bit of his gold medal with a time of 50.67.
The win makes McHugh the first Gopher to claim an individual Big Ten Championship in 2020, increasing the men's program's streak to three straight years with a champion. McHugh will look to add another gold to his resume in Saturday's 200 breaststroke event.
Competing alongside McHugh in the 100 breast finals was Eitan Yudashkin, who tied his own personal best time of 53.33 en route to an 18th place finish overall in the event.
Matthew Thomas came flying out of the gates for Minnesota as well in the 100 butterfly. The senior touched sixth in Friday's finals session, tying his career best time set earlier in the day (46.26). Tuomas Pokkinen earned a finals spot as well, recording a 15th place finish with a time of 47.04.
Nick Saulnier kept the ball rolling for Minnesota in the 200 freestyle, earning another sixth place finish (1:34.88) and tying his career best time. In the C final, Tim Sates dropped half of a second from his preliminary time and notched a 23rd place finish for the Gophers (1:36.38).
The duo of Gavin Olson and Cale Berkoff took on the 100 back finals for Minnesota. Both competed in the C final, as Olson took 17th (47.14) and Berkoff finished 19th (47.74).
In Friday night's relay event, the quartet of Thomas, Sates, Yudashkin, and Berkoff touched ninth, finishing with a time of 1:19.28. Leading off the relay was Thomas, who set his third personal best of the meet with his 50 free lead-off, touching with a split of 19.62.
Once again, numerous Gophers achieved career best times throughout day three:
100 Fly
Shane Rozeboom | 49.71
Des Sachtjen | 48.62
Thomas | 46.26
200 Free
Aidan Dulaney | 1:41.31
Aidan Dillon | 1:39.17
100 Breast
Evan Yoder | 56.08
50 Free
Thomas | 19.62
100 Back
Berkoff | 48.12
Sachtjen | 49.1
Notable
McHugh's dominant performance in the pool set a new national top time of the 2019-20 season in the 100 breast. His 50.67 mark beat out the previous time of 50.74, which McHugh previously set at the Minnesota Invitational this past December.
Quotable
"This year, we've really come together as a team and it's showing here at Big Tens," said McHugh. "The seniors have positively led the team all year and tonight was just another example of it."
Up Next
Saturday marks the final day of Big Ten Championships competition, as preliminaries kick off with the 200 backstroke at 10 a.m. and finals to follow at 5:30 p.m. CT. Once again, all the action can be seen on BTN+.
The Minnesota swimming & diving team improved their position in the standings for the second consecutive day at the 2020 Big Ten Men's Championships on Friday, moving into sixth place with 420 points.
Although it was a strong night overall for the Gophers, the highlight of the evening clearly belonged to Max McHugh. Whether it was setting a new pool record at Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center, earning the top time in the nation or taking first place overall at Big Tens, McHugh did it all in the 100 breaststroke.
In the preliminaries session, McHugh took advantage of his top seed, finishing first with a time of 50.77 and just 0.03 seconds off of his season best. During the 100 breast finals, McHugh took the lead early and refused to be caught, earning every bit of his gold medal with a time of 50.67.
The win makes McHugh the first Gopher to claim an individual Big Ten Championship in 2020, increasing the men's program's streak to three straight years with a champion. McHugh will look to add another gold to his resume in Saturday's 200 breaststroke event.
Competing alongside McHugh in the 100 breast finals was Eitan Yudashkin, who tied his own personal best time of 53.33 en route to an 18th place finish overall in the event.
Matthew Thomas came flying out of the gates for Minnesota as well in the 100 butterfly. The senior touched sixth in Friday's finals session, tying his career best time set earlier in the day (46.26). Tuomas Pokkinen earned a finals spot as well, recording a 15th place finish with a time of 47.04.
Nick Saulnier kept the ball rolling for Minnesota in the 200 freestyle, earning another sixth place finish (1:34.88) and tying his career best time. In the C final, Tim Sates dropped half of a second from his preliminary time and notched a 23rd place finish for the Gophers (1:36.38).
The duo of Gavin Olson and Cale Berkoff took on the 100 back finals for Minnesota. Both competed in the C final, as Olson took 17th (47.14) and Berkoff finished 19th (47.74).
In Friday night's relay event, the quartet of Thomas, Sates, Yudashkin, and Berkoff touched ninth, finishing with a time of 1:19.28. Leading off the relay was Thomas, who set his third personal best of the meet with his 50 free lead-off, touching with a split of 19.62.
Once again, numerous Gophers achieved career best times throughout day three:
100 Fly
Shane Rozeboom | 49.71
Des Sachtjen | 48.62
Thomas | 46.26
200 Free
Aidan Dulaney | 1:41.31
Aidan Dillon | 1:39.17
100 Breast
Evan Yoder | 56.08
50 Free
Thomas | 19.62
100 Back
Berkoff | 48.12
Sachtjen | 49.1
Notable
McHugh's dominant performance in the pool set a new national top time of the 2019-20 season in the 100 breast. His 50.67 mark beat out the previous time of 50.74, which McHugh previously set at the Minnesota Invitational this past December.
Quotable
"This year, we've really come together as a team and it's showing here at Big Tens," said McHugh. "The seniors have positively led the team all year and tonight was just another example of it."
Up Next
Saturday marks the final day of Big Ten Championships competition, as preliminaries kick off with the 200 backstroke at 10 a.m. and finals to follow at 5:30 p.m. CT. Once again, all the action can be seen on BTN+.
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