Feb. 25, 2012
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa swimmers Duncan Partridge, Ryan Phelan, Jordan Huff and Paul Gordon captured the Big Ten Title in the 400-free relay at the final day of the 2012 Big Ten Championships. Five Hawkeyes earned first-team All-Big Ten and Iowa finished in fifth place as a team with 395 points. Iowa’s fifth place finish marks the programs highest place finish since 1996 when the team finished fifth under coach Glen Patton.
Partridge, Phelan, Huff and Gordon captured Iowa’s second Big Ten relay title with a win in the 400-free relay. The squad posted a school record time of 2:52.53 in the event. The last time Iowa was crowned Big Ten Champions in the 400-free relay was in 1988 with a time of 2:57.49.
Gordon, Phelan and Partridge earned first-team All-Big Ten for their efforts in the 200-free relay and 400-free relay. Gianni Sesto earned the honor with his contribution to the 200-free relay, while Huff earned the honor for his efforts in the 400-free relay.
Manuel Belzer kicked off the final day of the Championships with a sixth place finish in the 1,650 free. He posted a collegiate best time of 15:03.20, which ranks second all-time in school history.
Dustin Rhoads and Grant Betulius scored points for the Hawkeyes in the 200 back. Rhoads posted a new school record at the morning preliminaries with an NCAA provisional cut time of 1:43.92. He was seeded eighth going into finals and ended up moving up one spot to seventh with a time of 1:44.15. Betulius finished 11th overall in the event and posted a collegiate best time of 1:44.22, which ranks second in school history. Byron Butler competed in the `C’ of the event and posted a collegiate best time of 1:44.83, which ranks third all-time in school history.
Iowa had four swimmers score team points in the 100 free. Gordon and Phelan represented the Hawkeyes in the championship heat of the event. Gordon placed second overall and posted a new school record with a time of 43.22. Phelan touched the wall fifth in a time of 43.72. His best time of 43.31, which he set at preliminaries ranks second on Iowa’s all-time top performers list. Huff (44.44) and Partridge (45.44) finished 15th and 16th, respectively in the event.
Sesto competed in the `C’ final of the 100 free and won the heat with a collegiate best time of 44.03. His time ranks eighth in school history.
Andrew Marciniak posted a new school record in the 200 breast during the morning session with a time of 1:57.88. The previous record was set in 2007 by Dragos Agache with a time of 1:58.40. Marciniak went on to place eighth overall in the event. Kyle Noser swam in the `C’ final of the event and posted a time of 2:02.45. His best time of 2:02.00, which he set at preliminaries, ranks eighth in school history.
Hawkeye diver Osvel Molina placed 13th overall in the platform diving event. He earned a score of 287.80 during the preliminary round and went to score 295.75 points in the consolation finals.
Michigan won the Big Ten with 738.5 points. Ohio State finished second (552.5), Indiana in third (549 and Minnesota (403) finished fourth.