Ohio State Men, Minnesota Women Lead 2008 Ohio State Invite Day One

MSWIM&DIV: Buckeyes Excel on Day One of OSU Invite
The No. 11 Ohio State men’s swimming and diving team shined on day one of the 2008 Ohio State Invitational, winning four out of six events. The Buckeyes lead the field of 13 teams with 379.5 points.

“I am really pleased with the way our team competed tonight,” Bill Wadley, head men’s swimming coach, said. “There are some excellent swimmers and teams in the meet and I’m proud how the guys took on the challenge and stepped up.”

The team top-five standings after day one look like this: Ohio State is followed by Minnesota (276.5), Penn State (200), Notre Dame (132) and Cleveland State (87).

The evening opened up with a terrific first event in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Ohio State finished just .62 behind the winning Minnesota squad. The Gophers finished in an NCAA “B” time of 1:19.00, while the Buckeye quad of junior Joel Elber, junior Andrew Bretscher, freshman Lincoln Fahrbach and senior Felipe Travesso took second in a “B” time of 1:19.62.

The night kept getting better as the 500 freestyle saw another exciting neck-and-neck finish. Junior George Markovic bested Minnesota’s Ray Betuzzi by .02, setting a new meet record in an NCAA “B” time of 4:22.62. Classmates Stefan Sigrist (4:23.97) and Mark Neiman (4:24.53) also earned “B” times and finished third and fourth. Senior Jacob Busch took eighth (4:30.25).

Adding to the Buckeye win column was Niksa Roki in the 200 individual medley. The junior captured first in a meet record and an NCAA “B” time of 1:45.87, while breaking the school record set by Nate King (1:46.29) in the spring of 2007.

“I didn’t expect to break the record,” Roki, from Zagreb, Croatia, said. “I just wanted to concentrate on my turns. I saw the others behind me and I knew I was on the right track.”

Also representing Ohio State in the 200 IM final were sophomore Justin Farra, freshman Markus Sievers, junior Andrew Olson and freshman Austin Mudd. Farra finished fourth, Sievers took fifth, Olson swam in at sixth and Mudd finished seventh.

In the 50 freestyle, Elber and Minnesota’s Colin Lee-To swam to a first-place tie in 20.15. Fahrbach took fifth in 20.40.

Taking a break from the competition pool, the Buckeye one-meter diving trio was led by junior Burkley Showe, who finished second with 395.05 points. Sophomore Sean Moore took fourth (349.75) and junior Ryan Jefferson finished eighth (307.95).

Capping off the night was another tight finish in the 400-medley relay. The team of freshman Andrew Elliott, Travesso, Bretscher and Elber outlasted Penn State to take first in a “B” time of 3:12.99.

The Ohio State Swimming and Diving Invite continues Saturday at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. and finals are at 5 p.m. There is no admission charge to watch the action.  

Lee-To Leads Gophers At Ohio State Invitational
The ninth-ranked Minnesota men's swimming and diving team is in second place after the first day of competition at the Ohio State Invitational at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. Senior Colin Lee-To won the 50 freestyle to lead the Gophers efforts, who scored 276.5 points this evening. Ohio State leads with 379.5 points while Penn State is third (200) and Notre Dame is fourth (132). Minnesota posted six overall lifetime-best times on the first night of finals.

The Gophers opened the meet with a victory in the 200 freestyle relay. Lee-To, Michael Richards, Curt Carlson and Steve Miller combined for a strong time of 1:19.00, easily under the NCAA B cut standard and broke Minnesota's meet record time of 1:19.91 set in 2006. Carlson carried the Gophers with a time of 19.43 on the third leg. Ohio State was second in 1:19.62 and Penn State was third in 1:20.41.

The 500 freestyle saw a battle between Minnesota's Ray Betuzzi and Ohio State's George Markovic. Markovic held off Betuzzi by just .02 seconds despite a late surge by Betuzzi over the final 100 yards. Markovic clocked a 4:22.62 while Betuzzi touched in 4:22.64. The time was a season-best for Betuzzi and was easily an NCAA B cut time. Perhaps the most impressive swim by a Gopher in the event was a fifth place finish by junior Nico Zebley who dropped over two seconds off his career-best to touch in 4:26.05. Mike Holmes took seventh in 4:27.40 and sophomore David Hawker was 13th in a career-best 4:28.65. Michael Daup placed 20th with a time of 4:29.94 and Keith Yoho was 24th in 4:34.78.

Minnesota's trend of career-best times continued into the 200 individual medley as Alex Wold clocked a career-best time of 1:47.53 to finish second behind Ohio State's Niksa Roki (1:45.87). Wold's time is also an NCAA B cut standard. In the consolation final, Mark Solfelt placed 10th in 1:50.42 and Anthony Portela was 11th in 1:50.45 and Josh Griffey was 12th in 1:51.17. In the C Final, Richard Hills took 19th in 1:53.16 and Ivan Gutesa was 20th in a career-best 1:53.22.

Minnesota had four finalists in the 50 freestyle, led by Lee-To, who tied for first with Ohio State's Joel Elber with a time of 20.15. Richards took third with a time of 20.21 while Carlson was fourth in 20.31. In the prelims, Carlson went under 20 seconds for the first time in his career with a 19.99. He became the 12th Gopher to ever post a sub-20 second time. Miller took sixth in 20.41. In the consolation final, Kevin Baseheart tied for 10th in a career-best 20.70. Adam Weis also took 23rd in 21.35.

In 1-meter diving action, sophomore Drew Brown placed ninth in a stacked field including several NCAA All-Americans with a tally of 305.15 and Tyler Jepsen placed 20th with a score of 228.25.

The Gophers team of Karl Burdis, Lee-To, Baseheart and Carlson managed a third place finish in 3:15.12 to finish behind Ohio State (3:12.99) and Penn State (3:13.59).

The Ohio State Invitational continues through Sunday.

Gopher Women’s Team Dominate Day One of OSU Invite
The No. 9 University of Minnesota women’s swimming and diving team dominated the first day of the Ohio State Invitational with 406 points, today in Columbus, Ohio. The Golden Gophers hold a 175-point lead over second-place Penn State (231), while Notre Dame is in third with 149 points.
 
Minnesota started the three-day meet with a win in the 200 free relay. The Gopher foursome of Stacy Busack, Meredith McCarthy, Kaylee Jamison and Meagan Radecke broke a meet record when they combined for a time of 1:29.49 and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in March. The Gophers’ B relay of Alison Eggers, Castina Wabeke, Jenna Lennertz and Andrea Hanson chipped in a third-place time of 1:34.07.

Minnesota dominated the 500 freestyle, taking the top three spots and five out of the six finishes. Yuen Kobayashi broke her own meet record when she touched the wall in 4:40.42 and provisionally qualified for NCAAs. Christine Jennings finished second in a provisional time of 4:42.50, while Ashley Steenvoorden placed third in a provisional time of 4:45.97. Marissa Davies had a time of 4:48.61 and placed fifth overall, while Kristen Steenvoorden added a sixth-place time of 4:49.28.
 
Minnesota added another four in the 200 individual medley championship final. Jillian Tyler won the event with a meet record and provisional time of 1:58.67. Her time was also a career-best in the event and a school record. Jenny Shaughnessy finished third in the event with a career-best time of 1:59.93. Kait Strickland finished fourth in the same event in 2:03.03, while Deidre DeWall rounded out the top eight in a time of 2:05.39.
 
Minnesota went 1,2,3,4 in the 50 free finals with Stacy Busack leading the way. Busack clocked a meet-record time of 22.37, while McCarthy was second in 22.90 and Radecke in third (23.02). Jamison finished fourth in a career-best time of 23.09. Eggers also competed in the event and placed eighth overall in the championship final with a time of 23.47.
 
The Gophers closed out the first day with a win in the 400 medley relay. The relay of Wabeke, Tyler, Megan Braun and Busack held a provisional time of 3:35.69 for the win. Minnesota’s B relay of DeWall, Kimberly Kazika, Jamison and McCarthy finished third in 3:43.76.
 
In diving action, Taylor Enerson finished 18th overall. Enerson finished with a score of 239.90 and was second alternate for the finals. 
 

WSWM&DIV: Day One Done at Ohio State Invite
Ohio State sits in fourth-place out of 15 teams after the first day of competition at the 2009 Ohio State Swimming and Diving Invite. The Buckeyes have 106 points while Minnesota, the defending Big Ten Conference champion, leads with 406 points.

Second-place Penn State (231), third-place Notre Dame (149) and fifth-place Miami-Fla. (80) points round out the top five teams.

While the Golden Gophers won all five swimming events, Ohio State swimmers bettered the team’s season bests in four of the five swimming events.

“We are looking at this invite as a gauge to see where we are right now,” Ohio State coach Bill Dorenkott said. “I was pleased with our morning swims in the prelims because we were the only team to not wear racing suits and we still had season-best times in about 80 percent of our swims. I really felt our 500 freestyle and 200 individual medley swimmers performed very well.”

In the 500 freestyle, Ohio State had two swimmers score points: sophomore Sam Cheverton and junior Haley Mitchell placed 11th and 14th, respectively. Cheverton’s time of 4:49.39 bettered the team season-best by 10 seconds and it was under the NCAA “B” qualifying standard. The sophomore has now made “B” cuts in two events this year: the 200 IM and the 200 backstroke. Mitchell’s time was 4:55.01.  

And in the 200 individual medley, Ohio State freshman Lisa Narum was a finalist and produced Ohio State’s highest event finish of the evening with a sixth-place effort in a team-best time of 2:03.71. Also scoring for the Buckeyes in this event was junior Jill Lockhart, who was 13th in 2:06.46.

The Buckeyes' 200 freestyle relay team of Narum, Cheverton, Mitchell and Meg Noble took seventh in an OSU season’s best time of 1:36.21. And the 400 medley relay of Lockhart, Catherine Eitel, Cheverton and Narum posted another season’s best time of 3:48.69, good for seventh place.

Sophomore divers Kristen Asman and Katie Bell produced top eight finishes on the three-meter springboard for Ohio State. Asman placed fifth with 296.65 points and Bell was seventh with 269.70 points.

The Ohio State Swimming and Diving Invite continues Saturday at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. and finals are at 5 p.m. There is no admission charge to watch the action. 

Hurricane Swimmers Finish Up Day One at OSU Invitational
Britta Boesing and Annika Saarnak were among five Miami swimmers qualifying for the finals of their respective events on Friday in opening day action of the 2008 Ohio State Invitational.  The three-day event runs from Dec. 5-7 at the McCorkle Aquatics Center in Columbus.

Boesing started off the action for the Hurricanes by qualifying for the 200 IM with a time of 2:06.05.  Teammate Deidre Novotny also qualified in that event with a finishing time of 2:06.08.

Boesing, a senior from Germany, captured a season-best mark for herself in the 200 IM, and paced a new team-best time in that event on the year.  She eclipsed her old mark of 2:06.22 set in the finals of a tri-meet against UMBC and NC State on Oct. 11.

The other three qualifications for the Orange and Green came in the 50-yard freestyle, led by sophomore Annika Saarnak, competing in just her second 50 free all season.  Her time of 23.71 seconds led all Hurricanes performers as she finished in the top 15.

For Saarnak, her time was a season-best performance in the 50 free, and now stands as a team-best mark heading into tomorrow’s finals.

Behind her were teammates Lauren Jacoby (23.95) and Kirsten Pomerleau (24.10) also setting qualifying finishing times.

Lizzi Torres finished just one spot out of a qualifying mark with a time of 24.18 seconds.

First Day Of Ohio State Invitational Sees Irish Women In Third
Through one day of competition at the Ohio State Invitational the Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team racked up 149 points to claim third-place honors Friday at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Two days remain in the final event of the 2008 fall season.

Notre Dame trails Minnesota (406) and Penn State (231).

200 Free Relay: The evening began with a second-place finish in the opening relay … Amywren Miller, Colleen Fotsch, Maggie Behrens and Kellyn Kuhlke steamed the Irish squad to silver in 1:33.40.

500 Free: Lauren Sylvester went 4:56.26 and Casey Wagner finished in 4:00.59 in the preliminary round.

200 Individual Medley: Seventh place went to Megan Farrell (2:03.76) … Emily Barton finished in 2:04.66 during the consolation final.

50 Free: Miller shot through in 23.16 for sixth … Fotsch had the 10th-best time overall with a 23.52.

400 Medley Relay: The fourth-fastest mark of the evening was clocked by Fotsch, Samantha Maxwell, Kuhlke and Miller … they finished the course in 3:43.77

Fighting Irish Men In Fourth At Ohio State Invite
The three-day Ohio State Invitational at McCorkle Pavilion began with the Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team finishing fourth overall with 132 points on Friday. The Irish trail host Ohio State (379.5), Minnesota (276.5) and Penn State (200) among the 10-team field.

Action resumes Saturday morning with preliminary heats.

200 Free Relay: Touching in with a time of 1:21.55 for fourth was the quarter of John Lytle, Andrew Hoffman, Thomas Van Volkenburg and David Anderson.

500 Free: Steven Brus’ fastest time was 4:28.81, logged during the prelims … he went 4:28.82 in the finals to finish 14th overall.

200 Individual Medley: Bill Bauman went the distance for a top-25 finish … his fastest attempt came during the finals (1:53.50).

50 Free: Lytle shot through in 20.82 for 14th … Van Volkenburg placed 19th … he went 21.01 in the finals and 20.99 in the opening round.

400 Medley Relay: A ninth-place showing was logged by Jeff Wood, Brian Maloy, MacKenzie LeBlanc and Lytle … they cut through the lane in 3:22.92 … Joshua Nosal, Daniel Rave, John D’Oliver and Danny Lutkus were 11th (3:23.85).

1-meter Diving: Michael Bulfin had a day-high total of 337.25 in the finals … he was sixth and one spot in front of Eric Lex (325.30).

NC State’s Davies Completes Day One at OSU Invite
NC State diver Kristin Davies completed her first of three days at the Ohio State Invitational on Friday, Dec. 5. The Wolfpack senior placed 17th in the 3-meter dive prelims with a 246.90 score.

Davies will resume action with the 1-meter dive tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 6, on the second day of competition in Columbus.