Ohio State
Following the first day of competition at the ninth-annual Ohio State Swimming and Diving Invitational, the Buckeyes hold a firm lead with 437.5 points secured Friday evening. Wisconsin ranks second with 249 points, followed by Kenyon (142) and Kentucky (128). Hosted at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, the invite resumes Saturday with preliminary races set to begin at 8:30 a.m. and finals scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start time.
The Buckeyes started the evening strong with a first- and third-place showing in the 200 freestyle relay. Ohio State’s grouping of Josh Fleagle, Matt McHugh, Thomas Trace and Michael DiSalle earned the top spot with a 1:19.50, while Nick Brodie, Steffen Hillmer, Andrew Appleby and Vladislav Komarov followed in 1:22.01.
Rookie Brayden Seal picked up a win in the 500 freestyle with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 4:19.82. Buckeyes Joey Long and Alex Osterhage also earned a spot in the championship final, placing sixth and eighth, respectively.
In the 200 individual, Ohio State recorded two more NCAA ‘B’ cut times. Senior Tamas Gercsak posted his consideration time with a first-place finish in 1:46.08. Gercsak’s classmate Steven Zimmerman took second with a time of 1:46.95.
After breaking the 20-second barrier in prelims of the 50 freestyle, Fleagle continued dominating the event with a 19.60 in finals. The St. Mary’s, Ohio native placed first for the Buckeyes, while McHugh, DiSalle and Trace also dropped top-five finishes.
In the one-meter diving competition, Buckeye Stephen Ettienne placed sixth with a final score of 355.45.
Ohio State rounded out the meet, finishing first in the 400 medley relay. The ‘A’ crew of Zimmerman, DJ MacDonald McHugh and Fleagle touched in a time of 3:11.08.
Ohio State Men’s Swimming and Diving
McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion – Columbus, Ohio
Nov. 21, 2014
Team Standings:
1. Ohio State – 437.5
2. Wisconsin - 249
3. Kenyon - 142
4. Kentucky - 128
5. Purdue - 41.5
6. Miami - 37
7. Virginia - 35
The Ohio State women’s swimming diving team opened competition at the ninth-annual Ohio State Swimming and Diving Invitational Friday evening at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. The Buckeyes are currently in fourth place with 168.5 points earned, trailing Purdue (276.5), Kentucky (244) and Wisconsin (220). Competition resumes Saturday with preliminary races set to begin at 8:30 a.m. and finals scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start time.
Ohio State kicked off the invitational with a third-place touch in the 200 freestyle relay. Behind swims from Zhesi Li, Rachael Dzierzak, Annie Jongekrijg and Annelise Sprau, the Buckeye ‘A’ relay posted a time of 1:32.74 for the finish.
Sophomore Lindsey Clary followed it up with a ninth-place showing in the 500 freestyle (4:50.83). A fast race from start to finish, five NCAA provisional qualifying times were posted among the field of competitors.
In the 200 individual medley, senior Ashley Vance and sophomore Amy Bopp both represented the Scarlet and Gray in the championship final. Vance placed seventh with a mark of 2:02.39, while Bopp took 10th in a time of 2:06.29. Li, a freshman this season, then earned fourth in the 50 freestyle (23.16).
The Buckeye contingent of Camey Rabold, Vance, Sprau and Li placed fifth in the 400 medley relay to finish out the first evening of racing (3:46.06). Ohio State’s ‘B’ relay of Erin Dunseith, Taylor Vargo, Amanda McNulty and Jongekrijg also placed in the top-10 with a time of 3:48.98 for ninth.
In the three-meter diving competition, freshman standout Brittany Menninger took fifth with a score of 289.55.
Ohio State Women’s Swimming and Diving
McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion – Columbus, Ohio
Nov. 21, 2014
Team Standings:
1. Purdue – 291.5
2. Kentucky – 266
3. Wisconsin – 235
4. Ohio State – 194.5
5. Kenyon – 78
6. Virginia – 51
7. Miami - 42
Kentucky
Led by a school-record from sophomore Danielle Galyer to win the 200 individual medley, the Kentucky swimming and diving team placed 19 in the top 10 in 11 events on the first day of the Ohio State Invitational Friday in Columbus, Ohio.
After the first day of the five-team Ohio State Invitational, the UK women are in second place with 266 points, while the men are fourth with 128 points. Purdue leads the seven-team women’s field with 291.5 points, with Ohio State on top of the men’s standings with 437.5.
Along with Galyer, fellow sophomore Kendal Casey posted a win in the women’s 500 freestyle, recording the second-fastest time in program history.
Led by Galyer and Casey, UK swimmers posted seven times that rank among the top 10 in school history. Four of those, including Galyer’s win, came in the women’s 200 individual medley.
“Today was a lot of fun,” UK head coach Lars Jorgensen said. “We had some good races today, in particular tonight in the finals. We came out really well. Danielle’s school record was awesome, she’s just really developing into a really solid IM swimmer. We had some new swimmers step up, so overall it was a great day for us.”
UK’s strongest event was the women’s 200 individual medley, where the Wildcats placed four in the top nine, all with times that rank in the top seven in program history. Along with Galyer’s school-record 1:58.49 to win the event, freshman Morgan Belli finished second with a 2:01.51, a personal-record and the third-fastest time in school history. Junior Frida Jakobsson was fifth in 2:01.88, also a personal-best and the fourth-fastest time in UK history. Freshman Bridgette Alexander placed ninth in 2:02.93 to record the ninth-best time in team history. Galyer and Belli each posted NCAA B qualifying times.
Casey gave UK its first win of the day in the women’s 500 freestyle with a 4:43.61. The second-fastest time in program history, Casey shattered her career-high by 2.01 seconds to win by 0.44 seconds. Senior Abby Myers placed sixth overall in 4:48.74, the seventh-fastest time in school history, while sophomore Kelly Berger touched the wall in 4:49.86.
Senior Christina Bechtel notched a runner-up finish in the women’s 50 freestyle. The senior finished in 22.43, a personal-best time and the third-fastest in team history. The time also gave Bechtel an NCAA B qualifying time.
In the men’s 500 freestyle, UK placed third, fourth and fifth, all with season-best times. Sophomore Brandon Flynn led the way for UK with a 4:25.47, while freshman Isaac Jones’ career-best 4:25.79 earned him a fourth-place finish. Sophomore Drew Aviotti finished fifth in 4:29.56.
In the diving events, senior Christa Cabot placed sixth on 3-meter with a 286.75. Fellow senior Lindsay Keahey finished 11th with a 273.95, while Rebecca Hamperian was 14th with a 254.45. Freshman Levi Lindsey led the Wildcats on 1-meter with a 256.75 to finish 16th.
Sophomore Sean Gunn advanced to the A final in the 50 freestyle with a 20.86 and placed 10th overall with a finals time of 21.06.
Sophomore Kyle Higgins notched UK’s best finish in the men’s 200 individual medley, with a season-best 1:52.52 to finish 17th overall.
Virginia
The Virginia diving squad completed action on the first day of the Ohio State Invitational Friday (Nov. 21).
Junior Becca Corbett (Louisville, Ky.) placed third on the women’s 3-meter springboards with a finals score of 310.50.
Freshman Corey Johnson (Ambler, Pa.) placed eighth with a score of 280.20 in the prelims, while junior Katie Warburg (Wilton, Conn.) finished 10th (274.25) and freshman Emily Langworthy (Gaithersburg, Md.), senior Laura Gartrell (Fairfax, Va.) and freshman Holland Cathey (Alexandria, Va.) were 16th, 17th and 18th, respectively.
Senior JB Kolod (Pittsburgh, Pa.) finished fourth overall on men’s 1-meter with a score of 359.25, while junior Carl Buergler (Arlington, Va.) was ninth with 307.85 points.
Junior Colby Shinholser (Burtonsville, Md.) placed eighth with a score of 310.25 in the prelims, while freshman Jake Bowtell (Darien, Conn.) was 17th and junior Jordan Sacks (Wilmette, Ill.) was 18th.
Wisconsin
With the first day of competition complete, the men's team of the Wisconsin swimming and diving program sits in second place and the women's team is in third place at the Ohio State Invitational in Columbus, Ohio.
Ivy Martin, Chase Kinney, Aja Van Hout and Annie Tamblyn started the night off on a high note, as the group cruised to a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:29.96). The "B" relay of Marissa Berg, Solveig Viren, Caroline Palm and Anna Meinholz also teamed up to place fourth (1:34.00), finishing before two "A" relays.
For the men, Brett Pinfold, Cannon Clifton, Damon Zito and Ryan Barsanti combined to swim their fastest time this season in the 200-yard freestyle (1:21.31), but touched second.
With a time of 22.17, Martin continued to dominate and lowered her season-best time to win the 50-yard freestyle. The senior captain out of Madison currently holds the fastest time in the NCAA this season. Kinney, the sophomore out of Canton, Ohio, placed third (23.05) and Ann Arbor, Michigan, native Tamblyn placed seventh (23.40).
On the men's side in the 50 free, Clifton placed third (20.35) while Zito placed sixth (20.71).
Wisconsin picked up two new NCAA "B" cuts in the 500-yard freestyle. Junior Jenny Holtzen recorded a personal best with a time of 4:46.87 and placed fifth, while sophomore Matt Hutchins touched second with a personal-best time of 4:21.29.
In the 200-yard individual medley, Drew teDuits and Brett Pinfold picked up their first NCAA "B" cuts of the season, as teDuits placed third (1:47.27) and Pinfold touched fourth (1:49.07). On the women's side, Van Hout placed eighth (2:02.56), Meinholz 11th (2:02.67) and Madeline Hazle 16th (2:03.93).
On the boards, Ashley Peterson placed fourth on the three-meter dive with 293.40 points, while Daniel Cech placed 21st (205.30) and Max Reynolds 22nd (199.05) in the 1-meter event.
To conclude the first day of action, Tamblyn, Martin, Meinholz and Van Hout teamed up to finish second in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:41.32. For the men, teDuits, Schafer, Clifton and Pinfold combined to capture second place as well (3:14.97).
A three-day meet that follows the same format as NCAA and conference championship meets, the Ohio State Invitational continues on Saturday as the Badgers compete against athletes from Ohio State, Purdue, Kentucky and Kenyon.
