In the opening dual meet of the season, the Ohio State women’s swimming and diving team took down Miami by a score of 172-115 Thursday evening in Oxford, Ohio. The meet served as the first of three busy days of competition for the Buckeyes. The Scarlet and Gray will return to Columbus for a double-dual vs. Purdue and Cincinnati on Friday, and travel to Athens, Ohio to face the Ohio Bobcats on Saturday.
The Buckeyes set the tone early, recording a one-two finish in the 200 medley relay. Finishing first, the contingent of Camey Rabold, Rachael Dzierzak, Aliena Schmidtke and Zhesi Li touched in a time of 1:45.79. They were followed by teammates Lauren Davis, Katie Antal, Amanda McNulty and Cheyenne Meek, who took the runner-up spot.
Junior Annie Gillig had a solid evening, posting wins in the 1000 freestyle and 500 freestyle events. The Simpsonville, S.C., native took the 1000 freestyle in a time of 10:08.75, while earning a mark of 4:57.10 in the 500.
In the 200 freestyle, Rabold picked up her second victory of the meet with a time of 1:52.82. Li, who will certainly be a rookie to watch this season, recorded a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke in 58.00.
Sophomore standout Lindsey Clary earned a time of 2:04.85 in the 200 butterfly for first place, while Schmidtke, a senior from Magdeburg, Germany, captured the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.04.
In diving, veteran Taylor Ford earned a score of 281.25 in the 1-meter competition to place first. Newcomer Brittany Menninger took second with a 267.97 total.
Another freshman, Macie McNichols, made waves for the Buckeyes with a first-place showing in the 100 freestyle (52.16). Sophomore Kaitlyn Ferrara recorded yet another win for the Scarlet and Gray, this time in the 200 backstroke (2:02.95). Ferrara’s classmate, Amy Bopp, capped OSU’s individual event wins with a time of 57.33 in the 100 butterfly.
Ohio State rounded out the meet with a dominating performance in the 400 freestyle relay, behind swims from Dunseith, Dzierzak, Vance and Jongekrijg (3:29.81).
The Buckeyes will compete Friday at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion with races beginning at 4 p.m. (ET).
Miami University women’s swimming and diving team suffer a loss on Thursday evening to Ohio State University by a score of 172-115 at the Nixon Aquatic Center.
Sophomore Stephanie LeMire was the lead swimmer for the RedHawks yet again. She earned the only first-place finish for Miami in the 200-yard breaststroke, clocking in at 2:20.32, which was 2.49 seconds in front of the second-place finisher. LeMire also came in second place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.69. She was also a part of the second-place 200-yard medley relay with junior Michele Rielly, freshman Katherine Kuhl and senior Annie Marquiss, who finished in 1:47.33. Marquiss and Kuhl also placed in the 50-yard freestyle. Marquiss earned second place with a time of 24.09, and Kuhl came in fourth place, touching the wall at 24.30.
Two other RedHawks earned second-place finishes Thursday. Sophomore Logan Klinsky picked up her points in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing in a time of 1:53.49. The other second-place finisher was freshman Morgan Quesnel, who clocked in with a 2:08.04 in the 200-yard butterfly. Also placing in the 200-yard freestyle was sophomore Elise Campbell, who came in fourth place with a 1:54.46, and junior Sara Krueger in fifth place with a time of 1:54.66. Elise Campbell also placed fourth in the 100-yard freestyle (52.61), while Krueger also earned more points by finishing in fifth in the 200-yard butterfly (53.00).
Rielly, freshman Holly Schuster and junior Emma Szczupakiewicz were the other three multi-race points winners for Miami. Rielly took fifth place in the 100-yard backstroke and sixth place in the 200-yard backstroke with times of 59.22 and 2:08.56, respectively. Schuster came in fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.98) and third in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:25.39). Szczupakiewicz took fourth place in the 200-yard butterfly and fifth place in the 200-yard backstroke, clocking in at 2:09.37 and 2:08.46, respectively.
Five other RedHawk swimmers earned points for the team. In the 1000-yard freestyle, senior Stephanie Pearce finished in third place with a 10:17.82, and freshman Shay Spelman finished in 10:21.35, for a fourth-place finish. Sophomore Brittany Dudzinski clocked in with a 59.19 in the 100-yard backstroke for fourth place. Sophomore Kathleen Dodson earned fifth place in the 200-yard butterfly, touching the wall in 2:10.16. Freshman Ana Maria Castellanos swam a 2:27.61 in the 200-yard breaststroke for a fourth-place finish.
The RedHawks are back in action on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. in a co-ed meet against Butler at the Nixon Aquatic Center.
