The 12th-ranked Ohio State men’s swimming and diving team battled fifth-ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Saturday afternoon, falling just shy of registering the upset. The Wolverines were victorious in the overall meet, 183-117; however, the Buckeye diving contingent swept Michigan in both events contested.
Veteran Shane Miszkiel and rookie Stephen Romanik posted wins on the 3- and 1-meter apparatuses, respectively. In the 3-meter event, Miszkiel earned the top score of 376.95, while senior Stephen Ettienne took runner-up honors with a 361.75 point total. Completing the Buckeye sweep was Romanik and his classmate, Clay White, claiming third and fourth in the event, respectively. In the 1-meter, Romanik was victorious with a score of 326.55 and White followed in second. Ettienne and Miszkiel rounded out the top-four spots.
On the swimming side, freshman Brayden Seal touched first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 9:05.46. Senior Steven Zimmerman also earned a win for the Scarlet and Gray. He finished first in the 200 backstroke in 1:45.97.
Ohio State claimed the runner-up positions in both relay events. The Buckeye 200 medley relay grouping of Zimmerman, DJ MacDonald, Matt McHugh and Josh Fleagle posted a time of 1:27.97, while the 400 freestyle relay quartet of Fleagle, Michael DiSalle, McHugh and Steffen Hillmer finished in 2:57.44.
In the 200 freestyle, DiSalle placed second (1:37.43), while McHugh touched runner-up in the 100 backstroke (48.43). MacDonald contributed two more second-place showings for the Buckeyes – 100 breaststroke (55.12) and 200 breaststroke (2:01.94) – and Fleagle added another in the 100 freestyle (44.00).
The Buckeyes return to McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion for a dual with West Virginia on Friday, Jan. 30. The meet is scheduled for a 6 p.m. ET start.
Facing off against ninth-ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., the Ohio State women’s swimming and diving team dropped a hard-fought contest Saturday afternoon by a score of 190-110. Behind the efforts of Lindsey Clary, Amy Bopp, Zhesi Li and Aliena Schmidtke, the Buckeyes were victorious in four events overall.
Clary picked up Ohio State’s first win of the meet, claiming the 1000 freestyle in a time of 9:49.82. She followed a runner-up showing from the 200 medley relay contingent of Li, Ashley Vance, Annelise Sprau and Annie Jongekrijg (1:42.44).
In the 200 butterfly, Bopp finished on top the standings with a time of 2:01.51. A sophomore this season, Bopp also earned second in the 200 breaststroke (2:16.47). Li had a solid showing for the day, contributing a win in the 50 freestyle (22.77) and a second-place finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:16.47). Schmidtke posted her win in the 100 butterfly with a mark of 55.62.
Ohio State registered top-three finishes in three more swimming events, as sophomore Taylor Vargo earned second in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.21) and the 400 freestyle relay crew of Schmidtke, Jongekrijg, McNichols and Li took second in 3:24.08. It was Vance who rounded out the effort, with a third-place showing in the 200 inidvidual medley (2:06.00).
In diving, senior Taylor Ford had a successful return to her hometown of Ann Arbor with a second-place total in the 1-meter event. In the 3-meter, freshman Brittany Menninger earned the runner-up spot with a 297.10 total.
The Buckeyes return to McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion for a dual with West Virginia on Friday, Jan. 30. The meet is scheduled for a 6 p.m. ET start.
