Ohio State Men
The Ohio State men’s swimming and diving team concluded its OSU Invite over the weekend, placing second behind Florida and ahead of Kentucky.
The final day of swimming started off with the 1650 freestyle, where the Buckeyes were able to place three swimmers in the top ten. Brayden Seal (15:05.67) finished in sixth while Joey Long (15:26.50) and Jovan Mitrovic (15:35.37) ended up in ninth and tenth, respectively. In the 200 backstroke they finished with two top-five swimmers: Gus Whiteman placed third with his time of 1:44.46 and Andrew Appleby finished in fifth (1:45.11). Thomas Trace, swimming in the B finals, had the fifth-fastest time in the event (1:45.70).
Florida’s Caeleb Dressel set a meet record in the 100 freestyle, but Ohio State was able to place three men in the top-six, led by Steffen Hillmer’s 44.54. Matt McHugh, racing in the B finals after losing a swim-off to Florida’s Corey Main earlier in the day, had the second-fastest time of the event at 43.88. The Buckeyes had a huge performance in the 200 breaststroke, placing six of the top seven swimmers to help close the gap between them and Florida. D.J. MacDonals (1:59.67) and Dimitry Dolgov (2:00.46) placed first and second, respectively, while Dustin Tynes (2:00.81), Andrew Lindstrom (2:01.59), Frannie Brogan (2:02.68), and Brandon Fronczak (2:03.90) all finished fourth through seventh. The finals of the 200 butterfly featured two Ohio State swimmers: Ching Lim (1:46.00) in fifth and Peter Lyon (1:49.37) in ninth.
To finish off the meet in the pool, Ohio State’s relay team of McHugh, Lim, Hillmer, and Christian posted a time of 2:56.31 in the 400 freestyle relay, good for second place behind Florida’s pool record time of 2:50.45.
The Buckeye divers finished up their weekend with the dominant performance they’ve been dishing out all season long. Colin Zeng capped his remarkable weekend with a meet record 477.30 during the platform diving finals, leading to an all-Ohio State top-five. Christo Law had a great performance in his own right, recording a score of 446.30.
“The good news is our guys really fought hard as a team,” said head coach Bill Wadley on the performance. “We have a really young team that’s developing and growing, and we’ll have some opportunities down the road if we can keep working hard at certain things.”
One thing Wadley mentioned was the team’s lack of wins over the weekend, though the fact that they kept it close with a highly-ranked team like Florida suggests that depth is a real strength.
“The quality depth is something we’ve always tried to take pride in; we’re sort of rebuilding after graduating 13 seniors from last year’s team, so the quality depth is in that phase where they’re trying to reach a level of performance that I believe they can reach.”
“I think that overall it was a good team effort,” Wadley continued. “We didn’t have a ton of events that we didn’t score pretty well, but we also didn’t have a lot of wins. So I think that building our team so we can be better at the top end is our next challenge.”
Ohio State will have a bit of a break before its next team competition; it will host Michigan State for a two-day dual meet on Jan. 15-16.
1 University of Florida, 1,388.50
2 The Ohio State University, 1,304.50
3 University of Kentucky, 569
Ohio State Women
The Ohio State women’s swimming and diving teams wrapped up the 2015 iteration of the Ohio State Invitational and finished second in the five team field.
Before the finals started in the afternoon, two Buckeyes posted times that were cause for celebration. Taylor Vargo outpaced every other swimmer in the 200 breaststroke with her time of 2:23.60, which was good enough to qualify her for 2016 Olympic trials. In the final event of the morning session, Katie Antal swam a time trial in the very same event and posted a time of 2:34.70, besting her time in the prelim by .68 seconds and putting her below the Olympic trial standard as well.
In between prelims and finals, the platform diving finals occurred and the top two finishers came from the Scarlet and Gray. Hannah Thek set a meet record with her score of 312.75 and Taylor Pamplin’s score of 280.95 put her in second place.
The finals session kicked off with the 1650 freestyle and Lindsey Clary (16:11.09) led all Buckeyes with a second place finish. The 200 backstroke followed and Zulal Zeren, the lone Ohio State swimmer to qualify for the finals in that event, placed fifth with her time of 1:55.43.
Following that was the 100 freestyle, and event for which four Buckeyes qualified for the final heat. Liz Li (49.90) finished third while Annie Jongekrijg (50.36), Rachael Dzierzak (50.72), and Cheyenne Meek (50.92) placed sixth, eighth, and ninth respectively.
Vargo and Antal returned to compete in the 200 breaststroke finals, along with teammate Amy Bopp, and all three placed in the top-eight of the event. Vargo’s time of 2:13.20 put her in third place, tops among Buckeyes. Bopp came back in the following event to win the 200 butterfly thanks to a furious finish. The junior was trailing Florida’s Taylor Katz until the final stretch of the race; her final split time of 30.46 helped her edge out Katz (32.42) for first place. The final swimming event of the weekend was the 400 freestyle relay, with Florida and Kentucky’s relay teams finishing in first and second. The top Ohio State foursome of Li, Jongekrijg, Dzierzak, and Meek finished in third with a time of 3:21.36
The second place finish marked the end of the last Buckeye swimming event for the calendar year. They’ll next take to the pool on Jan. 15-16 for a two-day dual meet against Big Ten foe Michigan State.
1 University of Florida, 1,171. 50
2 The Ohio State University, 922
3 University of Kentucky, 691.50
4 Washington State, 554
5 University of Miami, 368
Florida
The University of Florida men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams ended the Buckeye Invitational on a high note Sunday night, sweeping the competition field for a pair of wins inside the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on Columbus, Ohio. Throughout Day Three competition, the Gators accounted for 13 wins, 13 US Olympic Trial-qualifying times, three NCAA ‘A’ cuts, and 26 ‘B’ cuts.
Senior Natalie Hinds and sophomore Jan Switkowski each punched their tickets to the 2016 NCAA Championships with a pair of ‘A’ cut and event-winning times to highlight their individual swims on Sunday. Hinds earned hers in the 100 freestyle (47.75) while Switkowski’s came in the 200 butterfly (1:42.08).The Orange and Blue accounted for wins in 8-of-14 events in tonight’s finals session, which was swum in short course yards.
Seniors Jessica Thielmann and Arthur Frayler put together a pair of first-place swims in the 1,650 freestyle. Thielmann touched out with a time of 15:56.32 while Frayler came in at the 14:52.12 mark. Both times currently lead the country.
Junior Jack Blyzinskyj kept things rolling in the 200 backstroke for the men’s squad, swimming to a first-place time of 1:41.96
Sophomore Caeleb Dressel also gave the Orange and Blue a solid effort -- this one coming in the 200 butterfly where the Green Cove Springs, Florida, native posted the nation’s top time and brought home a first-place finish with a time of 42.54.
During Sunday’s preliminary session, the Gators posted wins in 5-of-8 events while registering 13 US Olympic Trial-qualifying times (complete chart below). Florida’s first-place times came from Dressel (100 free) and Switkowski (200 butterfly), junior Georgia Hohmann (200 back), and seniors Corey Main (200 back) and Hinds (100 free).
Gator Relays:
The men’s 400 freestyle relay group of Dressel, Switkowski, and seniors Pawel Werner and Main guaranteed themselves a spot at the 2016 NCAA Championships with an ‘A’ cut time of 2:50.45 in the 400 freestyle relay. Their first-place mark currently leads the country and ranks third all-time in UF history.
The women’s quartet of freshman Mollie Pulte, sophomore Elisavet Panti, and seniors Ashlee Linn and Hinds nearly hit an NCAA ‘A’ cut in the 400 freestyle relay. The foursome touched out with a time of 3:16.46, hardly missing the ‘A’ cut standard of 3:16.15. Despite missing the ‘A’ cut, the group’s finish leads all collegiate times in 2015.
Platform Competition:
In the diving well, the Florida women went 5-7 off the platform. Senior Kahlia Warner led the bunch with a season-best mark of 272.63. Senior Delaney Dye (255.83) and freshman Abigail Howell (240.75) also dove to season-best scores off the platform.
Senior Zach Hernandez led the Florida men on the platform, diving to a score of 317.63 and finished sixth overall. Freshman Dalton Goss (296.55) followed behind in seventh.
Looking ahead, the Gator swimmers will return to action Thursday, December 3, competing in Federal Way, Washington at the USA Swimming Nationals. Florida’s divers will spend a few weeks away from competition before they return on December 15, at the USA Diving Nationals in Federal Way, Washington.
Kentucky
The third day of the Ohio State Invitational saw more top performances for the Kentucky swimming team, as the Wildcats wrapped up the meet with a third-place finish for both the men’s and women’s squads. The men tallied 569 points behind Florida (1388.5) and Ohio State (1304.5), while the women had 691.5 points, also behind Florida (1171.5) and OSU (922). The morning session saw five personal records, five Olympic Trials cuts, and one school record in long course meters (LCM) races. The Cats then had 22 personal records, 14 NCAA B cuts, nine swims that rank among UK’s top-10 performances, one NCAA A cut, and one school record in the short course yards (SCY) races.
“It was great tonight. I really liked the way we competed across them all,” noted head coach Lars Jorgensen. “In the 1650 (free), both the girls and the boys were really good. The 200 backstrokes, the 100 freestyles, I’m just happy the way they competed. The last 400 freestyle relay, we had three guys’ relays that were 3:02 or better, which is really fast for us. And the girls’ relay was 3:20, last year they were 3:22, so really pleased with the meet overall.”
Highlighting the meet for the Blue and White was Danielle Galyer, who posted a nation-leading swim to win in the SCY 200 back. Galyer had the third-fastest swim of her career, clocking in at 1:51.52 for the first NCAA A cut of the season for the junior. Bridgette Alexander was close behind her in 1:53.91 for third and an NCAA B cut just half a second off her career best, while Kayla Churman also notched a B cut in 1:58.78. Galyer also won the LCM race in 2:12.41, with Alexander finishing in 2:12.53 for a pair of Olympic Trials cuts, while Churman narrowly missed out on the standard by six hundredths of a second in 2:17.05.
The women also had a solid showing in the 200 breast, with Kendra Crew breaking her own school record in the event in SCY. Crew became not only the first Wildcat to swim under the 2:13.00 mark, but she burst through the 2:12.00 barrier with more than a second of improvement in 2:11.97 to finish second. Ann Davies placed fourth in the event with a personal record of 2:14.34, as the two recorded NCAA B cuts and Davies retained her spot at fourth on UK’s all-time list. In the LCM race, the duo went 1-2 in their heat with Crew in 2:34.48, an Olympic Trials standard, while Davies clocked a 2:36.24.
Another UK record fell in the LCM 100 free, as Geena Freriks recorded her first Olympic Trials cut with a heat win in 56.29 seconds. She went on to finish runner-up in the SCY race, recording an NCAA B cut in 49.49 seconds. Additionally, her swim ranks fifth in program laurels, and she finished the meet with a 400 free relay leadoff split of 49.89 for her second B cut swim in the same day. Freriks teamed up with Galyer, Haley McInerny and Alexander to finish runner-up in 3:20.82.
The 1650 free saw three Wildcats notch B cuts, led by Kendal Casey with a third-place finish by way of a personal record in 16:15.53. Casey retains her spot as the second-fastest in the event in program history, and was trailed by Kathryn Painter in 16:27.22, the sixth-best swim in the 1650 free. Kelly Berger also recorded a B cut in 16:29.61, while Meredith Whisenhunt etched her name into UK laurels with the eighth-fastest swim by a Wildcat in 16:40.37.
One more B cut was earned by McInerny, who swam the fourth-fastest 200 fly in UK history with a fourth-place finish in 1:59.50. McInerny also placed third in her LCM heat in 2:15.54, while Whisenhunt just missed out on an Olympic Trials cut by .40 seconds in 2:15.39.
The men showcased the most strength in the 200 fly, with three NCAA B cuts from Kyle Higgins, Bowen Anderson, and Matthew Beach. Higgins finished second in 1:45.30 for his third time under the NCAA B standard of the season, while Beach took seventh in the A final in 1:47.49. Anderson had a strong race in the B final, winning in 1:47.17. In the morning session, Higgins won his heat and placed second overall in the LCM race, clocking a 2:01.14 for an Olympic Trials cut.
Andrew Aviotti recorded the final B cut of the day, finishing 25 seconds under the standard in the 1650 free in 15:05.24. The UK record holder was just over five seconds off his personal best, and finished fourth after fending off a Gator and a Buckeye, beating both by less than half a second.
Brandon Flynn fell just shy of a consideration mark in the SCY 200 breast, placing third overall in 2:00.57 for more than a three-second personal record and the fifth-fastest swim in UK history. The junior also placed fourth in the LCM race after touching in at 2:23.68.
Sean Gunn led the team in the freestyle sprints, narrowly missing out on a B cut in the 100 free after a fourth-place performance in 44.85 seconds, just .14 seconds off his career best. Gunn did, however, land an Olympic Trials standard for his native Zimbabwe, taking second in his heat in 51.48 seconds. Scott Crosthwaite also appeared in the A final alongside Gunn, finishing seventh in 45.26 seconds.
In the 200 back, Walker Thaning paced the Wildcats in both the LCM and SCY races. Thaning placed third in the opening heat and secured his spot in the A final with a 2:06.32, while Josh Swart clocked in at 2:06.94. The two swam in the SCY A final, with Thaning recording a 1:47.34 while Swart dipped below the 1:50.00 mark for the first time in his UK career in 1:49.20.
The men ended with a consistent effort in the 400 free relay, with three of the lineups finishing under the 3:03.00 mark. The quartet of Swart, Gunn, Cobe Garcia and Austin Haney led the way in 3:02.35, while Thaning led off for Shane Anderson, Higgins and Flynn in 3:02.44. The third relay of Matt Roman, Crosthwaite, B. Anderson and Matheus Gerotto clocked a 3:02.92 exhibition swim.
Washington State
Washington State swimming wrapped up competition at The Ohio State Invitational with another impressive day highlighted by a win in the 200 Breaststroke by senior Presley Wetterstrom. The Cougars finished the weekend fourth with 553 points, just behind the University of Kentucky and ahead of the University of Miami.
“We swam great today led by Presley (Wetterstrom) who won the 200 Breast by swimming a smart race against some of the best swimmers in the country,” Washington State Head Coach Tom Jager said. “Our sprint swimmers swam tough, we had impact swims from every class and overall, it was another good weekend of swimming for the Cougars.”
Wetterstrom won the 200 Breaststroke, breaking her own school record after touching the wall in 2:11.24, also good for an NCAA Standard B mark. It was Wetterstrom’s team-leading seventh win of the season. Fellow senior Frederikke Hall finished the same race seventh, a season-best time and the eight-fastest in school history.
Junior Kendra Griffin opened the day for the Cougars with an eight-place finish in the 1650 Freestyle, a career-best and the second-fastest time in Washington State history. Redshirt-freshman Jessica Marston also posted a time of 16:50.83, the fourth-fastest time in school history.
In the 200 Backstroke, senior Loree Olson led the way, finishing ninth with a season-best 1:57.97, the third-fastest time in school history. Freshman Jasmine Margetts add a time of 1:59.25, good for fifth in school history for the event. In the 100 Freestyle, sophomore Hannah Bruggman just missed out on a school record, finishing fourth with a 49.99, meeting an NCAA B standard time. In the “B” heat of the same event, Haley Love produced the fifth-fastest mark in school history with a 50.35 and junior Addisynn Burch recorded the seventh-fasted time with a 50.67.
In the 200 Butterfly, Margetts just missed out on a NCAA B standard mark with a season-best 1:59.61, tying for the second-fastest time in WSU history. More spots among the WSU top-10 in the 200 fly were taken over as junior Elise Locke posted the fifth-fastest time (2:00.21) and Griffin recorded the seventh-quickest time (2:00.66).
Washington State closed the three-day tournament by placing two teams in the top-7 of the 400 Freestyle Relay. The team of Bursch, Bruggman, Ciera Kelly and Love swam a WSU season-best 3:21.73 to finish fourth in the event while the team of Anna Brolin, Anna Rosen, Rachel Thompson and Locke finished seventh (3:25.17).
The Cougars will have the Thanksgiving holiday weekend off before returning to action Dec. 5 at Seattle University.
