Sweeping four of nine events, the 13th-ranked Ohio State men’s swimming and diving team opened the Winter Invite Saturday at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in dominate fashion. Although no official scores were recorded, the Buckeyes faced competition from Penn State, Baldwin Wallace, Eastern Michigan and Buffalo.
Finishing in a time of 1:23.24, the 200 freestyle contingent of Zach Birnbrich, Dan Disalle, Michael Disalle and Andrew Slater kicked off the evening with a second-place showing.
From that point on the meet was all Buckeyes.
In the 500 freestyle event, the Buckeyes completed their first sweep of the evening. Junior Alex Miller touched first in 4:27.19, while freshman Jovan Mitrovic and sophomore Alex Osterhage followed in second and third-place, respectively. With his performance, Miller earned an NCAA “B” cut qualifying time.
Led by redshirt junior Tim Phillips, Ohio State also brought in the Top 3 times in the 100 butterfly. A native of Vienna, W. Va., Phillips held strong with a time of 49.61. Junior Garrett Trebilcock took second-place with a time of 50.16, while sophomore Tamas Gercsak placed third in 50.52.
Ohio State continued to dominate behind the first-place efforts of Steven Zimmerman in the 100 backstroke (49.72) and Keanu Stevenson in the 100 breaststroke (55.43). The Scarlet and Gray completed sweeps in both events.
In the 400 individual medley, sophomore Andrew Braun earned the win with a time of 3:57.13.
Moving onto the 100 freestyle, Freshman Josh Fleagle outlasted teammate Andrew Slater for first-place in 45.33. Slater, a senior from Lancaster, Ohio, followed closely with a time of 45.36.
The Buckeyes ended the evening by recorded another victory, this time in the 400 medley relay event. Zimmerman, Kincaid, Luke Stirton and Birnbrich were members of the winning group, which finished in 3:20.29.
The Buckeyes are back in action at 10 a.m. Sunday for preliminary competition followed by the final set to begin at 4 p.m. at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
The No. 21 Ohio State women’s swimming and diving team had five individuals post personal-best times to open the Winter Invite Saturday evening at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
Freshman Sara Craft started the evening with an impressive showing in the 500 freestyle. The Glen Rock, N.J. native put up a personal best time of 4:56.84, which awarded her a first-place finish.
Another freshman, Nicole Gill, kept the Buckeyes’ momentum going with a runner-up finish in the 100 butterfly. Following in the footsteps of Craft, Gill also recorded a personal-best time of 57.27.
In the 100 backstroke, Mary Sarah Cruzan came away with the win in another personal-best time, 56.26. Freshman Camey Rabold, who touched third in the event, also posted her best time with a 56.29. Rounding out a night of individual bests, sophomore Makena Lynch earned a 53.32 in the 100 freestyle for eighth-place.
Although the meet is not officially scored, the Buckeyes faced competition from eight schools: Penn State, Purdue, Baldwin Wallace, Eastern Michigan, Buffalo, Akron, Bowling Green and Toledo.
Ohio State will return McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion bright and early for the second day of competition at the Ohio State Invite. Prelims will begin at 10 a.m., while competition will resume with finals at 4 p.m. in Columbus.
Only a trio of competitors took to the lanes for the Penn State swimming and diving program on Saturday at the Ohio State Invitational. The trio of freshman that competed inside McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion all set career bests in their respective events.
The first competitor of the day for the Blue and White was freshman Chelsea Vanderweele (Silver Springs, Md.) in the 500 freestyle. After swimming 5:03.01 in the prelims of the event to qualify for the finals in third, Vanderweele broke the five minute mark for the first time in her career. The rookie claimed the second spot in the finals and clocked a personal best 4:58.36.
Career bests were swum in the 100 backstroke by a pair of Nittany Lions when Sierra Scoggin (Reston, Va.) and Vanderweele both touched with their top times. Scoggin took the fifth spot in the finals in 57.57 after swimming a PR of 57.13 in prelims, while Vanderweele claimed sixth with a career best 58.18 in the finals after clocking a time of 58.92 in prelims.
Madi Nieves (Jamestown, N.Y.) closed out the competition with a 22nd place showing in a large field in the 100 freestyle. She broke her career-best twice on the afternoon, swimming 55.36 in the prelims before notching a time of 54.58 in the finals.
Seven members of the Penn State men’s swimming and diving team traveled to Columbus for the annual Ohio State Invite on Saturday, with each of the Nittany Lions (5-2, 0-1 Big Ten) recording a new personal or season best time.
Opening the day for the Lions, freshman Matthew Drohan (Kennett Square, Pa.) posted a new personal best time of 4:45.41 in the 500 free preliminaries, obliterating his previous time of 4:59.09. The rookie went on to claim 11th place in the B Final with a time of 4:46.92.
Taking fourth place in the 100 fly, freshman Chase Schell (Tacoma, Wash.) clocked in at 50.80 after qualifying for the A Final with a personal best time of 50.70 in the preliminaries. Junior Peter Fittin (Sea Girt, N.J.) also qualified for the A Final, taking first place in the preliminaries with a personal best time of 49.74. Fittin went on to place sixth (51.07). Sophomore Nathan Reed (Berwyn, Pa.) also recorded a new personal best time in the 100 fly, taking 11th in the B Final with 51.25. Additionally, sophomore Larry Virgilio (Pine Bush, N.Y.) took 16th in the preliminaries with a personal best of 53.03 seconds.
Five Lions competed in the 100 free, with Virgilio taking third in the preliminaries with a personal best time of 45.63, as well as in the A Finals with 46.07. Sophomore Emre Acar (Istanbul, Turkey) followed in fourth (46.09) and Fittin earned seventh place with a personal best time of 46.77. Acar also claimed fourth in the prelims with a season best time of 45.98. Reed competed in the event for the first time this season, earning 15th in the B Final with 47.68. Freshman Alex High (Reading, Pa.) finished 18th (48.03) after notching a new personal best record in the preliminaries with a time of 47.36. The rookie went on to claim eighth in the A Final of the 100 back with a time of 53.82.
Penn State returns to action at the Ohio State Invite tomorrow, Feb. 10.
