Ohio State Men
Closing out its dual meet schedule tonight, Ohio State welcomed Wright State to McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion and came away with a 192-125 victory. The Buckeyes had the fastest swimmer in all but two events on the evening.
On the diving end, the men completed their dual meet season undefeated; a capper to what has been a fantastic season thus far for head coach Justin Sochor and his divers. Reigning Big Ten Diver of the Week Colin Zeng, who has earned that honor from the conference four times this season, once again dominated on the boards. He won both the one-meter and three-meter events with scores of 430.20 and 483.15, respectively. The sophomore has placed first in all but three events this entire season, a remarkable achievement.
The Buckeyes’ trusty relay team of Matt McHugh, DJ MacDonald, Ching Lim, and Mossimo Chavez started things off in the 200 medley relay with a first place finish (1:29.25) and senior Chris DePietro followed that up with a victory in the 400 IM (3:58.13). His fellow senior Jovan Mitrovic then won the 200 freestyle with his time of 1:39.73.
Ohio State’s winning ways continued, with a Buckeye owning the fastest time in the next six events. Mark Belanger (49.14) was the next OSU swimmer to find his name atop the finishers, this time in the 100 backstroke. Dustin Tynes then outpaced his competitors in the 100 breaststroke, posting a time of 56.53. Freshman Sam Stankivicz got his first event win of his career in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:52.40, narrowly swimming past Wright State’s Jeffrey Ross (1:52.70). A swimmer who has won many events in his career, McHugh, followed the freshman with a first place finish in the 50 freestyle (20.56). The next two Buckeye top finishers were Nathan Christian in the 100 freestyle (45.17) and Thomas Trace in the 200 backstroke (1:50.76). Trace and teammate Brad Shannon (1:50.81) duked it out in that race with Trace coming out on top.
A Raider would finish atop the 200 breaststroke; Matthew Dossow (2:06.12) won a closely contested race against Andrew Appleby (2:06.32). A familiar name finished first in the 500 freestyle; Steffen Hillmer (4:31.82) outpaced Austin Mortimer (4:33.25), who had the second-fastest time in that event. Senior Peter Lyon finished ahead of the field in the 100 butterfly with his time of 50.27 and Wright State nabbed its second event win of the day in the 200 IM to follow that.
While the 200 freestyle had its usual spot at the end of the meet, three 50 yard races (backstroke, breaststroke, then butterfly) were swam before that. Belanger swam past George Pappas (23.98 to 24.90) in the 50 back, while Dmitry Dolgov owned the fastest time in the 50 breast. McHugh (22.16) and Lim (22.26) were the two fastest in the 50 fly. Stephen Watson, Clark Jackman, Justin Dunn, and Jack DiSalle (1:24.86) closed things out with the fastest 200 free relay time.
Ohio State finishes its dual meet season 10-1, with just the Winter Invitational between it and the Big Ten Championships. More information on both events to follow.
Ohio State Women
Ohio State’s four seniors- Rachael Dzierzak, Annie Jongekrijg, Katy Luchansky, and Camey Rabold- were honored before the meet today during Senior Day. All four have had great success in and out of the pool, and today they were honored for the four years they have spent as integral members of the swimming team.
Once that was completed, the Buckeyes got in the pool and soundly defeated Wright State 200-81. A Buckeye swimmer had the fastest time in every single event.
Kicking off the meet was the 200 medley relay, which was won by Ohio State. Liz Li, Dzierzak, Elizabeth Auckley, and Macie McNichols combined for a time of 1:43.29 to place first, giving OSU five of the top six finishers in that event. The 400 IM followed and Amy Bopp (4:24.57) won her first event of the evening; all three entrants in that event were from Ohio State, with Maria Coy and Amanda McNulty falling in line behind Bopp. One of the seniors, Rabold, then won the 200 freestyle (1:51.30), edging out teammate Kaitlyn Ferrara (1:51.98).
Meg Bailey in the 100 backstroke (56.42), Katie Antal in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.45) and Lindsey Clary in the 200 butterfly (2:04.40) all followed in Rabold’s footsteps by owning the fastest times in their respective events. The 50 freestyle followed, with Chantel Wynn coming out on top with her time of 23.85. After participating in the winning relay team to start the day, Dzierzak won the 100 freestyle (51.58), outpacing teammate Kathleen Cook (52.35). Clary was the top finisher for the second time to follow Dzierzak, this time in the 200 backstroke (2:04.71).
Another Buckeye won her second event of the meet to follow the 200 back; Bailey edged by Antal in the 200 breaststroke, 2:19.30 compared to 2:19.42. After racing against each other in the 200 free earlier, Ferrara and Rabold again found themselves 1-2 atop an event, though this time it was Ferrera who came out on top, earning a time of 4:59.50 in the 500 freestyle. Li won her first individual event in the 100 butterfly, outpacing the other swimmers comfortably with her time of 54.96. In the 200 IM, Luchansky posted the top time with her mark of 2:05.55.
In the one and three-meter diving events, a familiar face earned the highest marks from Ohio State. Hannah Thek, who has yet to finish lower than first this calendar year, won the one-meter with her score of 322.28 and won the three-meter with a 371.70. Haley Allen followed her in second place, continuing the impressive run Ohio State diving has been on all season long.
Before getting to the 200 freestyle relay there was a series of 50 yard races in all strokes but freestyle. Li posted the fastest 50 backstroke time (25.78), Dzierzak the fastest 50 breaststroke time (29.45), and Ariana Bullard earned the best time in the 50 butterfly (25.87). In a fitting ending to the meet, Dzierzak, Jongekrijg, Luchansky, and Rabold teamed up to win the 200 freestyle relay.
After the victory today, runs its dual meet record to 11-2. With the Winter Invitational next weekend, the team will soon be gearing up for the Big Ten Championships which begin Feb. 17.
