Ohio State won a pair of dual meets against Denison on Friday.
Ohio State Press Release
Columbus, Ohio— Ohio State hosted Denison University on Friday night at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion and came away with a 186-103 victory. For the second consecutive meet, OSU had the fastest time or highest mark in every swimming and diving event.
Getting started was the 200 medley relay. Matt McHugh, Jack Barone, Michael Salazar, and Mossimo Chavez got things going with a time of 1:29.60, the best in the field. Distance freestyle-extraordinaire Brayden Seal took the top spot in the 1000 freestyle with his time of 9:24.35, the fastest by nearly 20 seconds.
A week after four first place finishes, Josh Fleagle nabbed another one early in the 200 freestyle (1:37.34). McHugh won his second event of the night when he posted a time of 48.45 in the 100 backstroke, besting teammate Mark Belanger who actually outpaced McHugh the second half of the race.
Michael Eaton and Barone then held a hotly contested race in the 100 breaststroke with Eaton coming out ahead (57.19 to 57.30). The next Buckeye swimmer to win an event was Ching Lim, who took the top spot in the 200 butterfly with his time of 1:49.43. Following Lim was Nick Brodie in the 50 freestyle; his time of 20.82 was the fastest of the bunch, and the only sub-21:00 time in the field.
The first diving event of the meet wrapped up around this time. Colin Zeng’s score of 433.65 on three-meter wasn’t just the only one above 400, it was the highest by a wide margin. It was the same story for one-meter; Zeng posted a mark of 428.10, again the only diver over 400. Junior Stephen Romanik came in second to Zeng both times.
Belanger and Thomas Trace were next up for their first place finishes. Belanger won the 100 freestyle (45.79) and Trace won the 200 backstroke, beating out a pair of Buckeyes with the same time (Brad Shannon and Andrew Appleby tied at 1:50.93). Sophomore Brandon Fronczak was the first to touch the wall in the 200 breaststroke at 2:06.14.
Seal again paced the field in one of the longer freestyle events; his time of 4:31.16 in the 500 free bested the crop of nine other swimmers.
Three events remained: 100 butterfly, 200 IM, and 400 freestyle relay. Salazar and McHugh battled in the 100 fly, with Salazar coming out on top (48.30); Lim outswam his competitors for the second time tonight in the 200 IM (1:51.96); and the foursome of Fleagle, McHugh, Nathan Christian, and Belanger (3:00.59) finished the meet on a high note for the Buckeyes in the 400 free relay.
Next on the docket for Ohio State are two more meets against Ohio schools. On Friday, Nov. 11 it hosts Cleveland State at 4 p.m., and the following day welcomes the Miami RedHawks for a dual meet at 1 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio— Two home meets, two wins for the Ohio State women’s swimming and diving teams. The Buckeyes earned a 187-107 win over Denison University on Friday night.
OSU posted the fastest time or highest mark in all but two events against the Big Red. Both Liz Li and Macie McNichols led the way for Ohio State, posting the fastest time in six total events between the two of them. Denison freshman KT Kustritz won both breaststroke events.
Li and McNichols swam with Molly Washko and Elizabeth Auckley started the meet off with a first place finish in the 200 medley relay (1:42.72). Kathleen Cook and Meg Bailey swam freestyle to take the next two events; Cook won the 1000 free with a time of 10:15.81 and Bailey’s win came in the 200 free (1:50.87). Li was back at it shortly after the relay, winning the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.09.
Denison’s Kustritz earned the first of her two breaststroke wins next, taking the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.33, narrowly edging out Washko, who posted the fastest Ohio State time at 1:03.37. The 200 butterfly followed and Amanda McNulty took first with a time of 2:02.47, just before a Buckeye battle in the 50 freestyle. McNichols and Cheyenne Meek went 1-2 in that event, with McNichols’ time of 23.30 topping Meek’s mark of 23.69.
Meek wouldn’t have to wait much longer for a first place finish though, she won the very next event: the 100 freestyle, with a time of 51.70. Backstroke specialist Zulal Zeren followed that up by doing what she does best, winning the 200 back with a time of 2:00.89. The 200 breaststroke was up next and Kustritz of the Big Red came out on top, with Washko again swimming the fastest Ohio State time (2:20.28).
Lindsey Clary had an impressive showing for the 500 freestyle, her time of 4:45.14 was the only one in the field under 5:00. Li outpaced the field in the 100 butterfly, the 2016 Big Ten Champion touching the wall at 55.09 to pace the other eight swimmers.
The second of two diving events wrapped up around this time. Lara Tarvit squeaked by Haley Allen for first place on one-meter (297.83 to 295.20). Allen had a more sizable win early, taking first on three-meter with a score of 287.25. This was the second meet in a row that the two split diving events.
Just two events remained: the 200 IM and the 400 freestyle relay. Freshman Kathrin Demler outpaced the field in the former with a time of 2:06.96, while McNichols, Cook, Meek, and Lucija Jurkovic finished the relay with a time of 3:29.75.
Next on the docket for Ohio State are two more meets against Ohio schools. On Friday, Nov. 11 it hosts Cleveland State at 4 p.m., and the following day welcomes the Miami RedHawks for a dual meet at 1 p.m.
