Ohio State dominated Kenyon on Friday night in Columbus.
Ohio State Press Release
Columbus, Ohio— For the first time this season, Ohio State’s men’s swimming and diving team took to the water for a competition, defeating Kenyon College 186-103 on Friday evening. The Buckeyes posted the fastest time in all 14 swimming events and the top score in both diving events, making for a successful start to the season.
2016 NCAA National Champion Colin Zeng picked up right where he left off, posting the top score on both one and three-meter. On the former he earned a score of 406.95, the only diver of the night go score above 400. On three-meter his score of 386.10 topped teammate Quinlan DeVal (343.95) in what was DeVal’s first meet.
Swimming-wise, the foursome of Matt McHugh, Jack Barone, Noah Lense, and Josh Fleagle kicked things off with a first place finish in the 200 medley relay, their time of 1:30.23 besting the field. Brayden Seal followed that up with a time of 9:21.88 in the 1000 freestyle, another strong performance in a distance freestyle events for the junior.
After Seal it was Fleagle posting his second victory of the night, his time of 1:37.98 in the 200 freestyle the only one to break 1:40.00. Mark Belanger in the 100 backstroke (49.60) and Michael Eaton in the 100 breaststroke (58.13) earned a couple wins, with Eaton narrowly edging out teammates Alex Jahan and Barone (58.30). Two of Ohio State’s NCAA Championship qualifiers from last year won the next events. Ching Lim comfortably won the 200 butterfly with his mark of 1:50.82, while McHugh came out on top for the second time tonight with a win in the 50 freestyle; the senior’s time of 20.85 just barely eat teammate Mossimo Chavez (20.86).
Fleagle continued his strong night, earning a victory in the 100 freestyle (44.92), his third first place finish of the night. Next up Trace and Brandon Fronczak found themselves on top for the first time this season. Trace won the 200 backstroke with a mark of 1:51.33, beating out Andrew Appleby by .12 seconds. Fronczak bested Jahan in the 100 breaststroke, his time of 2:06.23 just a touch better than the 2:06.36 from Jahan.
Three more individual events followed, all of which were led by familiar faces. Seal had the fastest time in the 500 freestyle with 4:31.95, four seconds better than the next swimmer. McHugh turned in another fast performance in the 100 butterfly (48.63) and Lim outswam the other eight swimmers in the 200 IM with a time of 1:51.67. To close out the night’s events, Nathan Christian, Fleagle, Belanger, and McHugh came out to swim the fastest time in the 400 freestyle relay (3:01.31, six seconds faster than the next best foursome).
Next up for Ohio State is a dual meet with Denison University on Friday, November 4 at 6:00
Columbus, Ohio— The Ohio State women’s swimming and diving team had its first home meet of the season on Friday, defeating Kenyon College 173-115. Buckeyes accounted for top times in 11 events tonight and won both the one and three-meter dives.
On the diving board it was Haley Allen and freshman Lara Tarvit competing for the Buckeyes. Tarvit won her first collegiate event, posting a score of 297.15 on one-meter. Allen took the top spot on three-meter with her score of 317.55, giving Ohio State a diving sweep for both the men and women.
The foursome of Marianne Kahmann, Molly Washko, Liz Li and Chantel Wynn got the dual meet started with a time of 1:43.67 to win the 200 medley relay. The first place finish marks the first of Kahmann’s career, in her first collegiate event to boot. Meg Bailey and Molly Kowal followed that up with a duel in the 1000 freestyle in which Bailey came out on top; her time of 10:03.45 narrowly edged out Kowal’s mark of 10:03.61.
Kenyon took its first event of the night: the 200 freestyle. Hannah Orbach-Mandel’s time of 1:49.99 bested the rest of the field, with Liz Li earning the top Buckeye time (1:51.02). Kenyon would actually win the next event as well (100 backstroke) with freshman Summer Otazu’s time of 53.37 setting the high mark. Kahmann came close; she posted a mark of 53.63, a hair faster than teammate Elizabeth Auckley (53.64). Washko won for the second time today in the next event, 100 breaststroke, swimming a time of 1:03.96.
The next two events went the way of the Buckeyes: Amanda McNulty won the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:01.25 and Wynn returned to the top spot with a victory in the 50 freestyle (23.71). In the 100 freestyle it was Orbach-Mandel from Kenyon coming through with her second first place finish of the night, her time of 51.33 beating out the other nine swimmers. Kathleen Cook was the fastest Ohio State swimmer in that event (52.14). A pair of Scarlet and Gray seniors came out on top in next two events: Kaitlyn Ferrara won the 200 backstroke (2:03.06) and Lindsey Clary outswam seven others in the 200 breaststroke, her time of 2:18.17 topping them all.
Ferrara and Clary were the first of six straight first place finishes for Ohio State that closed out the meet: Bailey in the 500 freestyle (4:58.44, the only swimmer to go sub-5:00); Li in the 100 butterfly (54.80, almost four seconds faster than the next-best time); Maria Coy in the 200 IM (2:08.02); and foursome of Coy, Clary, Bailey, and Li in the 400 freestyle relay (3:29.77) to close out the evening’s events.
Next up for Ohio State is a dual meet with Denison University on Friday, November 4 at 6:00.
