Ohio State Press Release
Columbus, Ohio— Hosting both Akron and Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Ohio State women’s swimming and diving teams came away victorious against both teams during an undefeated weekend of competition.
The Buckeyes beat Pitt 169-125 and defeated Akron 171-120.
Ohio State had the fastest time in 11 events today, including both relays. To open the meet Elizabeth Auckley, Molly Washko, Liz Li, and Macie McNichols combined for a time of 1:40.33 to outpace the field. Closing out the meet was a Buckeye foursome that won the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:23.03.
There were obviously several individual winners on Saturday as well. Freshman Molly Kowal won her third event of the season thanks to a time of 10:00.10 in the 1000 freestyle, and Lindsey Clary followed her up with a win in the 200 freestyle (1:50.11). Clary’s time just edged out teammate Maria Coy in that race (1:50.19). Later on in the meet, Kowal would earn her fourth first place finish of the season, this time in the 500 freestyle (4:53.63).
In addition to contributing to relays, Li won two events on her own: the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Her time of 22.49 was good enough to win the freestyle sprint and she outpaced the other swimmers in the 100 fly with her time of 53.98.
Taylor Vargo had another good day’s worth of breaststroke events, winning the 100 yard race with a mark of 1:02.99 and placing second in the 200 yard race (2:16.55). Meg Bailey outswam the field in the 200 butterfly, registering a time of 2:00.19 in that event. She would go on to win the 200 IM as well (2:02.12). McNichols was a two-time winner today, too; she won the 100 freestyle, touching the wall at 50.86.
Zulal Zeren was the top team finisher in both backstroke events. She posted a time of 56.65 in the 100 backstroke and 2:00.37 in the 200 backstroke. Diving-wise, Haley Allen scored 269.75 on three-meter and freshman Lara Tarvit scored 261.85 on one-meter.
Ohio State’s next meet will be a big one: at the University of Michigan on Jan. 27
Columbus, Ohio— Another day, another dual meet victory for the Ohio State men’s swimming and diving teams. They took down the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion 168-123.
Colin Zeng continued his excellent season by winning on one and three-meter today. On three-meter he was the only diver to eclipse 400 (443.60) and he nearly reached that plateau on one-meter as well, scoring 398.25.
Ohio State kicked off the meet with a first place finish in the 200 medley relay. Matt McHugh, Jack Barone, Michael Salazar, and Josh Fleagle combined for a time of 1:29.41. Brayden Seal followed that up with a victory in the 1000 freestyle (9:18.37) before Fleagle won again, this time in the 200 freestyle (1:38.69). His relay partner McHugh added another first place finish of his own in the 100 backstroke (47.34) and Barone did the same in the 100 breaststroke. His time of 56.23 just narrowly edged out Pitt’s
Bo Kulizhnikov by .09 seconds.
Ching Lim won two races today: the 200 butterfly and the 200 IM. He won the former with a time of 1:48.91 and the latter with a time of 1:49.38. Fleagle and Mossimo Chavez won the 100 and 50 yard freestyle races, respectively. Fleagle’s third win of the day came because of his time of 45.20 and Chavez outpaced the field with a mark of 20.95.
McHugh and Seal also won multiple individual events. Seal took the 500 freestyle, touching the wall at 4:30.82, while McHugh took first place in the 100 butterfly, besting the other swimmers with his mark of 48.09. Thomas Trace also won an event against Pitt, earning the top spot in the 200 backstroke thanks to a time of 1:49.33. Freshman Alex Jahan was Ohio State’s top competitor in the 200 breaststroke (2:03.280.
Next up for Ohio State is a dual meet at the University of Michigan on Jan. 27.
Akron Press Release
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Akron women's swimming and diving team split a dual meet on Saturday afternoon in Columbus as the Zips edged Pitt, 154-146 and fell to Ohio State by a 171-120 count.
The meet with Pitt was a back-and-forth affair with the winner still up in the air heading into the 400 freestyle relay, the final event of the day. Akron posted a time of 3:26.30 to finish in second place and just ahead of Pitt who touched the wall in 3:26.82.
"Hats off to our Lady Zips fighting through to a victory today against Pitt. Every point counted and I'm happy that we held our own," said head coach Brian Peresie. "Hats off to Ohio State as they performed very well after a tough road trip the before. I'm proud of our team for stepping up against two great teams.
Sophomore Madison Myers (Akron, Ohio) notched a pair of wins on the day for Akron with victories in the 100 backstroke (55.53) and the 200 yard IM (2:05.01) where she just out touched Pitt's Kinga Cichowska (2:05.36).
In the 100 back, Myers edged teammate, senior Luka Szynal (Lublin, Poland) who finished second with a time of 55.57.
Szynal registered a win for Akron in the 200 backstroke as she cruised home in a time of 1:58.57.
Junior Paloma Marrero Munoz (Merida, Spain) posted a pair of third place finishes on the day for the Zips in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.62) and the 200 breaststroke (2:17.10). The 100 breaststroke was a very closely contested race as Marrero Munoz finished within a second of the winner, Ohio State's Taylor Vargo (1:02.99).
Sophomore Sadie Fazekas (Windsor, Ontario) turned in a second place effort in the 100 butterfly with a time of 55.15.
On the diving boards, senior Paige Kelkenberg (Lockport, N.Y.) turned in a strong effort with a second place finish in the one meter event (269.20) and a fourth place finish in the three meter event (266.50).
"I think our team earned a little respect this weekend. We went up against three very good teams and came out 2-1 on the weekend," added Peresie. "This was an important step as we move closer to the MAC and NCAA Championships with things still to work on heading into next weekend's competition.
Akron returns to the pool on Friday, Jan. 27 and Saturday, Jan. 28, when they host Bowling Green and Youngstown State for a dual meet at Ocasek Natatorium.
Diving will begin on Friday at 1 p.m. with session one of swimming set for 5 p.m. On Saturday, session two of swimming is slated to start at 10 a.m. with diving to follow. The final swimming session of the meet will start at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Pittsburgh Press Release
COLUMBUS—The Pitt swimming and diving teams won a total of nine events but eventually lost to No. 17/21 Ohio State on Saturday afternoon at the Buckeyes’ McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion as the Panthers competed in their penultimate meet before next month’s ACC Championships in Atlanta.
The Pitt men (3-6, 1-5 ACC) fell to the No. 17 Buckeyes by a team score of 168-123, while the Pitt women (4-6, 2-4 ACC) dropped a 169-125 decision to No. 21 Ohio State and were also edged 154-146 by Akron’s women’s team.
Pitt head coach John Hargis was disappointed in the defeats and highlighted the importance of rising to the challenge when facing programs of the caliber of Ohio State.
“We still need to rise to the occasion when we compete against the best,” Hargis said. “Ohio State is one of the top Big Ten teams on both sides. Our performances have to improve if we want to beat teams of that quality. Our next step as a program is swimming our fastest when the lights are the brightest.”
From a diving perspective, Panthers’ diving coach Julian Krug praised the performances of Saturday’s winner of the 1-meter and 3-meter dives, Pitt junior Meme Sharp.
“Meme did a very solid job,” Krug said of Sharp, who posted scores of 306.30 on 3M and 298.40 on 1M to win both events comfortably. “I’m very pleased with how she did in not only winning both events, but in diving well to win both events. She continues to prove herself as a top performer in the right time and right places.”
Winning races in the swimming events for the Panthers were Kinga Cichowksa (200 breast, 2:14.44), Amanda Richey (500 free, 4:51.45), Boris Kulizhnikov (200 breast, 2:02.04), Aaron Sett (500 free, 4:32.94), Eben Vorster (100 fly, 50.18; 200 IM, 1:52.30) in two individual events and the 400 free relay team (3:04.14).
With the women’s ACC Championships just three weeks away and the men’s ACC meet five weeks away, Coach Hargis and Coach Krug both have high hopes that the Panthers can improve significantly in their swimming & diving marks before the all-important postseason begins.
“We’ll spend these next few weeks getting some rest and preparing our bodies for the ACC Championships,” said Hargis. “We have big goals as a team that are still within our reach if we perform to our potential when it matters the most.”
“We will work on sharpening up and improving the consistency of our dives,” Krug said. “They can do the dives; it’s just a matter of executing when the lights are on.”
The Pitt swimming & diving teams have one final opportunity to compete before taking the stage at next month’s ACC Championships.
