Behind a combined six wins from seniors Evan White, PJ Ransford and Tristan Sanders, the No. 7-ranked University of Michigan men’s swimming and diving team swept No. 16 Ohio State (157-143) and No. 19 Virginia Tech (196-104) in a championship-like environment on Saturday (Jan. 20) inside the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
The No. 2-ranked University of Michigan women’s swimming and diving team won nine events to defeat No. 11 Ohio State (176-124), No. 24 Virginia Tech (224-76) and Rutgers (233-67) on Saturday (Jan. 20) inside the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. The Top 25 poll.
The Wolverines received a strong challenge from the home team, as the two teams were tied at 75 points each at the halfway point of the meet. The Buckeyes pulled ahead after the 100-yard freestyle, but the Wolverines rattled off six consecutive event wins, beginning with Sanders in the 200-yard backstroke. After finishing fifth in the 100-yard backstroke earlier in the meet, the senior bounced back in a big way, touching first (1:46.31). That event turned the tide of the meet, as Michigan had four swimmers in the top seven, compared to just one for Ohio State.
White was the best swimmer in the pool on Saturday, winning three events. Two of his wins were the come-from-behind variety, using big back-halves to claim the 100-yard butterfly (47.07) and 200-yard butterfly (1:45.11). And with the Wolverines clinging to a 14-point lead with two events to go, White led a 1-2-3 finish in the 200-yard IM (1:48.10), touching ahead of sophomores Tommy Cope and Charlie Swanson to expand the lead.
Those two sophomores, along with classmates Jacob Montague and Jeremy Babinet, dominated the breaststrokes; the class went 1-2-3 in the 100-yard breaststroke (Montague, Babinet, Swanson) and 1-2-4-5 in the 200-yard breaststroke (Cope, Montague, Swanson, Babinet).
Ransford cruised to win both distance events. He went out fast and kept up the pace in the 1,000-yard freestyle to finish in 8:59.00, a fantastic mid-season time. Freshman Ricardo Vargas picked it up in the second half and chased down Ohio State’s Brayden Seal to take second (9:03.44) to complete the 1-2 finish. Ransford won the 500-yard freestyle later in the meet (4:21.64), holding off Seal for the win.
Other team-high finishes came from sophomore Felix Auböck in the 200-yard freestyle (second, 1:36.71), graduate student James Peek in the 50-yard freestyle (second, 20.05) and sophomore James Jones in the 100-yard freestyle (44.36).
The Michigan women picked up right where they left off last week, completely dominating the mid-distance and distance freestyle events. Junior Yirong Bi won both the 500-yard freestyle (4:46.09) and 1,000-yard freestyle (9:43.86), followed in each race by freshman Sierra Schmidt and senior G Ryan. Senior Gabby DeLoof took the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.81), as she was followed by Bi — who just finished the 1,000 a half hour earlier — and junior Siobhán Haughey, who returned to action after missing last week’s win over Indiana.
Michigan went 1-2-3 in one other event on Saturday. Senior Emily Kopas claimed the 200-yard breaststroke (2:13.96), followed by sophomore Miranda Tucker and junior Jamie Yeung.
Senior Clara Smiddy was sharp once again, winning the 200-yard backstroke by almost two seconds (1:55.81) and out-touching Ohio State’s Meg Bailey by .06 seconds in the 200-yard IM (2:00.60). Sophomore Vanessa Krause also picked up a pair of victories, holding off late charges from Ohio State swimmers in both the 100-yard butterfly (54.20) and 200-yard butterfly (1:57.22). The ninth victory came in the 400-yard freestyle relay to close the meet, as the foursome of DeLoof, junior Catie DeLoof, Bi and freshman Daria Pyshnenko touched collectively at 3:16.77.
Pyshnenko had another strong swim in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing second in 22.68, nearly two tenths faster than last week. Gabby DeLoof was second in the 100-yard freestyle (49.10), falling to Ohio State’s Liz Li by a .01-second margin. Other individual runner-up finishes came from junior Taylor Garcia in the 100-yard backstroke (54.10) and Tucker in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.10).
The 11th-ranked Buckeye women registered wins over No. 24 Virginia Tech (202-98) and Rutgers (239-61), and the No. 17 men knocked off No. 19 Virginia Tech (207-93).
OSU’s Paul Delakis won the 200 free (1:36.16) and 100 free (44.11). Mark Belanger won the 100 backstroke (48.21). Hanna Gresser won the 100 breaststroke (1:01.85). Liz Li won the 50 freestyle (22.29) and the 100 free (49.09).
Indiana sweeps Purdue
The No. 3/7-ranked Indiana University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams completed an impressive sweep of Purdue on Senior Day Saturday afternoon in front of a capacity crowd at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, Ind.
The No. 3-ranked Hoosier men extended their dual meet win-streak to 21-straight with a 206-92 win over the Boilermakers, improving to 8-0 on the year. The No. 7-ranked IU women took down PU, 176-123, to move to 4-4 on the season.
With the two victories, Indiana takes the lead over Purdue in the Governor’s Cup, 4.5-3.5. The overall winner of the contest will be awarded a trophy at the end of the season. Each sport can earn one point toward the overall championship. A total of 19 or 20 points can be won, depending on the number of meetings between the teams in various sports.
Leading the way for the Hoosiers on Saturday was Lilly King, who took home three individual wins against the Boilermakers. The junior won the 100 breaststroke (1:01.36), 200 breaststroke (2:10.61) and 200 IM (2:01.29) with NCAA B cut times.
For the Hoosier men, four swimmers earned two individual wins apiece, all with NCAA B cut marks. Senior Ali Khalafalla won the 50 freestyle (19.68) and 100 freestyle (44.10), while Vini Lanza swept the butterfly events, winning the 100 in 47.34 and the 200 in 1:46.11.
Ian Finnerty took first in both breaststroke events, winning the 100 with a mark of 52.72 and the 200 in 1:57.06. Freshman Gabriel Fantoni continued his great swimming, winning both backstroke events. The Brazilian touched first in the 100 in a season-best time of 46.86 and the 200 in 1:44.91.
For the IU women, senior Ali Rockett won a pair of events – the 100 backstroke in a NCAA B cut of 53.13 and the 50 freestyle in 23.13. In the diving well, Jessica Parratto took first in both events, winning with NCAA Zones qualifying scores. The redshirt junior placed first in the 1-meter with a score of 345.45 and the platform with a season-best total of 350.33.
Michael Hixon had a tremendous showing in the men’s 1-meter dive, winning with an Indiana dual-meet record score of 453.90. Also winning events for the IU men were Mohamed Samy in the 200 freestyle (1:36.47, NCAA B cut) and Adam Destrampe in the 500 freestyle (4:26.93).
Senior Rachel Matsumura touched first for the Hoosiers in the women’s 200 backstroke with a NCAA B cut time of 1:58.71, while Christine Jensen touched first in the women’s 100 butterfly in a NCAA B cut time of 53.07.
Purdue’s Kaersten Meitz and Danielle Auckley teamed up to help the Purdue women win five of the six freestyle events, all but the 50. Meitz swept the 200, 500 and 1,000 free vs. IU for the second year in a row. Auckley was victorious in the 100 free against the Hoosiers for the second consecutive season as well. They teamed with Jackie Smailis and Megan Johnson to make the Boilermakers a winner in the 400 free relay to close the dual.
Taite Kitchel won the 200 butterfly, went toe-to-toe with King in the 200 individual medley and posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time (B Cut) in all three of her individual events.
Iowa splits with Northwestern
The University of Iowa swimming and diving team won 18-of-32 events en route to a Big Ten win over Northwestern on Saturday afternoon at the Norris Aquatic Center. The Hawkeye men won, 194-101, while the women fell to the Wildcats, 163.5-134.5.
Jerzy Twarowski locked a 48.23 NCAA “B” qualifying time to win the 100 fly. He also won the 200 fly with a time of 1:49.54. Joe Myhre won two events — the 50 free (20.50) and 100 free (44.87) — while Mende won the 100 back, clocking in at 48.73 and 200 back, touching in at 1:46.57. Sophomore Forrest White finished second in the 100 back, while posting a season-best with a time of 50.28.
Jack Smith won the 200 free, touching in at 1:40.39; senior Thomas Rathbun would finish second in 1:40.97.
Senior Chris Dawson won the 500 free with a time of 4:34.17, before sophomore Michael Tenney won the 200 IM. Tenney posted a season and career-best with a time of 1:51.50 in the event.
Northwestern’s Will Hofstadter swam away from the competition in both the 100 and 200 breast. The junior touched the wall in 55.84, nearly two seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, in the 100 free and won the 200 breast by a full second with a 2:03.53.
The Northwestern women were led by Calypso Sheridan. She earned three individual victories in addition to leading off the winning 200 medley relay team. The Australia native won the 100 back in 55.48, the 200 back in 1:59.92 and swam away from the competition in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:04.66. Her victory in the 100 back sparked a stretch of four-straight wins by the ‘Cats, including victories by Sophie Angus in the 100 breast (1:03.58), Ilektra Lebl in the 200 fly (2:03) and Mary Warren in the 50 free (22.92).
For the Iowa women, sophomore Hannah Burvill won the 200 free and 500 free, touching in at 1:49.63 to win the 200, before posting a 5:00.69 time in the 500. Senior Carly O’Brien finished runner-up in the 200 in 1:50.67, and she went on to win the 100 free with a time of 51.15.
Senior Shea Hoyt and freshman Lexi Horner finished 1-2 in the 100 breast. Hoyt posted a time of 1:04.40, while Horner touched in at 1:06.98.
Junior Kelly McNamara won the 100 fly with a time of 55.51.
Michigan State tops Oakland on senior day
The Michigan State swimming and diving teams beat Oakland today in its final home meet of the season. The men defeated the Golden Grizzlies 160.5-133.5 and the women won 197-103, racking up a total of 21 first-place finishes.
The Spartans honored 14 seniors in their final home meet of the season. From the men’s team, Alex Duffy, Tal Hanani, Connor Lamb, Nick Leshok, Lachie McLeish, Mitch Strahlman, Joe Szczupakiewicz and Alex Trompke were honored. Racheal Bukowski, Rebecca Hannon, Haley Kornburger, Maison Moore, Anna Stephens and Rosalie Yockey are the seniors that were honored from the women’s team.
Leshok, McLeish, Hanani, Bukowski and Kornburger all went out on a high note in their final home meet at McCaffree Pool. Leshok finished first in the 100 breaststroke. McLeish finished first in the 200 back and second in the 100 back. Hanani won the 200 IM with a time of 1:52.28. Kornburger finished first in the 500 free, and second in the 1000 free.
In the 50 Free, Bukowski touched the pad in a time of 23.14, establishing a new pool record. Bukowski also won the 100 free, her seventh consecutive win in the event.
Nebraska tops Illinois on senior day
The Nebraska swim and dive team defeated Illinois on senior day with a final score of 183-112.
The Huskers started the meet with a first place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with Autumn Haebig, Gwen Worlton, Izzie Murray and Lindsay Helferich in the lane (1:44.46).
In the 1,000-yard freestyle, team captain Kaylyn Flatt pulled out a first-place finish (10:12.97).
Standout freshman Haebig captured first place in the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.97).The Huskers swept the top three spots in the 100-yard breaststroke with senior captain Jordan Ehly in first (1:03.95), Tori Beeler in second (1:04.30) and Gwen Worlton rounding out the top three (1:04.40). In the 200-yard butterfly, Dana Posthuma finished first (2:03.51). Team captain Anna McDonald finished first in the 200-yard backstroke (2:04.49). Ehly found her second first-place finish of the meet in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:15.96).
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