Ohio State Invitational: Indiana Defeats Ohio State Women, Louisville Men For Team Titles
The Indiana Hoosiers completed an impressive weekend of swimming at the Ohio State Invitational, comfortably defeating the Louisville men for the team win while out-pacing the host team’s women by 100 points.
On the final day, Indiana got wins from Anna Peplowski in the 200 backstroke, Brearna Crawford in the 200 breaststroke and Ava Whitaker in the 200 butterfly while veterans Owen McDonald (200 back) and Josh Matheny (200 breast) won for the men.
Women’s Scores:
- Indiana 2526.5
- Ohio State 2413.5
- Louisville 1986
- UCLA 1503
- Notre Dame 917
- Cincinnati 895
- Penn State 746.5
- Yale 690
- Rutgers 279.5
- Northwestern 114
Men’s Scores:
- Indiana 2995.5
- Louisville 2444.5
- Ohio State 2164
- Yale 1292.5
- Penn State 1151
- Cincinnati 940
- Northwestern 237.5
- Notre Dame 29
Women’s 1650 Freestyle
Ohio State freshman Mila Nikanorov built a strong advantage over Indiana’s Ching Hwan Gan, a top-three finisher in the event at the last two NCAA Championships, and held on to win in 15:49.26, a mark beaten by only four swimmers at last year’s national meet.
Hwee also got under 16:00 as she clocked 15:54.48 for second place, while the Buckeyes secured a 1-3 finish as Gwen Woodbury came in at 16:04.81. Indiana’s Mariah Denigan, a U.S. Olympian in the 10-kilometer open water race in Paris, took fourth in 16:06.12.
Men’s 1650 Freestyle
Yale’s Noah Millard posted a big upset as he defeated Zalan Sarkany, the reigning NCAA champion in the 1650 free who has transferred from Arizona State to Indiana since the end of last season. Millard, who sat out the 2023-24 college season, clocked 14:33.47 to annihilate his best time and put up a mark that only Sarkany beat at all last college season.
Sarkany came in second at 14:37.49, with Ohio State’s Alex Metzler coming out on top of a tight pack to take third in 14:55.50.
Women’s 200 Backstroke
Indiana’s Anna Peplowski capped off a big weekend with her third individual win, coming in at 1:51.13 to win the 200 back. Peplowski faced a challenge from teammate Miranda Grana, who was up by more than four tenths at the halfway point, but the Olympic silver medalist from Paris finished well to finish a quarter-second ahead. Grana took second in 1:51.36, and Paige Hall completed the Buckeye sweep in 1:53.24.
Men’s 200 Backstroke
Indiana’s Owen McDonald, another arrival from Arizona State this season, dominated the men’s 200 back in a time of 1:38.07. McDonald previously took third in the event at the 2024 NCAA Championships, behind only international veterans Destin Lasco and Owen McDonald.
n Columbus, Cincinnati’s Hunter Gubeno (1:40.57) and Ohio State’s Cornelius Jahn (1:40.66) completed the top three.
Women’s 100 Freestyle
Louisville’s Julia Dennis blasted slightly ahead of the field in the opening stages of the race and never yielded, finishing in 47.87 to take the win.
Indiana’s Kristina Paegle took second in 48.19, ahead of Ohio State’s Rachel Bockrath, while there was a four-way tie for fourth in 48.45, including UCLA’s Gizem Guvenc, Ohio State’s Erin Little and Louisville’s Gabi Albiero.
Men’s 100 Freestyle
Almost dead-even for the entire race, Louisville’s Guy Brooks touched out Ohio State’s Tomas Navikonis by one hundredth, 42.25 to 42.26. Navikonis had the lead by a single hundredth entering the final 25, but the Louisville junior was just a touch better coming home. Indiana’s Dylan Smiley took third (42.54).
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
Indiana’s Brearna Crawford went wire-to-wire in the women’s 200 breast, eventually finishing in 2:07.74 for a win by more than eight tenths, ahead of Louisville’s Mia Cheatwood (2:08.57) and Ohio State’s Reese Dehen (2:10.22).
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
The accomplished breaststroke contingent from Indiana put on a show in this final, sitting in position for a clean sweep for the first three-quarters of the race. Fifth-year swimmers Jassen Yep and Brian Benzing held the lead early on, but Josh Matheny, fresh off an Olympic final appearance in the 200-meter breast, was superior down the stretch.
Buoyed by splits of 27.75 and 28.66, Matheny closed to finish in 1:50.31, four tenths ahead of Yep’s 1:50.71. Benzing faded down the stretch, ending up fifth in 1:54.10, with Louisville’s Denis Petrashoc (1:52.74) taking third while another Indiana swimmer, Toby Barnett, claimed fourth (1:53.02).
Women’s 200 Butterfly
Indiana’s Ava Whitaker held a significant entering the last 50 of this final. She struggled down the stretch but held on to win in 1:56.29. Notre Dame freshman Carli Cronk finisehd well to take second in 1:57.03, with Louisville veteran Tristen Ulett holding on for third in 1:57.40.
Men’s 200 Butterfly
The Louisville men concluded individual racing with a win in the 200 fly as freshman Greg Enoch pulled away from Indiana fifth-year swimmer and Israeli Olympian Tomer Frankel. Enoch clocked 1:41.81, with Frankel coming in at 1:42.48, with another Cardinals first-year swimmer, Thomas Powers-Hammond, taking third in 1:43.54.
Women’s Platform Diving
Indiana’s Skyler Liu scored 325.35 points to take the win, beating out UCLA’s Eden Cheng (301.50) and Ohio State’s Paola Pineda (293.60).
Men’s Platform Diving
Ohio State’s Kylie Flory scored 393.30 points to beat out a pair of accomplished Indiana divers, Maxwell Weinrich (391.65) and Carson Tyler (346.40).
Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay
Ohio State beat Louisville by four tenths to wrap up the meet, with the team of Erin Little, Sienna Angove, Teresa Ivan and Rachel Bockrath combining for a time of 47.35. Bockrath had the best split at 47.35 on the anchor leg.
Louisville’s Daria Golovaty, Julia Dennis, Gabi Albiero and Lucy Mehraban took second in 3:11.97, and Indiana took third in 3:12.72 with Anna Peplowski, Miranda Grana, Mya Dewitt and Kristina Paegle.
Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay
This one was a dominant effort for the Indiana men, with Luke Barr and Dylan Smiley both splitting under 42 on the middle legs. With Owen McDonald and Tomer Frankel as bookends, Indiana finished in 2:48.23.
Louisville’s team of Murilo Sartori, Guy Brooks, Matias Santiso and Dalton Lowe placed second in 2:49.65, followed by Ohio State’s Tomas Navikonis, Evan Fentress, Mario McDonald and Daniel Baltes in 2:50.31.