The Ohio State Buckeyes visited Eastern Michigan today, defeating the Eagle women 175-113 and the men 203.5-96.5. The OSU squads turned in several event sweeps on their way victory against their Mid-American Conference hosts.
The women’s meet started with EMU nearly snatching the 200 medley relay from the Buckeyes, finishing at 1:43.53 to OSU’s 1:43.19. The next event though, was a demonstration of the depth a Big 10 school can carry as the Buckeye’s took a 1,2,3,4 sweep of the 1000 free led by Lindsey Clary’s 10:09.74. Clary was one of three double winners for OSU as she also turned in the top time for the 200 IM at 2:05.53 after the overwhelming scoring forced OSU swims to become exhibition.
OSU’s Katy Luchansky took both the 200 and 100 freestyles in close races. She turned in 1:51.48 to hold back EMU’s Mary Van Allen at 1:51.66. Later in the meet, the Eagles’ Mary Maclean was edged out in similar fashion, 52.30 to 52.09.
Taylor Vargo was also a double winner for the Buckeye women, taking both the 100 breast (1:03.93) and 200 breast (2:17.91) victories.
Liz Li led a 1,2,3 sweep of the 50 free with a sharp 22.99, and Zulal Zeren did the same for the 200 back with 2:00.98.
Other swimming event winners for OSU include Camey Rabold in the 100 back (56.26,) Amy Bopp in the 200 fly (2:02.94,) and Meg Bailey in the 500 (4:58.25.) OSU also claimed the diving events with 325.43 points from Taylor Pamplin onthe 3-meter and 284.40 from Hannah Trek on the 1-meter.
Eastern Michigan took two wins late in the meet, as Carly Jackson touched the wall first at 56.34 in the 100 fly, and the Eagles’ 400 free relay beat OSU’s top squad by .06, finishing 3:28.46 to OSU’s 3:28.52.
The men’s meet also had three sweeps by the Buckeyes, starting with 1,2,3,4 finishes in the 1000 free led by Jovan Mitrovic’s 9:18.62. Just like the women, they also took first through third in the 500 free behind Brayden Seal’s 4:31.19.
The other 1,2,3 sweep for the Buckeye men was the 200 IM. Ching Lim turned in the top time for that event at 1:50.61. By the time that event had rolled around, Lim had already won two other events with impressive times. His 100 freestyle was victorious at 45.61, and his 200 fly time of 1:47.62 moved him up to #26 in the NCAA so far this season.
DJ McDonald won the 100 breast, holding back two hard-charging Eagles. His 56.14 was just enough to win over two more sub-57 finishers with EMU’s Christoper Hodges touching at 56.42 and Kyle Aerne at 56.81. Other winners for the Buckeyes were Mark Belanger in the 100 back (49.42,) Andrew Appleby in the 200 back (1:50.45,) Matt McHugh in the 100 fly (48.11,) and Colin Zeng who took the 1-meter (366.83) and 3-meter (406.80) diving events.
EMU took top finish in three events in the mens’ competition. Andrew Henry won the 200 free (1:38.96,) Dylan Crompton took the 50 free (21.20,) and Christopher Hodges won the 200 breast (2:05.33.)
OSU turned in the top time for both the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay, with 1:30.79 and 3:00.79 respectively.
Seems like OSU swim team has a very “soft” schedule – like their football team. They should be racing tougher teams & more teams in Big 10. Guess they just want to have a winning season???
Or maybe their coaches have a different philosophy than whatever you are used to…? I doubt their dual meet schedule has anything to do with wanting a “winning record” – no one except outsiders care about dual meets or their results. All that matters is how the kids swim at the end of the season, period.