The fast swimming continued with Day Two of the Ohio State Invitational as 11 more A cuts were secured during competition. Beginning with the 200 medley relay, the University of Florida captured the first relay and A cut of the night as Sinead Russell (24.59), Hilda Luthersdottir (27.26), Ellese Zalewski (23.02), and Natalie Hinds (21.55) combined to win in a 1:36.42. The University of Virginia also cleared the A standard of 1:38.01 as Courtney Bartholomew (24.43), Laura Simon (27.57), Ellen Williamson (23.47), and Emily Lloyd (22.20) took 2nd in 1:37.67, and the Cavaliers’ B team also took third with a 1:40.37.
In the men’s race, the Ohio State University also posted an Automatic qualifying time as the foursome of Connor McDonald (21.86), Keanu Stevenson (24.09), Matt McHugh (20.28), and Josh Fleagle (19.34) took the race overall in a winning time of 1:25.57. The University of Florida narrowly missed the A standard of 1:26.08 with their second=placed 1:26.10 effort, while OSU’s B relay took third in 1:27.43. Notably, Florida’s relay featured a blistering 18.90 anchor leg from senior Bradley DeBorde.
In the first individual race of the night, Elizabeth Beisel put on a show by posting an incredibly fast mid-season time in the 400 IM, as she went a 4:00.55 which now is the new nation-leading performance. This was three-tenths faster than the time Stanford’s Maya DiRado posted at the Art Adamson Invitational when she went a 4:00.88. This is also just .06 slower than Beisel was at last year’s NCAA Championships, so this truly puts her performance in perspective. UVA junior Shaun Casey took 2nd in a 4:10.02 while her fellow teammate Haley Durmer rounded out the top 3 with a 4:11.19.
The men’s 400 IM saw Florida’s Sebastien Rousseau and Dan Wallace duke it out in a thrilling race where both swimmers cleared the Automatic qualifying time of 3:43.28. Rousseau took first in a 3:41.26 while Wallace followed close behind at 3:42.18, and they now have the second and third fastest times in the nation this year. behind Georgia’s Chase Kalisz. Ohio State’s Tamas Gercsak took third in 3:45.49.
The women’s 100 yard butterfly featured another nation-leading swim as Florida senior Ellese Zalewski went a 51.13. This actually ties the time that Mizzou’s Dani Barbiea went last weekend at the Missouri Invitational, and is a personal best for Zalewski as well. Kentucky junior Tina Bechtel (51.36) joined her in clearing the NCAA A cut of 51.90, while Natalie Hinds rounded out the top 3 with a 52.49. Marcin Cieslak took the men’s race in a 46.28 while Ohio State’s Matt McHugh (47.15) and Ryan Bubb (47.44) followed for 2nd and 3rd.
Virginia freshman Leah Smith won her team’s first individual race of the night when she went a 1:45.09 to triumph in the 200 freestyle. About a a second-a-half back was Purdue’s Rhiannon Sheets (1:46.65) and Carly Mercer took third in 1:46.90. Ohio State junior Michael Disalle won the men’s race in a 1:35.57 while Florida’s Mitch D’arrigo (1:35.84) and OSU’s Josh Fleagle (1:36.45) took 2nd and 3rd respectively.
The 100 breaststroke saw two ladies break the one-minute barrier as Florida’s Hilda Luthersdottir 59.55) edged Virginia freshman Laura Simon (59.88) in a tight race. Ohio State’s Taylor Vargo finished third in 1:02.30. Not long after, Florida’s Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez won the men’s 100 breast in a 53.67, which was just good enough to outpace Virginia sophomore Yannick Kaeser (53.79), and Keanu Stevenson rounded out the top 3 with a 54.06 of his own.
In the final individual race of the night, Courtney Bartholomew posted an exceptionally fast 100 backstroke to lead the nation when she went a 50.73 to easily blitz the field. Bartholomew was very consistent in her splitting as she took out her 50 in a 24.94 before bringing the race home in a very strong 25.79 split. Sinead Russell of Florida was second in 52.46 while Kaitlyn Jones of the University of Virginia was third in 53.72. Connor McDonald came back from his strong medley relay leadoff to win the men’s 100 back in a 46.88. He just outtouched Virginia’s Luke Papendick who was 2nd in 47.05 and the Cavaliers also had Jack Murfee (47.08) who was right there in the mix as well.
The final relay of the session came in the form of the 800 free relay, and the Gators from Gainesville strung together four really strong legs to win in a 7:05.71. The four legs were composed of Zalewski (1:45.85), Beisel (1:44.81), Russell (1:46.67), and Ashlee Linn (1:48.38), and this cleared the Automatic qualifying standard of 7:07.31. Virginia was second in 7:07.95 while Florida’s B Squad took third in 7:13.01.
In the men’s race, Florida used Rousseau (1:34.19), Cieslak (1:36.14), Corey Main (1:34.74), and Wallace (1:35.87) to post a nation-leading time of 6:20.94. This easily clears the NCAA A cut of 6:24.19, and was almost 7 full seconds ahead of Ohio State’s A relay that went 6:27.77 for 2nd. Rounding out the top 3 was Florida’s B team went 6:30.04 for third.
In diving action, Purdue senior Casey Matthew won the 1 meter event with 312.95 points overall, while Kahlia Warner (Flor./301.95) and MacKenzie Tweardy (Purdue/ 288.95) took 2nd and 3rd respectively. For the men, Ohio State’s Christian Holstein comfortably won the 3 meter event with 403.60 points while Kentucky’s Greg Ferrucci (355.40) and Alex Back from Purdue (346.75) rounded out the top 3.
The action will continue Sunday, and the standings after two days of competitions are as follows:
Team Standings Women:
1. Virginia – 766
2. Florida – 717
3. Purdue – 432.5
4. Ohio State – 417.5
5. Kentucky – 275
Team Standings Men:
1. Ohio State 795
2. Florida 716
3. Virginia 545
4. Kentucky 341
5. Purdue 75
The Florida men’s team time in the 800 free relay is not a
nation-leading time. The USC men swam a 6:17.40 at the Texas
Invite.
This was written nearly 3 weeks ago… the Texas Invite was last week
Wow! Beisel has responded to DiRado! The 400 IM final at the NCAA’s will be very very very interesting.