2023 Ohio State Invitational: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2023 Ohio State Invitational

• November 16-18, 2023
• McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion, Columbus, Ohio
• Long Course Meters (50 meters) Prelims, Short Course Yards (25 yards) Finals
• Prelims start at 9:30AM Eastern, Finals at 5:30 PM Eastern
• Participating teams: #12M/#4W Ohio State, #4M/#8W Indiana, #16M/#3W Louisville, #14M Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Ohio (diving), Cal (diving), Pitt (diving)
• Live Streaming: Big Ten Network ($)
• Meet Central
• Meet Results

The first finals session of the OSU Invite gets underway tonight at the McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion. After racing long course for the prelims earlier today, finals will be held in short course yards.

Ohio State opened the meet with a great prelims session, securing three top seeds for tonights finals. Sophomore Krista Marlin topped the 200m IM heats with a 2:15.31, a six second personal best. Another sophomore, Tristan Jankovics, clocked a 1:59.05 OSU school record to lead the field. Senior Alex Axon also claimed a top seed in the 400m freestyle (500-yard freestyle will be contested tonight) with a 3:51.89.

Indiana claimed two top seeds this morning. Anna Peplowski of Indiana posted a 4:12.80 personal best in the 400m freestyle to secure lane 4 for tonight’s final, while Kristina Paegle posted a 25.17 50m freestyle best time.

Chris Guiliano, a silver medalist from the World Championships this summer, will headline the 50 freestyle final. He posted a 22.25 50m freestyle prelim effort, and will look to challenge his personal best of 18.88 in the SCY format tonight.

Women’s 200-Yard Freestyle Relay — Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:23.87 — Virginia (K. Douglass, G. Walsh, L. Cuomo, A. Walsh) (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:28.43
• 2024 NCAA ‘B’ Standard: 1:29.21

Top 8:

1. Indiana ‘A’ (Peplowski, Turak, Yeo, Paegle) – 1:26.86
2. Ohio State ‘A’ (Ivan, Zenick, Harrison, Fulmer) – 1:27.00
3. Louisville ‘A’ (Albiero, Regenauer, Dennis, Welch) – 1:27.32
4. Louisville ‘B’ – 1:28.77
5. Ohio State ‘B’ – 1:30.33
6. Indiana ‘B’ – 1:31.02
7. Notre Dame ‘A’ – 1:31.22
8. Cincinnati ‘A’ – 1:31.68

Indiana opened the first night of the OSU Invite in strong fashion, posting a 1:26.86 automatic A-cut in the 200 freestyle relay. Anna Peplowski opened up the relay with a 22.19, Ashley Turak split 21.67 on the second leg, Sze Yeo split 22.11 on the third leg, and Kristina Paegle anchored in a sizzling 20.89. Notably, Indiana was a 1:27.75 at this same meet last year with 3 of the same 4 swimmers from tonight’s quartet.

The top three teams were closely bunched together, with Ohio State and Louisville also achieving the NCAA ‘A’ standard. Ohio State’s squad of Teresa Ivan (21.89), Katherine Zenick (21.81), Tristan Harrison (22.19), and Amy Fulmer (21.11) touched in 1:27.00. Ohio State was a 1:28.25 at this same meet last year with the same four swimmers comprising that relay as well. Ohio State ultimately finished 4th last year at NCAAs, recording a 1:25.80 school record in the process.

Louisville, who placed 3rd at NCAAs last year, stopped the clock in 1:27.32. Their line-up of Gabi Albiero (22.08), Christiana Regenauer (21.58), Julia Dennis (21.40), and Ella Welch (22.26) was composed of the same four swimmers from their NCAA 3rd place finish last year.

Men’s 200-Yard Freestyle Relay — Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:13.35 — Florida (J. Liendo, A. Chaney, E. Friese, M. McDuff) (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:16.80
• 2024 NCAA ‘B’ Standard: 1:17.38

Top 8:

1. Notre Dame ‘A’ (Alaraby, Guiliano, Janton, Filion) – 1:16.84
2. Indiana ‘A’ (Lee, Brooks, Wight, Miroslaw) – 1:16.91
3. Ohio State ‘A’ (Baltes, Gaziev, Fentress, McDonald) – 1:17.32
4. Indiana ‘B’ – 1:17.53
5. Louisville ‘A’ – 1:18.38
6. Louisville ‘B’ – 1:18.48
7. Notre Dame ‘B’ – 1:19.16
8. Cincinnati ‘A’ – 1:19.42

Notre Dame and Indiana touched just 0.07 apart to conclude a very exciting 200 freestyle relay to open the night. Notre Dame ultimately got to the wall 1st with a 1:16.84, while Indiana touched in 1:16.91. Notre Dame led at the 150 by nearly half a body length, but Rafael Miroslaw of Indiana split 18.91 on the anchor leg to try to run down Tanner Filion of Notre Dame. Filion ultimately held on to take the win with a 19.35 split.

Notably, both teams just missed the NCAA A-Standard of 1:16.80. The Notre Dame quartet consisted of Abdelrahman Alabary (19.48), Chris Guiliano (18.59), Tommy Janton (19.42), and Tanner Filion (19.35), while Indiana’s team was composed of Mikkel Lee (19.75), Finn Brooks (18.97), Gavin Wight (19.28), and Rafael Miroslaw (18.91).

Ohio State also had a strong swim tonight, as they touched third in 1:17.53. Daniel Baltes (19.64), Ruslan Gaziev (18.90), Evan Fentress (19.26), and Mario McDonald (19.52) teamed up to post a time 0.19 faster than they swam at this meet a year ago.

Women’s 500-Yard Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 4:24.06 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 4:37.89
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 4:41.09

Top 8:

1. Anna Peplowski (Indiana) – 4:38.29
2. Ching Gan (Indiana) – 4:40.09
3. Elyse Heiser (Indiana) – 4:40.87
4. Maya Geringer (Ohio State) – 4:40.99
5. Ella Ristic (Indiana) – 4:43.03
6. Mia Rankin (Ohio State) – 4:47.08
7. Gwen Woodbury (Ohio State) – 4:49.23
8. Summer Cardwell (Louisville) – 4:49.62

It was a 1-2-3 sweep for Indiana in the first individual event of the OSU Invitational.

Junior Anna Peplowski posted a 4:38.29 personal best en route to nearly a two second win in the 500 freestyle. This was a massive result for Peplowski, who previously owned a lifetime best of 4:48.80 from last January. Peplowski, who only contested two individual events at NCAAs last season (200 freestyle and 200 backstroke), looks to have found herself a third event.

Ching Gan, also a junior, posted a 4:40.09 to touch 2nd. This swim is just over a second shy of her 4:38.91 best time from NCAAs last season. Elyse Heiser rounded out the top three with a 4:40.87, which tops her 4:41.48 personal best from the Big Ten Championships last year.

Ohio State also had a strong presence in tonight’s final, taking 4th, 6th, and 7th. Leading the way for OSU was Maya Geringer, who posted a 4:40.99. That swim is nearly four seconds faster than the time she swam at the NCAA Championships last season, and is just shy of her 4:39.55 best time from the 2023 Big Ten Championships.

Men’s 500-Yard Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 4:06.32 — Kieran Smith, Florida (2020)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 4:10.74
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 4:14.36

Top 8:

1. Tomas Navikonis (Ohio State) – 4:15.65
2. Alex Axon (Ohio State) – 4:16.00
3. Ilia Sibirtsev (Louisville) – 4:16.05
4. Tyler Watson (Louisville) – 4:16.43
5. Warren Briggs (Indiana) – 4:18.80
6. Jackson Carlile (Indiana) – 4:19.81
7. Kayden Lancaster (Louisville) – 4:25.12
8. Denis Loktev (Louisville) – 4:25.22

The Ohio State distance crew is looking strong, placing 1-2 in the 500 freestyle with substantial personal best times.

Sophomore Tomas Navikonis of OSU posted a 4:15.65 to take the 500 freestyle win. He took nearly three seconds off of the 4:18.57 he logged to place 11th at Big Tens last year. Alex Axon, also a sophomore, touched just 0.35 behind Novikonis in 4:16.00 to take 2nd. Axon also took about three seconds off of his 4:19.39 best time from last year.

Louisville represent half of the top-8 tonight, led by Ilia Sibirtsev placing 3rd with a 4:16.05. Tyler Watson, a graduate transfer from Florida, recorded a 4:16.43 for 5th. Kayden Lancaster and Denis Loktev placed 7th and 8th, respectively.

Warren Briggs and Jackson Carlile of Indiana placed 5th and 6th. Briggs was just shy of his personal best time, while Carlile posted a best by nearly two seconds.

Notably, Junior Murilo Sartori of Louisville posted a 4:18.74 to win the B-Final. This would’ve been good enough to place 5th in the A-Final had he qualified in the preliminary session.

Women’s 200-Yard IM — Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:48.37 — Kate Douglass, Virginia (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:53.66
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 1:56.90

Top 8:

1. Josie Panitz (Ohio State) – 1:56.18
2. Abby Hay (Louisville) – 1:56.79
3. Paige Hall (Ohio State) – 1:57.22
4. Fernanda Gomes Celidonio (Louisville) – 1:57.40
5. Anna Freed (Indiana) – 1:58.27
6. Kim Emely Herkle (Louisville) – 1:58.64
7. Krista Marlin (Ohio State) – 1:59.49
8. Mackenna Lieske (Indiana) – 1:59.55

Josie Panitz of Ohio State took the win in the 200 IM with a 1:56.18. Panitz, who trailed Abby Hay by nearly a second at the 100 turn, threw down a massive 32.39 on the breaststroke leg to take the lead en route to her win.

Hay, who has a personal best of 1:54.03, posted a 1:56.79 to take 2nd tonight. Hay was very strong on the butterfly leg, posting a 24.66 to open a wide lead on the field.

Rounding out the top three was Paige Hall from Ohio State, who clocked 1:57.22. Hall, a junior, took down her lifetime best of 1:57.45 from Big Tens last year.

Indiana was also represented in tonight’s A-Final, with Anna Freed (1:58.27) and Mackenna Lieske (1:59.55) placing 5th and 8th.

Men’s 200-Yard IM — Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:36.34 — Léon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:41.03
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 1:43.14

Top 8:

1. Tristan Jankovics (Ohio State) – 1:42.76
2. Luke Barr (Indiana) – 1:42.88
3. Jassen Yep (Indiana) – 1:44.93
4. Toby Barnett (Indiana) – 1:45.00
5. Max Reich (Indiana) – 1:45.07
6. Jackson Millard (Louisville) – 1:45.21
7. Drew Reiter (Indiana) – 1:45.61
8. Sean Faikish (Notre Dame) – 1:46.31

After posting a 1:59.05 school record in the LCM format this morning, Tristan Jankovics won the final tonight with a 1:42.76. His swim tonight demolished his previous personal best time of 1:45.32 from Big Tens last year. The improvement stemmed from the back-half of his race, as he improved his breaststroke from 30.81 to 30.07 and his freestyle from 26.32 to 24.72.

Indiana placed 2nd through 5th tonight, with Luke Barr (1:42.88), Jassen Yepp (1:44.93), Toby Barnett (1:45.00), and Max Reich (1:45.21). Drew Reiter also placed 7th for Indiana.

Barr provided Jankovics with a tight race the whole way, put fell a bit short on the freestyle leg (25.45) to get overtaken by the OSU sophomore (24.72).

Sean Faikish was the lone representative for Notre Dame in tonight’s final, posting a 1:46.31 to place 8th.

Womens’s 50-Yard Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 20.79 — Maggie MacNeil, Louisiana State (2023)/Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 21.63
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 22.15

Top 8:

1. Kristina Paegle (Indiana) – 21.76
2. Gabi Albiero (Louisville) – 21.92
3. Christiana Regenauer (Louisville) – 21.93
4. Teresa Ivan (Ohio State) – 21.98
5. Amy Fulmer (Ohio State) – 21.99
6. Julia Dennis (Louisville) – 22.00
7. Lucy Mehraban (Louisville) – 22.20
8. Ashley Turak (Indiana) – 22.22

Kristina Paegle of Indiana roared to a personal best of 21.76 en route to a win in the 50 freestyle tonight. Paegle, a sophomore, lowered her previous best of 21.91 from the Big Ten Championships last year. Paegle, who split 20.89 on Indiana’s winning 200 freestyle relay earlier in the evening, won the race by nearly two tenths. Ashley Turak, who was also a member of the winning relay, placed 8th tonight in a time of 22.22.

Gabi Albiero of Louisville placed 2nd tonight with a 21.92, while teammates Christiana Regenauer (21.93), Julia Dennis (22.00), and Lucy Mehraban (22.20) placed 3rd, 6th, and 7th.

Ohio State junior Teresa Ivan posted a 21.98 for 4th this evening, while teammate Amy Fulmer touched just 0.01 behind her to place 5th.

Men’s 50-Yard Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 17.63 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 18.82
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 19.21

Top 8:

1. Chris Guiliano (Notre Dame) – 18.84
2. Ruslan Gaziev (Ohio State) – 19.30
3. Mikkel Lee (Indiana) – 19.43
4. Abdelrahman Elaraby (Notre Dame) – 19.45
5. Finn Brooks (Indiana) & Rafael Miroslaw (Indiana) – 19.57
6. N/A
7. Gavin Wright (Indiana) – 19.62
8. Daniel Baltes (Ohio State) – 19.63

Junior Chris Guiliano took down the Notre Dame school record en route to a win in the 50 freestyle. Guiliano posted a winning effort of 18.84, clearing the field by nearly half a second.

2022 World Championships silver medalist Ruslan Gaziev took 2nd tonight with a 19.30. Gaziev, who has been as quick as 19.00, was two tenths quicker than he was at this meet last year.

Indiana freshman Mikkel Lee took 3rd in 19.43, undercutting his previous best time of 19.86 from last month.

5th year graduate student Abdelrahman Elaraby placed 4th tonight (19.45), while Finn Brooks and Rafael Miroslaw of Indiana tied for 5th in 19.57. Senior Gavin Wright of Indiana was not too far behind his teammates, touching just 0.05 behind to place 7th.

Daniel Baltes rounded out the top 8 tonight with a 19.63, just off his best time of 19.53 from last year’s Big Ten Championships.

Women’s 400-Yard Medley Relay — Finals

• NCAA Record: 3:21.80 — Virginia (G. Walsh, A. Walsh, K. Douglass, A. Canny) (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 3:31.38
• 2024 NCAA ‘B’ Standard: 3:33.48

Top 8:

1. Ohio State ‘A’ (Harrison, Panitz, Zenick, Fulmer) – 3:28.10
2. Ohio State ‘B’ (Funderburke, Bach, Kraus, Ivan) – 3:29.52
3. Indiana ‘A’ (McKenna, Crawford, Yeo, Paegle) – 3:30.33
4. Louisville ‘A’ – 3:31.82
5. Louisville ‘B’ – 3:34.82
6. Indiana ‘B’ – 3:35.00
7. Louisville ‘C’ – 3:36.14
8. Indiana ‘C’ – 3:36.20

Ohio State took 1-2 in the women’s 400 medley relay to end the night. Both their ‘A’ and ‘B’ relay was faster than the NCAA ‘A’ standard. Highlighting Ohio State’s ‘A’ team was Tristan Harrison (52.30), Josie Panitz (57.63), Katherine Zenick (51.77), and Amy Fulmer (46.40). Their B-team was comprised of Nyah Funderburke (53.12), Hannah Bach (57.21), Morgan Kraus (51.84), and Teresa Ivan (47.35). Notably, Bach had a faster split on the breaststroke leg in the B-relay (57.21), compared to Panitz (57.63) on the A-relay. Panitz did have the 200 IM earlier in the session, which she won in 1:56.18.

Indiana placed 3rd tonight with a 3:30.33, which is an ‘A’ standard for NCAAs. Kacey McKenna lead-off in 51.60, a breakthrough swim for her. That swim takes down her previous personal best of 51.93 from the 2022 Big Ten Championships. Brearna Crawford (59.42), and Sze Yeo (52.69) swam the middle two legs of the relay before Kristina Paegle dove in to split 46.62 on the anchor leg.

This is another massive relay split for Paegle, who owns a 47.99 flat start personal best from 2023 NCAAs. Paegle has had a great night, splitting 20.89 on the end of Indiana’s 200 freestyle relay, clocking a 21.76 50 freestyle PB to win the individual event, then of course anchoring the medley relay to finish off the night.

Men’s 400-Yard Medley Relay — Finals

• NCAA Record: 2:58.32 — Florida (A. Chaney, D. Hillis, J. Liendo, M. McDuff) (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 3:04.96
• 2024 NCAA ‘B’ Standard: 3:06.84

Top 8:

1. Indiana ‘A’ (Burns, Matheny, Frankel, Miroslaw) – 3:02.81
2. Notre Dame ‘A’ (Janton, Christianson, Wilburn, Guiliano) – 3:05.53
3. Indiana ‘B’ (Wight, Yep, Brooks, Lee) – 3:06.09
4. Louisville ‘A’ – 3:07.28
5. Notre Dame ‘B’ – 3:09.45
6. Indiana ‘C’ – 3:09.75
7. Louisville ‘B’ – 3:10.38
8. Ohio State ‘A’ – 3:10.52

Indiana finished the night with an NCAA ‘A’ cut to win the 400 medley relay. The quartet of Brendan Burns (45.13), Josh Matheny (50.96), Tomer Frankel (45.04), and Rafael Miroslaw (41.68) teamed up to post a swift 3:02.81. This is the same foursome that placed 2nd at NCAAs last year with a 2:59.09.

Notre Dame posted a 3:05.53 for 2nd tonight, taking down the school record of 3:05.93 from 2022 NCAAs. Tommy Janton led off the Fighting Irish with a 45.66, with Tyler Christianson (52.58), Cason Wilburn (45.86), and Chris Guiliano (41.43) finishing off the relay.

Indiana’s ‘B’ relay of Gavin Wight (46.79), Jassen Yep (51.00), Finn Brooks (45.59), and Mikkel Lee (42.71) posted a time of 3:06.09 to touch 3rd tonight. The 51.00 breaststroke split from Yepp is especially promising, as he owns a best time of 52.00 in the individual event.

Women Scores (as of Day One)

1. Ohio State – 791 points
2. Indiana – 711 points
3. Louisville – 646 points
4. Notre Dame – 386 points
5. Cincinnati – 355 points
6. Ohio University (diving only) – 112 points
7. Pittsburgh (diving only) – 63 points
8. Cal Berkley (diving only) – 60 points

Men Scores (as of Day One)

1. Indiana – 768 points
2. Ohio State – 760 points
3. Louisville – 579.5 points
4. Notre Dame – 491.5 points
5. Cincinnati – 298 points
6. Pittsburgh (diving only) – 68 points
7. Cal Berkley (diving only) – 47 points