2025 Ohio State Fall Invitational: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2025 Ohio State Fall Invitational

• November 18-21, 2025
• McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, Columbus, OH
• Start Times:
  • 9:30 am ET swimming prelims
  • 11:30 am diving prelims
  • 5:30 pm ET finals
• Participating Teams: Ohio State, Indiana, Yale, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Louisville, Penn State, UCLA, Kentucky, Purdue
• SCY (25 yards)
• Live Results
• Results on Meet Mobile as “2025 Ohio State Fall Invitational”
• Live Stream (subscription required)
• Live Recaps:
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2
  • Prelims: Day 2 | Day 3

It is time for the day 3 finals of the 2025 Ohio State Fall Invite, and there have been some strong swims across the board so far.

The Ohio State women and Indiana men lead the team totals, but the women do not have a significant lead, coming in only 40 points ahead of the Indiana women and only 50 points ahead of Louisville.

Indiana junior Miranda Grana had a strong 100 fly yesterday, becoming the first Indiana woman to ever break 50 seconds in the event. She followed that up with the top time in the 100 backstroke prelims of 50.97. She is one of the top swimmers who is benefiting from the new NCAA event order which allows her to swim the 100 fly and 100 back on the same day.

Fellow Hoosier Owen McDonald led a trio of Indiana swimmers at the top of the men’s prelims, touching in 44.25, which was the fastest time in the NCAA for about an hour until Will Moglin swam 43.26 at the Texas Invite.

Mia Cheatwood from Louisville and Noah Cakir from Indiana had the top times in the 200 breaststrokes this morning but they both sat less than a second faster than the 2nd place qualifiers, so tonight’s races could be close.

The women’s 500 freestyle saw Ohio State put four swimmers in the final, led by Mila Nikanorov‘s 4:42.07 coming in about a second ahead of 2nd qualifier Leticia Fassina Romao from Louisville’s 4:42.94.

Zalan Sarkany won the men’s 500 free prelims, touching in 4:12.28, about two seconds ahead of teammate Luke Whitlock‘s 4:14.30 for 2nd seed. Indiana put five total swimmers in the final with Aaron Shackell, Luke Ellis, and Andrew Shackell joining Sarkany and Whitlock.

The individual events will wrap up with the 50 freestyles where Louisville’s Julia Dennis and Nikita Sheremet earned the top times in the men’s and women’s events respectively.

The session will conclude with the 400 medley relays.

WOMEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE– Finals

• NCAA Record: 48.10, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 2024
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 52.65
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 51.68

Top 10 Finishers

1. Miranda Grana (IU)- 49.89
2. Mya DeWitt (IU)- 51.37
3. Julie Mishler (LOU)- 51.90
4. Claudia Yovanovich (UCLA)- 52.20
5. Rosie Murphy (UCLA)- 52.61
6. Camille Murray (LOU)- 52.73
7. Delia Lloyd (OSU)- 52.91
8. Fay Lustria (UCLA)- 52.94
9. KK LeBlanc (OSU)- 53.23
10. Nika Sharafutdinova (OSU)- 53.69

Indiana’s Miranda Grana won the women’s 100 backstroke in 49.89, coming in more than a second-and-a-half ahead of teammate Mya DeWitt, who touched 2nd in 51.37. Grana’s swim would have been 2nd in the country before midseason invitationals.

This was a new season best time for Grana, and it marks only her 2nd time under 50 seconds in the event. Her best time stands at 49.62 from last year’s NCAA Championships where she finished 3rd overall. She swam more than a second faster than she was at this meet last year, where she swam 51.18.

Dewitt was 2nd in 51.37, about half-a-second off her lifetime best of 50.78 from the 2025 NCAA Championships. She was more than a second faster than her previous season best of 52.34 from the USC Invite and was two tenths faster than the 51.56 she swam at this meet last year.

Louisville freshman Julie Mishler rounded out the top three with her 51.90, which was only a three hundredth add from her personal best 51.87 from March of 2025.

MEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 43.20, Hubert Kos (Texas) – 2025
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 46.29
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 45.26

Top 10 Finishers

1. Owen McDonald (IU)- 44.19
2. Raekwon Noel (IU)- 45.16
3. Cooper Morley (PSU)- 45.37
4. Miroslav Knedla (IU)- 45.54
5. Rian Graham (LOU)- 45.67
6. Lysander Osman (UKY)- 45.91
7. Matthew Bittner (PSU)- 45.96
8. Jackson Millard (LOU)- 46.12
9. Filip Kosinski (LOU)- 46.27
10. Dylan Burau (PUR)- 47.02

The Hoosiers made it two-for-two by taking the top two spots in the first two events of the meet with Owen McDonald grabbing the top spot in the men’s 100 backstroke at 44.19 by nearly a second over Raekwon Noel‘s 45.16

McDonald’s time was only three hundredths off his best of 44.16 from the 2025 NCAA Championships, but it was his 2nd fastest swim ever and was nearly a second faster than the 44.93 he swam this time last season.

Noel dropped seven tenths from the 45.87 he swam at the beginning of October at the USC Invite. His preseason best time stood at 46.13 from the Big Ten Championships last year. He now sits about a tenth under the 45.26 it took to qualify for last year’s NCAA Championships.

Penn State’s Cooper Morley finished 3rd in 45.37, touching less than two tenths ahead of Indiana’s Miroslav Knedla. He was more than half-a-second off his best of 44.74 from the 2024 Big Ten Championships, but his swim was a new season best time and it is faster than he went at any point last season.

WOMEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 2:01.29, Kate Douglass (Virginia) – 2023
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 2:11.27
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 2:09.58

Top 10 Finishers

1. Mia Cheatwood (LOU)- 2:07.14
2. Maria Ramos Najji (OSU)- 2:07.82
3. Kim Emely Herkle (LOU)- 2:09.07
4. Jonette Laegreid (IU)- 2:10.88
5. Sarah Bennetts (UCLA)- 2:11.03
6. Danika Varda (OSU)- 2:11.11
7. Lindi Worrell (CINC)- 2:11.55
8. Olivia Stewart (UKY)- 2:11.98
9. Audrey Cohen (PSU)- 2:12.15
10. Joleigh Crye (CINC)- 2:12.70

Louisville’s Mia Cheatwood won the women’s 200 breaststroke in 2:07.14, a new best time by six tenths of a second, dropping from the 2:07.74 she swam at the beginning of November in 2024. She was out in 1:00.33 before coming home in 1:06.81 to lock up the win over Ohio State’s Maria Ramos Najji‘s 2:07.82 for 2nd.

Najji’s swim was a huge personal best time, taking more than six seconds off her previous best of 2:13.95 that she swam at the 2025 Big Ten Championships. She split 1:00.83 on the opening 100 and 1:06.99 on the 2nd.

Louisville’s Kim Emely Herkle set a new season best 2:09.07 with her 1:01.89/1:07.18 splits. She was just over a second off her lifetime best 2:07.98 from last season’s ACC Championships.

Indiana transfer Jonette Laegreid finished 4th in 2:10.88, a new season best, dropping from the 2:13.53 she swam at the USC Invite, but about two seconds off her Division II NCAA record time of 2:08.59.

MEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:46.35, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2024
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 1:54.95
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 1:52.89

Top 10 Finishers

1. Mariano Lazzerini (PSU)- 1:50.93
2. Noah Cakir (IU)- 1:51.68
3. Jake Eccleston (LOU)- 1:52.10
4. Josh Bey (IU)- 1:52.51
5. Toby Barnett (IU)- 1:53.76
6. Alexei Avakov (IU)- 1:54.19
7. Max Blume (PUR)- 1:55.40
8. Travis Gulledge (IU)- 1:55.62
9. Finnley Conklin (LOU)- 1:57.15
10. Charlie Egeland (YALE)- 1:57.90

Penn State’s Mariano Lazzerini set a massive new personal best time to win the men’s 200 breaststroke, touching in 1:50.93 to earn the win over Noah Cakir‘s 1:51.68 from Indiana.

Lazzerini’s previous best time came in at 1:52.94 from the 2024 Big Ten Championships. He took almost exactly two seconds off that time tonight to swim 1:50.93, shattering his own school record in the process. Last season, the fastest he swam was the 1:54.46 he swam at the U.S. Open in December.

Indiana freshman Cakir finished 2nd in 1:51.68, which was also a huge personal best time, dropping even more from his prelims swim of 1:52.75. His previous best came in at 1:54.19 from the USC Invite, and his pre-college best time was 1:54.45 from last year’s Winter Juniors — East Championships.

Jake Eccleston rounded out the top three for Louisville with his season best 1:52.10. He finished 6th at last year’s NCAA Championships after he swam 1:50.19 in the prelims.

WOMEN’S 500 FREESTYLE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 4:24.06, Katie Ledecky (Stanford) – 2017
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 4:43.70
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 4:39.47

Top 10 Finishers:

1. Mila Nikanorov (OSU)- 4:37.22
2. Adair Shaw (OSU)- 4:40.84
3. Daria Golovaty (LOU)- 4:40.98
4. Leticia Fassina Romao (LOU)- 4:41.56
5. Emma Finlin (OSU)- 4:42.70
6. Caitlin Hurley (PUR)- 4:44.56
7. Summer Cardwell (LOU)- 4:44.89
8. Sienna Angove (OSU)- 4:46.14
9. Katy Jost (UKY)- 4:46.34
10. Kate Mouser (PUR)- 4:50.67

Mila Nikanorov won the women’s 500 freestyle in a huge new season best time of 4:37.22. She was out in 53.52, nearly a second faster than her opening 100 split this morning before splitting 55.70 and 55.55 on the 2nd and 3rd 100s.

She fell off her pace slightly on the 3rd 100, flipping in 57.18 with her only two 28 second 50s of the race. She came home strong, though, swimming 55.27 on her final 100 to win the event by more than three seconds, just missing her personal best time of 4:36.38 from the 2025 NCAA Championships.

Ohio State teammate Adair Shaw finished 2nd in 4:40.84, a new personal best by four seconds, dropping from the 4:44.47 she swam at the Raleigh Rumble. The freshman came into college at 4:46.18, which she swam in March of this year, marking more than five seconds dropped in just eight months.

Louisville’s Daria Golovaty finished 3rd in 4:40.98 after nearly chasing down Shaw on the final 100, splitting 55.69 to Shaw’s 56.97. She missed her personal best of 4:38.79 from October of 2024, but she set a new season best mark.

MEN’S 500 FREESTYLE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 4:02.31, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2024
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 4:18.07
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 4:14.13

Top 10 Finishers

1. Zalan Sarkany (IU)- 4:09.57
2. Aaron Shackell (IU)- 4:11.14
3. Jordi Vilchez (OSU)- 4:11.79
4. Luke Whitlock (IU)- 4:11.82
5. Andrew Shackell (IU)- 4:15.19
6. Oscar Isberg (LOU)- 4:16.26
7. Luke Ellis (IU)- 4:17.31
8. Gregg Enoch (LOU)- 4:17.52
9. Cason Hick (UKY)- 4:19.24
10. Noah Millard (YALE)- 4:20.09

The men’s 500 freestyle went to Indiana’s Zalan Sarkany, who touched in 4:09.57, his 3rd fastest time ever. He has only been faster at the end of the season. In 2025, he swam 4:09.22 in prelims at the NCAA Championships and in 2024, he set his personal best 4:09.19 at the Pac 12 Championships.

Sarkany was out slightly slower than he was this morning, turning in 47.57 at the 100 mark compared to his 46.87 from this morning. His other four 100 splits were faster coming in at 50.37/50.96/51.12/49.55 to earn the event win.

Aaron Shackell finished 2nd for the Hoosiers in 4:11.14,  a new best time by four seconds, dropping from the 4:15.35 he swam in February of 2023. He was out a little ahead of Sarkany at the 100 mark, opening the race in 46.64 before dropping back splitting 50.78/51.66/51.88/50.18 on the back end to beat Ohio State’s Jordi Vilchez by a little more than six tenths.

Vilchez swam 4:11.79, which was also a four second drop from the 4:15.68 he swam at last year’s Ohio State Invite.

WOMEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – Finals

• NCAA Record: 20.37, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 2024
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 22.28
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 22.01

Top 10 Finishers:

1. Julia Dennis (LOU)- 21.36
2. Liberty Clark (IU)- 21.54
3. Caroline Larsen (LOU)- 21.78
4. Julie Mishler (LOU)- 21.83
5. Kristina Paegle (IU)- 22.09
6. Ella Welch (LOU)- 22.14
7. Rachel Bockrath (OSU)- 22.19
8. Jada Duncan (UCLA)- 22.21
9. Sze Yeo (IU)- 22.43
10. Claudia Yovanovich (UCLA)- 22.72

Louisville’s Julia Dennis won the women’s 50 freestyle in 21.36, about three tenths off her lifetime best of 21.08 from the 2025 ACC Championships. At this meet last year, Dennis was 21.77.

Indiana freshman Liberty Clark built on her exceptional freshman season with a school record in the women’s 50 freestyle at 21.54. This was a half second drop from the 22.03 she swam at the USC Invite and was nearly a full second faster than her pre-college best of 22.30 from the Winter Junior Championships last year.

Louisville also finished 3rd and 4th with Caroline Larsen swimming 21.78 and Julie Mishler swimming 21.83. Larsen was just off her lifetime best of 21.63 from the 2025 ACC Championships and Mishler was just off her best of 21.62 from last December’s Winter Junior Championships.

MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – FINALS

• NCAA Record: 17.63, Caeleb Dressel (Florida) – 2018
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 19.43
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 19.02

Top 10 Finishers:

1. Nikita Sheremet (LOU)- 18.95
2. Nicholas Finch (YALE)- 18.96
3. Matthew Klinge (OSU)- 19.06
4. Charlie Crush (LOU)- 19.21
5. Mikkel Lee (IU)- 19.25
6. Dylan Smiley (IU)- 19.33
7. Aiden Musso (LOU)- 19.41
8. Janis Dzirkalis (PUR)- 19.45
9. Guy Brooks (LOU)- 19.49
10. Ahmed Ismail (OSU)- 19.65

Louisville won the men’s 50 freestyle as well with freshman Nikita Sheremet touching in 18.95 to take the top spot by just a hundredth of a second over Yale’s Nicholas Finch.

Sheremet was a smidge faster this morning, touching in 18.92 in the prelims, but this is his 2nd fastest 50 free ever.

Finch’s 18.96 was a new best time by about a tenth and marked his first time under 19 seconds. His previous best was 19.07 from the 2025 Ivy League Championships.

Matthew Klinge finished 3rd for Ohio State in 19.06, missing his best time of 18.78 from the 2025 Big Ten Championships by nearly three tenths.

WOMEN’S 400 MEDLEY RELAY — TIMED FINALS

• NCAA Record: 3:19.58, Virginia (2025 ACC Championships)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:30.89
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:32.51

Top 10 Finishers:

1. Indiana — 3:27.20
2. Louisville — 3:28.11
3. Ohio State — 3:30.67
4. Louisville ‘B’ — 3:32.29
5. Indiana ‘B’ — 3:35.02
6. Ohio State ‘B’ — 3:37.36
7. Cincinnati — 3:38.33
8. Kentucky — 3:38.85
9. Ohio State ‘C’ — 3:39.17
10. Purdue — 3:39.35

Liberty. Clark. The Indiana freshman was an honorable mention in our class of 2025 recruit rankings, and she has blown the first three months of her NCAA career out of the water.

After setting a new program record in the women’s 50 freestyle at 21.54, nearly a second drop from her previous lifetime best, she blasted an absolutely massive 45.87 to anchor Indiana’s winning 400 medley relay to secure the win for the Hoosiers. This would have been the fastest 400 medley relay anchor leg at the 2025 NCAAs, and it would have been 3rd in the 400 freestyle relay behind Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske.

Mya DeWitt led the team off in 51.65. Jonette Laegreid swam the breaststroke leg in 59.76. Miranda Grana split 49.92 on the fly.

Louisville finished 2nd in 3:28.11. Julie Mishler swam 52.67 on the backstroke. Mia Cheatwood was 58.29 on the breaststroke, exactly a second faster than the 59.29 she split on the breaststroke leg at last year’s NCAA Championships. Ella Welch split 50.76 on the fly, and Julia Dennis brought the team home in 46.39, which exactly ties her split from last year’s NCAA Championships.

Ohio State’s team of Delia Lloyd (53.28), Maria Ramos Najji (57.78), Carrie Furbee (52.54), and Rachel Bockrath (47.07) swam 3:30.67 for 3rd. Ramos Najji’s 57.78 is more than a second faster than the 59.10 she swam at this meet last year.

MEN’S 400 MEDLEY RELAY — TIMED FINALS

• NCAA Record: 2:55.66, Florida (2025 SEC Championships)
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:04.96
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:06.20

Top 10 Finishers:

1. Indiana — 3:01.97
2. Louisville — 3:03.74
3. Penn State — 3:04.13
4. Ohio State — 3:04.56
5. Indiana ‘B’ — 3:04.70
6. Louisville ‘B’ — 3:05.93
7. Yale — 3:07.39
8. Purdue — 3:07.77
9. Kentucky — 3:08.04
10. Ohio State ‘B’ — 3:09.18

The Hoosiers won the men’s 400 medley relay as well with the men’s team swimming 3:01.97 to come in almost two seconds ahead of Louisville’s 3:03.74 in 2nd.

Owen McDonald led off in a new personal best 44.13, three hundredths faster than his previous best of 44.16 from the 2025 NCAA Championships.

Alexei Avakov swam 51.03 on the breaststroke leg. Raekwon Noel split 45.80 on the fly, and Dylan Smiley was 41.01 on the freestyle.

Louisville finished 2nd in 3:03.74 with the team of Rian Graham (45.68), Jake Eccleston (51.96), Aiden Musso (44.71), Guy Brooks (41.39).

Penn State was 3rd with Cooper Morley (46.19), Mariano Lazzerini (50.94), Matthew Bittner (45.25), and Tylor Kim (41.75) swimming 3:04.13 for 3rd, earning an NCAA ‘A’ cut in the event. They did not qualify a relay to NCAAs last season.