Ohio State Fall Invite
- November 21-23
- Where: Columbus Ohio- McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion
- SCY (25 Yards)
- Prelims 9:30 EST/Finals 5:30 EST
- Watch: B1G+ Network
- Live Results: “2024 Ohio State Fall Invitational” Meet Mobile
- Participating Teams: Cincinnati, Indiana, Louisville, Notre Dame, Ohio State (host), Penn State, UCLA, Yale
- DAY 1 | Results | Prelims Recap
TEAM STANDINGS THRU DAY 1
WOMEN
- Indiana – 753
- Ohio State – 750
- Louisville – 658
- UCLA – 405
- Notre Dame – 301
- Penn State – 242
- Cincinnati – 215
- Yale – 207
- Rutgers – 93
- Northwestern – 15
MEN
- Indiana – 868.5
- Ohio State – 687
- Louisville – 681
- Yale – 377.5
- Penn State – 349
- Cincinnati – 273
- Northwestern – 75
- Notre Dame – 6
Day 1 of the 2024 Ohio State Fall Invitational is in the books. This is one of the most highly attended mid-season invites this year, as there are 10 women’s teams and 8 men’s teams competing. Indiana has jumped out to a firm lead in the men’s team standings, while the IU women’s team is holding a razor thin lead over Ohio State.
IU Olympian Anna Peplowski won the women’s 500 free in 4:37.06 after swimming a 4:37.07 in prelims. Peplowski swam her career best of 4:34.06 at NCAAs last season. Ohio State freshman Mila Nikanorov made a statement, taking 2nd last night in 4:38.84. Louisville freshman Daria Golovaty was right behind, taking 3rd in 4:39.14. Indiana’s Ching Gan was also under 4:40, swimming a 4:39.73 for 4th.
The men’s 500 free saw a great race. Yale’s Noah Millard ripped a 4:11.29 to win the event. He was within a second of his career best of 4:10.62, which he swam at the Ivy League Championships in 2023. Last night, Millard led Indiana’s Zalan Sarkany into the finish. Sarkany touched in 4:12.69. Sarkany has been as fast as 4:09.19 in his career. Ohio State’s Alex Axon had a big swim as well, taking 3rd in 4:13.77.
Indiana’s Miranda Grana put up a strong performance in the women’s 200 IM. Grana won the race decisively, swimming a 1:55.88. She was out fast, splitting 25.12 on fly and 27.91 on back for a 53.03 on the opening 100. Grana then tacked on a 35.53 breast split, and came home in 27.32. Ohio State freshman Sienna Angove made a statement, winning the ‘B’ final in 1:57.62.
IU made it a sweep of the 200 IM’s, as Owen McDonald took the men’s 200 IM in 1:40.86. McDonald was the NCAA runner-up in the event last season, where he swam his career best of 1:39.23. He also came in 5th in the LCM 200 IM at the US Olympic Trials this past summer. The Hoosiers made a statement in the men’s 200 IM, as Luke Barr clocked a 1:41.91 for 2nd, and freshman Miroslav Knedla touched 3rd in 1:42.44.
Indiana swept the 50 freestyle as well. Junior Kristina Paegle took the women’s 50 free in 21.92, narrowly edging Louisville’s Julia Dennis (21.98). In the men’s 50 free, IU’s Mikkel Lee touched 1st in 19.18. Fellow Indiana sophomore Dylan Smiley came in 2nd with a 19.34, tied with Louisville sophomore Yassin Abdelghany.
Indiana was exceptional in the men’s 400 medley relay, going 1-2 in the event. Their ‘A’ relay of Owen McDonald (45.82), Brian Benzing (50.86), Tomer Frankel (45.23), and Mikkel Lee (41.72) stopped the clock in 3:03.63. Meanwhile, the IU ‘B’ team of Miroslav Knedla (45.83), Jassen Yep (51.82), Finn Brooks (45.29), and Gavin Wight (42.96) swam a 3:05.90, finishing 2nd. Also of note, Indiana’s Josh Matheny split 50.61 on the breast leg of the ‘C’ relay, which was the fastest breast leg in the field last night.
The Hoosiers also took the women’s 400 medley relay. Kacey McKenna (51.56), Brearna Crawford (1:00.18), Miranda Grana (50.98), and Kristina Paegle (47.21) combined for a 3:29.93, beating Ohio State’s ‘A’ team (3:30.96) by a little over a second.
The women’s 200 free relay, which was the first event of the night, saw Louisville win convincingly. Caroline Larsen (22.02), Julia Dennis (21.06), Ella Welch (21.77), and Gabi Albiero (21.33) teamed up for a 1:26.18, winning by well over a second. Ohio State had a strong performance as well, taking 2nd in 1:27.59, but the really encouraging thing about that relay was freshmen Erin Little (21.88) and Rachel Bockrath (21.80) splitting under 22 seconds.
Indian took the men’s 200 free relay, seeing Owen McDonald (19.56), Luke Barr (18.90), Dylan Smiley (18.76), and Finn Brooks (19.01) clock a 1:16.23.
Ohio State’s Lena Hentschel earned the win in women’s 3-meter diving, finishing with a final score of 344.55. Indiana’s Tyler Carson won men’s 1-meter decisively, scoring 391.85 to lead the field by nearly 50 points.
The contrast between this meet and the Texas invite is stark. Compare the 2 w/ out much knowledge of NCAA swimming/diving and you wouldn’t think IU was even in the conversation for a title in March. I guess Ray Lopez is sticking the the traditional approach this season.
I agree. If you just looked at the times from both meets, you’d think Texas would beat IU by 100-200 points at NCAAs. There has been a shift with swimming faster in practice and in dual meets over the last 3-5 years, where some teams are suiting up more in practice and in dual meets. But not everyone is doing this. As a result, it makes the teams that do suit up/swim really fast in season appear much better, which obviously isn’t true. It’s clear that Texas is a little more prepared to swim fast this weekend than IU is. Both will be fast at NCAAs, which is all that matters. The other huge component is diving. IU had 7… Read more »
Agreed. It’s going to take a while to get used to seeing Texas swim fast before NCAAs. Bowman clearly has a different approach than Eddie.