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
Top Seeds:
- Women’s 100 fly: Miranda Grana, Indiana — 51.70
- Men’s 100 fly: Finn Brooks, Indiana — 45.70
- Women’s 400 IM: Mia Rankin, Ohio State — 4:09.51
- Men’s 400 IM: Tristan Jankovics, Ohio State — 3:41.87
- Women’s 200 free: Anna Peplowksi, Indiana — 1:42.96
- Men’s 200 free: Tomas Navikonis, Ohio State — 1:31.87
- Women’s 100 breast: Joleigh Crye, Cincinnati — 59.08
- Men’s 100 breast: Brian Benzing, Indiana — 51.25
- Women’s 100 backstroke: Miranda Grana, Indiana — 51.52
- Men’s 100 backstroke: Owen McDonald, Indiana — 45.67
Three women broke 52 seconds in prelims of the women’s 100 butterfly, promising a close race in tonight’s final. Miranda Grana continues to show strong form in her first season with Indiana after transferring from Texas A&M. She swam a 51.70, beating the standard that Louisville’s Ella Welch set in the heat before when she swam a lifetime best of 51.72. UCLA’s Emma Harvey broke 52 seconds for the first time in her career, clocking 51.98 to qualify third and set up a three-person race for tonight’s final.
Grana was back up at the end of the session in the women’s 100 backstroke. She earned her second top time of the preliminaries, blasting a 51.52 to cement herself as the favorite for tonight’s final. Her teammate Mya Dewitt qualified second in 52.03, stopping the clock just ahead of Nyah Funderburke (52.06). Harvey made her second ‘A’ final of the session here as well, qualifying fifth (52.73).
Indiana has the top seed in both the women’s and men’s 100 butterfly with Finn Brooks swimming 45.25. Louisville’s Dalton Lowe sits more than a half-second back in 45.70. He owns a lifetime best of 45.26, while Brooks has broken 45 seconds before. Yale freshman Nicholas Finch had a huge swim, posting 45.99. With that time, he’s just the second Yale swimmer to break 46 seconds.
Ohio State’s Mia Rankin was the lone woman sub-4:10 this morning, clocking a 4:09.51 to easily pace the women’s 400 IM. It was a similar story on the men’s side, as Ohio State’s IM group is showing out this session. Olympian Tristan Jankovics swam 3:41.87 to lead the way ahead of Louisville freshman Gregg Enoch’s 3:43.22.
Olympian Anna Peplowski cruised to the top seed in the women’s 200 freestyle, posting a season-best 1:42.96. It’s her first time getting under 1:43 this season as her previous season-best was a 1:43.48 from the Indiana vs. Texas dual. Sienna Angove and Daria Golovaty battled in heat five. The freshmen came under the flags together, and at the touch, Angove got the better of Golovaty by eight-hundredths, 1:44.30 to 1:44.38.
There’s another close race developing in the men’s 200 freestyle. Junior Tomas Navikonis earned the third-straight top seed for the Buckeyes as he won heat four in 1:31.87, .09 seconds ahead of Louisville junior Guy Brooks (1:31.96). They’ve created a gap on the rest of the field; Denis Lokev and Murilo Sartori swam 1:33.53 and 1:33.55 to claim third and fourth seed. That gives Louisville the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th seed with Matias Santiso also making it back in 8th.
2024 NCAA ‘B’ finalist Joleigh Crye separated herself from the pack in the women’s 100 breaststroke. She swam 59.08 to grab lane four for tonight’s ‘A’ final and leads by .76 seconds heading into tonight. But Mia Cheatwood and Ava DeAngelis could challenge her tonight; Cheatwood is having a particularly strong season after transferring to Louisville and has already swum PBs in the 100/200 breast this season.
Graduate transfer Brian Benzing snapped Ohio State’s streak of top times, posting a big season-best of 51.25 to lead prelims of the men’s 100 breaststroke. The Indiana breaststroke crew dominated prelims as Benzing, Josh Matheny (51.75), Brooks (52.14), and Jassen Yep (52.21) earned the top four spots. Denis Petrashov will be someone to look for in the final though and could upset the Hoosiers’ party; he cruised into finals with a 52.50 and has already been 51.66 this season.
Indiana newcomers Owen McDonald and Miroslav Knedla are developing into a strong 1-2 backstroke punch for the Hoosiers. The duo qualified first and second for tonight’s final, with McDonald leading the way in 45.67 and Knedla clocking 46.06 to touch just ahead of Penn State’s Cooper Morely (46.08).
