Ohio State Dethrones Div. 3 Powerhouse Kenyon

Women’s Results here.
Men’s Results here. 

The Ohio State Buckeyes men and women took every single event, swimming and diving, against Kenyon College Friday night in Columbus, Ohio.

Women’s Meet

The Buckeye team of Reanna Dona, Ashley Vance, Aliena Schmidtke and Michelle Williams (22.88) started the evening off with a win in the 200 medley relay. Ohio State posted a 1:44.88 in the event.

Moving on to the 1000 freestyle, Ohio State swept the podium with solid showings from senior Alex Norris, Ashley Boyles and Kaitlyn Ferrara. Norris touched the wall first with a time of 10:08.64.

Phoebe Cater, a senior from Sydney, Australia, added to the Buckeye winning total with a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle (1:52.54). Annie Gillig was right behind her for OSU in 1:52.65.

Sophomore Erin Dunseith followed in her lead, claiming first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.16. Kenyon’s Celia Oberholzer got to the wall in third for the Lords in 58.17.

The closest event of the afternoon between OSU and Kenyon was the 100 breaststroke. OSU’s Rachael Dzierzak out-touched Kenyon’s Katie Kaestner, 1:05.77 to 1:05.84.

Lindsey Clary used a strong back half in the 200 butterfly to finish in 2:05.60, good for her first collegiate duel meet win. Clary’s classmate Kaitlyn Cerne, from Gates Mills, Ohio, followed closely with a second-place finish in the event (2:06.00).

Senior Williams kept the win-streak alive through the first break, by claiming the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.58. Freshman Annelisa Sprau was second, 24.05.

Jenner McLeod for Kenyon was third, 24.72.

Dunseith returned to the pool for a second victory of the evening in the short freestyle race, taking the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.20, just over her teammate Camey Rabold, 53.25.

Lauren Davis and Vance notched wins in the 200 backstroke (2:04.63) and 200 breaststroke (2:21.78), respectively.

Kenyon had two runner-up finishes with Oberholzer in the 200 backstroke, 2:10.41, and Kaestner back in the breaststroke event at 2:25.15.

In the 500 freestyle, Gillig event split the race to finish in a time of 4:59.55. Kenyon would nab second place with Mariah Williamson at 5:09.27.

Cater then claimed her second win of the evening with a 56.55 performance in the 100 butterfly. Schmidtke had the 200 IM in 2:07.39 for the Buckeyes.

Norris, Kelly Ann Baird, Kristyn Fulcher and Chantel Wynn lead the Buckeyes to finish in the top time in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:31.63. They would exhibition the race, giving Kenyon the win.

Men’s Meet

Ohio State kicked off the evening with a one, two finish in the 200 medley relay. Ryan Bubb, Kevin Bressler, Matt McHugh and Mark Belanger placed first for the Buckeyes with a time of 1:31.40. The relay of Andrew Appleby, Chris Cowley, Peter Lyon and Gunnar Wolfe took second in 1:34.30.

Distance specialist Alex Miller continued to build early momentum for the Scarlet and Gray with a win in the 1000 freestyle (9:17.39), with teammate Jovan Mitrovic in second at 9:19.17.

Miller would later win the 500 freestyle in a time of 4:34.88.

Freshman standout Steffen Hillmer touched first in the 200 freestyle with a mark of 1:39.78. Hillmer has been impressive for the Buckeyes early this season after picking up Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors following a season-opening win vs. Kentucky.

Kenyon’s Austin Caldwell, who was NCAA Champion in the 200 freestyle last season, was running down the field, after being out fourth overall at the 100. He finished second in 1:41.72.

In the 100 backstroke, freshman McHugh dropped a time of 49.18 in the event. Steven Zimmerman was right behind in 49.33.

DJ Macdonald followed it up with another Buckeye victory in the 100 breaststroke, 56.20.

The 200 butterfly went to Tamas Gercsak, with a time of 1:51.53. David Morgan and Bubb followed Gercsak in second and third, respectively. This was the fourth race of the evening that resulted in a Buckeye sweep.

Josh Fleagle swept the sprint, first with the 50 freestyle in a time of 20.35, then the 100 freestyle, with a 44.38 performance. His 100 freestyle registers in the top 10 thus far in the NCAA season. Percy Gates was third for Kenyon in the 50 at 21.25.

Zimmerman notched his first win of the meet with a time of 1:49.12 in the 200 backstroke. Kenyon’s best finisher was Harrison Curley in 1:53.12, who was second to OSU’s exhibition times.

Macdonald was once again victorious for the Buckeyes with a 2:04.20 performance in the 200 breaststroke. Trevor Manz earned Kenyon a runner up performance with a 2:05.25.

The Buckeye freshmen class had another first-place touch from McHugh. In his third win of the evening, McHugh dropped a solid 48.62 in the 100 butterfly. Christian Josephson for Kenyon finished in 51.83, good for second place, after OSU exhibition swims.

Mitrovic got a win of his own in a personal-best of 1:53.35 in the 200 individual medley. Manz lead the way for the Lords again, with a second place 1:54.63.

Kenyon’s lone event win came in the 400-yard freestyle relay, an event the Buckeyes swam as an exhibition. The Lords’ winning time in that relay was 3:09.39. The Buckeyes team of Belanger, Hillmer, Miller and Fleagle had the top-time of 3:00.92.