Ohio State Women Post A Pair of Top 2 Relay Times; Buckeyes Sweep Tim Welsh Classic

by Robert Gibbs 4

January 28th, 2023 College, News, Previews & Recaps

Tim Welsh Classic

  • January 27-28, 2023
  • Rolfs Aquatic Centre, Notre Dame, IN
  • Notre Dame
  • SCY
  • Results on Meet Mobile as “2023 Tim Welsh Classic”

The Ohio State men and the OSU, Akron, and Indiana State women headed to Notre Dame for the annual Tim Welsh Classic, named after Notre Dame’s long-time head coach. The meet essentially follows a traditional three-day championship format, but compressed into just three timed-finals sessions over two days.

On the men’s side Ohio State defeated Notre Dame by nearly 900 points, while the Buckeye women won by a similar margin.

 Women’s Recap

Final Scores

  1. Ohio State – 1803
  2. Notre Dame – 884
  3. Akron – 749
  4. Indiana State – 372

The big story of the weekend was just how dominant the Ohio State women were in their relays. The Buckeyes kicked off the first session with a pool record time of 1:26.84 in the 200 free relay. Katherine Zenick led off in 21.94, Nyah Funderburke split a 21.81 on the second leg, and then Teresa Ivan (21.54) and Amy Fulmer (21.55) had nearly identical times to close it out. That appears to be the 2nd-fastest time in the NCAA this season, behind only Stanford’s 1:25.90 from NC State’s invite.

Three-fourths of that team joined up again at the end of the meet to blast another big swim in the 400 free relay. Fulmer led off in 47.42, Tristan Harrison split 48.99 on the second leg, then Teresa Ivan split 47.47 before Zenick brought it home in a blistering 47.03. The combined time of 3:10.91 also ranks #2 in the nation this season again only behind Stanford (3:09.82) at midseason.

Zenick was also the star of the 800 free relay. She led off in 1:44.77, a new personal best, and a time which would’ve won the individual 200 free by over three seconds. OSU won the relay in 7:11.90. They also won the 200 medley relay in 1:34.80, including a 21.36 anchor from Ivan, and the 400 medley relay in 3:30.77, which included a 51.32 fly split from Zenick and a 47.94 anchor leg from Fulmer.

Individually, Zenick shone as well. The junior swept the sprint freestyles, winning the 50 free in 21.96 and the 100 free in 47.62, nearly two seconds ahead of the rest of the field. She added a third win in the 100 fly, which she won in a new best time of 51.03 over Notre Dame’s Coleen Gillilan (51.73).

Fulmer added another two wins, sweeping the backstrokes with times of 51.80 and 1:53.39. In the 200 back, she finished just ahead of teammate Felicia Pasadyn, who took 2nd in 1:53.55. Pasadyn also won the 500 free to begin the individual competition on day 1, touching in 4:40.98.

The Buckeyes also got a 1:57.84 win in the 200 IM from Josie Panitz during the first session. Kyra Sommerstad led a 1-5 OSU sweep of the 400 IM with a time of 4:12.45 during the second session, during which Hannah Bach won the 100 breast (59.73). Maya Geringer opened up the final session with a 12 second win in the 1000 free (9:38.23). Freshman diver Lena Hentschel won the 3m event with a score of 370.40.

Notre Dame saved the best for last, waiting until the final session to capture their two event titles. Coleen Gillilan took the 200 fly in 1:56.62 after taking 2nd in the 100 fly, and Ellie Jew won the 200 breast in 2:11.56. Diver Calie Brady also picked up a win in the 1m with a score of 314.55.

But it was Akron that initially ended the Ohio State win streak. Weronika Gorecka won the 200 free during the session with a time of 1:48.11.

Men

Final Scores

  1. Ohio State – 1955.5
  2. Notre Dame – 1095.5

The men’s side of the competition didn’t feature any swims that were ranked as highly nationally as on the women’s side, but there was still plenty of fast swimming.

The Buckeye men took three of the five relays, most of them hotly contested. The two teams were practically tied heading into the anchor leg of the 400 medley relay, but Ruslan Gaziev just outsplit Notre Dame’s Chris Guiliano, 41.84 to 41.90, giving OSU the win, 3:09.72 to 3:09.74. In the 200 medley relay, Guiliano anchored in 18.68 and nearly ran down the Buckeyes, but OSU had just enough of a lead to win 1:25.51 to 1:25.71. Gaziev, meanwhile, anchored the 400 medley relay in nearly the exact same time as he did the 400 medley (41.83), to help the Buckeyes to a 2:52.29 victory in that event.

Individually, Gaziev won both the 50 and the 100 free. His 50 free time was just a 20.00, indicating that OSU wasn’t really pulling out the stops for this meet, but he did lead a 1-5 Buckeye sweep of that event. His 100 free time was better by comparison, a 42.58 that was just off of his midseason time of 42.45 from the Ohio State Invite.

Alex Quach has been racking up the dual meet wins all season, and this weekend was no exception, as he led the way with three individual event wins. He won the 200 IM with a 1:44.82 during the first session and then won the 100 fly with a 45.82 during the second session. He currently sits 7th in the nation in the 100 fly with a 45.15 from the Ohio State Invite. In the final session, he swam the 200 back, placing 3rd with a new personal best time of 1:44.26, but later in the session he won the 200 fly with a time of 1:45.30.

Distance ace Charlie Clark won the 1000 free with a time of 8:48.61, leading a Buckeye sweep of the top six spots in the event. Ian Mikesell narrowly beat teammate Karl Helmuth in the 100 breast, 54.03 to 54.04, while Billy Regan won the 200 breast with a time of 1:57.59. Freshman Tomas Navikonis added a win in the 200 free with a 1:36.51.

OSU divers swept the boards over the weekend; Lyle Yost won the 1m with a score of 388.45, while Clay Chaplin won the 3m with a score of 426.75.

Notre Dame kicked off the meet in strong fashion, winning the 200 free relay in 1:18.22. Guiliano, presaging the rest of his relay anchor swims, split 18.74. Guiliano didn’t swim any individual events during the weekend, but appeared on all five Fighting Irish relays. He split 1:34.16 on the second leg of Notre Dame’s 800 free relay, helping the squad to a 6:26.47 victory, and he also led off the 400 free with a 42.32, a time which moves him up into a tie for #14 nationally this season.

Jack Hoagland led the Fighting Irish with a pair of victories. He won the 500 free in 4:16.48, beating OSU’s Clark by 2.5s, and he also took the 400 IM in 3:46.61. He opted for the 200 back instead of the 1000 free for the final session, finishing 7th there in 1:45.87.

The Notre Dame men collectively swept the backstroke events. Jack Fitzpatrick just narrowly touched out OSU’s Chachi Gustafson in the 100 back, 47.70 to 47.72. Freshman Tommy Janton won the 200 back in a lifetime best time of 1:41.08, moving him into the top few men in the ACC this season.

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Joe
1 year ago

What a great time by Pasadyn in the 500.

BuckeyesOnTop
1 year ago

OSU women went crazy. Kit Kat Zenick is on fire. Buckeye men are underestimated. Gaziev was unsuited.

Andrew
1 year ago

On a somewhat unrelated tangent, I’m surprised there’s been no coverage from Louisville Indiana meet.

Def some key takeaways (especially on the womens side) for NCs

Yikes
1 year ago

The relays come March will be electric!

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