Ohio State’s Li and Clary Lead the Way in Win over Toledo

MEET FACTS

  • Complete results
  • Hosted by Ohio State
  • Wednesday, January 4th
  • 25 yards
  • Dual meet format

The women of Ohio State saw a clean sweep 164-68 dual victory over Toledo today, led by Zhesi ‘Liz’ Li and Lindsey Clary, who hit an NCAA ‘B’ standard apiece.

Last year’s NCAA bronze medalist Li won the 50 free in 22.85, coming in over half a second ahead of her second place teammate, Macie McNichols (23.47), and slipping under the ‘B’ 22.99. Her time today is about a second off her season-best, a 21.70 from the Ohio State Invite. Li also won the 200 free today in 1:52.43.

Defending Winter Nationals silver medalist Clary finished the 400 IM well under the ‘B’ mark with 4:16.08, coming in about 10 seconds behind her Nationals time from December, a 4:06.10. Clary’s other individual victory today came in the 200 fly (2:03.20).

Toledo’s Jessica Avery proved the major player for the Rockets, grabbing a pair of second-places with a 1:04.88 to Buckeye Meg Bailey‘s 1:04.74 in the 100 breast and a 2:20.67 to Buckeye Taylor Vargo‘s 2:19.73 in the 200 breast.

PRESS RELEASES

Courtesy Ohio State Athletics

Columbus, Ohio— The first Ohio State athletics victory on home soil was claimed by the women’s swimming team in its 164-68 dual meet win over Toledo on Wednesday. The Buckeyes remain undefeated in dual meets on the season and they won every event against the Rockets.

The relays were especially successful for Ohio State. In the 200 medley and freestyle relays, OSU foursomes took the Top 3 spots; Marianne Kahmann, Molly Washko,Meg Bailey, and Kathleen Cook began the meet with a time of 1:44.73 in the medley relay, and Devin Landstra, Amanda McNulty, Quinn Fike, and Macie McNicholsended things with a time of 1:38.93 in the freestyle relay.

Individually, things started with two first place finishes by freshmen. Kathrin Demlerbested the field in the 500 freestyle (4:58.01) and Kahmann did the same in the 100 backstroke with a time of 56.83.

Veterans led the rest of the way for Ohio State. Bailey won the 100 breaststroke with her time of 1:04.74, then Liz Li touched the wall first in the 50 freestyle (22.85). Li also won the final individual event of the day, placing first in the 200 freestyle at 1:52.43.

In addition to Li, Lindsey Clary won two races against the Rockets: the 200 butterfly and 400 IM. Her time in the former was 2:03.20, and 4:16.08 in the latter. Her time in the 400 IM was over 12 seconds faster than the second place finisher.

Rounding out the other events were Maria Coy in the 100 freestyle, winning with a time of 52.59; Zulal Zeren in the 200 backstroke, placing first with a mark of 2:01.48;Taylor Vargo and her time of 2:19.48 in the 200 breaststroke; and Amanda McNulty, who comfortably won the 100 butterfly at 56.76.

Ohio State’s next meet will be Jan. 13-14 at Cincinnati. Kenyon and Oakland will also be in attendance.

Courtesy Toledo Athletics

Columbus, OH – Toledo started off the new year with a challenging dual meet at No. 20 Ohio State, where they fell to the Buckeyes, 168-64, in McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.

“The Buckeyes are ranked No. 20 for a reason,” said head coach Jonas Persson. “They are a very fast and well-coached team. I thought that we did a great job today and we had some close races. The team did an excellent job of sticking to our race plan and implementing it in the pool. I think competitions like this will prepare us for our conference competition.”

“I thought our team leadership was great in today’s tough match-up. Our co-captains, Rachael Hester and Allie Brinkhoff, led by example. They both executed their races well and had their best dual meets of the season,” said Persson.

Junior Jessica Avery swam to a season-best time of 2:20.67 for a second-place finish in the 200 breast. Avery also placed second in the 100 breast with a time of 1:04.88, just one second slower than her season-fastest time.

“I thought Jess was our strongest Rocket in the water today and I was impressed with her performances in all of her events,” said Persson.

New Rocket freshman Eduarda Sales (Santo Andre, Brazil) competed in her first meet for the Midnight Blue & Gold. Sales swam to a second-place finish in the 100 fly with a time of 58.47. She also posted a strong 50 fly time of 26.01 in the 200 medley relay.

“Eduarda had a fantastic first meet as a Rocket. Her 100 individual fly was great as well as her 50 fly in the 200 medley relay,” said Persson.

Freshman Izzy Jones had a strong performance once again, placing third in the 200 free (1:57.85) and fifth in the 500 free (5:09.74).

“I was proud of Izzy’s performance today. She applied herself in all of her races though she is getting over an illness,” said Persson.

Juniors Maggie Hack and Allison Dicke placed second and third in the 100 free, respectively. Hack touched the wall at a time of 53.16, while Dicke recorded her best dual meet time of 54.00.

The Midnight Blue & Gold will host Akron on Saturday, Jan. 14 in its first home meet of the season. The contest is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m. in the UT Student Rec Center.

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SUNY Cal
7 years ago

Of course OSU has a clean sweep.of the events!! Why are you even racing Toledo?? Race some teams your equal & then we’ll see how good you are!!! Every year their schedule is so soft. It really doesn’t help them in the rankings.

Connor
Reply to  SUNY Cal
7 years ago

Like football like swimming

Bigly
Reply to  Connor
7 years ago

And then there’s that 31-0 moment.

Connor
Reply to  Bigly
7 years ago

That’ll come against Michigan in a couple weeks.

Admin
Reply to  SUNY Cal
7 years ago

I see this both ways. Would I like to see Ohio State race some tougher competition? Yes. But in the broader scheme of collegiate sports, do I like the fact that Ohio State takes the time to race other teams in the state of Ohio? I do. Maybe less of an effect in swimming than in more team-oriented sports, but I think that intra-state competition like that can help raise the quality of swimming around the state.

About Hannah Hecht

Hannah Hecht

Hannah Hecht grew up in Kansas and spent most of her childhood trying to convince coaches to let her swim backstroke in freestyle sets. She took her passion to Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa and swam at NAIA Nationals all four years. After graduating in 2015, she moved to …

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