The H2okie invite finals had some fantastic swims from both men and women, although Alabama won several races, including both the men’s and women’s 200 medley relay, the Hokie men and women are still in the after the second finals session of the H2okie Invite.
On the women’s side, the team of Temarie Tomley (26.01), Kaylin Burchell (27.19), Justine Panian (24.32), and Bailey Scott (22.37) touched first in 1:39.89. Virginia Tech’s A relay, Holly Harper (25.50), Alyssa Bodin (27.88), Maggie Gruber (24.07), and Margaret Purcell (22.52) gave the Crimson Tide a run for their money, finishing in 1:39.97.
Although close for the entirety of the race, Alabama made up the ground, and took the lead thanks to Burchell’s split on the breaststroke, which was .69 faster than Alyssa Bodin’s for Virginia Tech. That proved to be the difference for the tide as they went on to the victory.
Virginia Tech’s B relay finished third in 1:41.01. Klaudia Nazieblo split a 25.23 in the backstroke.
On the men’s side, the freestyle leg was the difference, as the relay was a three team race from between the likes of Alabama, Virginia Tech, and South Carolina. South Carolina faded behind Alabama’s B relay to fourth, however.
Connor Oslin, Pavel Romanov, Brett Walsh, and Kristian Gkolomeev, combined for a 1:26.62 for the victory for Alabama. Gkolomeev split a blistering 19.20.
Virginia Tech’s team of Morgan Latimer, Brandon Fiala, Drake Becksted and CJ Fiala combined for a 1:27.49 finish. CJ Fiala split a 19.61.
Team scores through day two:
Men:
- Virginia Tech: 860
- Alabama: 761
- South Carolina: 523
- William and Mary: 250
- Villanova: 147
Women:
- Virginia Tech: 922
- Alabama: 501
- South Carolina: 433
- Villanova: 292
- William and Mary: 259
- Ohio: 224
- Liberty: 93
Full results are available here.
Women’s 400 IM finals:
Bama’s Mia Nonnenberg won the 400 IM in 4:12.89. She went out in 57.32, followed closely by Virginia Tech’s Fiona Donnelly in 57.85. Nonnenberg then out split Donnelly on the backstroke and breaststroke legs.
Donnelly finished in 4:14.46 for second. Followed by South Carolina’s Victoria Mitchell in 4;15.05.
Men’s 400 IM finals:
South Carolina turned around their slow start to finish first and third in the men’s 400 IM. Tom Peribonio won the event handily for the Gamecocks in 3:51.41.
Robert Owen of Virginia Tech was 3:52.78 for second, but in a close race with Bryce Kananowicz. Kananowicz was third in 3:54.92.
Ian Decker was fourth for Alabama in a 3:57.82.
Women’s 100 Fly finals:
Maddie Gruber was the winner for the Hokies in 53.91, a half a second difference her teammate Klaudia Nazieblo, who finished in 54.44.
Laura Dawson of Ohio was 54.73 for third, followed by Megan Howard of William and Mary who touched at 54.77.
Alabama did not have a women in the A final. Their highest finisher was tenth place Justine Panian in 55.92.
Men’s 100 fly finals:
The men’s fly was a different story for the Tide. Walsh and Gkolomeev finished first and second in 47.23 and 47.84, respectively.
Gkolomeev was seeded eighth heading into the evening, and improved dramatically, dropping 1.74 seconds from his prelim time of 49.58.
Latimer finished third for the Hokies in 48.13.
Connor Oslin finished fourth for the Tide in 48.26. Luke Kaliszak of the Crimson Tide was seeded seventh but was disqualified.
Women’s 200 free finals:
Emma Saunders took home another win for the the Tide in 1:46.40. Virginia Tech took home another second place with Gabrielle Bishop’s 1:48.47.
Meredith Vay finished 1:48.50 for South Carolina to take home third.
Villanova’s took home a fourth in 1:49.61.
Men’s 200 free finals:
Marwan El Kamash won the event for South Carolina. El Kamash, a member of the Egyptian national team, went 1:36.88 to win.
He was followed by Alabama’s Alex Gray, who was 1:37.37 for second.
The Hokie quartet of Owen Burns (1:37.88), Michael Szuba (1:38.06), Lucas Bureau (1:38.24), and Adam Stacklin (1:39.80) were the next finishers, giving the Hokies a big points boost.
Women’s 100 breast finals:
Kaylin Burchel dropped 1.33 seconds from prelims to win in 59.67 for the Tide. Burchell was seeded fifth.
Weronika Paluszek, 1:01.00, of Virginia Tech, was second, followed by her teammates Mackenzie Stewart, 1:01.10, and Alyssa Bodin, in 1:01.80.
Men’s 100 breast finals:
Kevin Leithold of South Carolina won the 100 in 53.36, dropping .21 from his time from prelims. Pavel Romanov was second for the Tide in 54.08, and Anton McKee, also of Alabama, in 54.16.
Nils Wich-Glasen, was fourth for South Carolina in 54.71.
Women’s 100 back finals:
Emma Saunders won another event for the tide, and Holly Harper took home another second place finish for the Hokies.
Saunders was 54.01 for the victory. Harper was 54.22. Addy Ferguson of Ohio was 54.47.
Men’s 100 back finals:
Oslin got his second win of the night for the Tide with a 47.19. Collin Higgins of Virginia Tech finished second with a 47.37.
Jonathan Boland finished third for South Carolina in 48.54. Latimer finished fourth for Virginia Tech.
Women’s 800 free relay:
Fiona Donnelly, Gabrielle Bishop, Jessica Hespeler, and Emily Ryczek won the relay for Virginia Tech in 7:14.70. Bishop split a 1:47.83, and Hespeler split a 1:47.64.
Saunders, who won the 200 free for Alabama, gave the Crimson Tide a big lead after leading off with a 1:46.78. The Crimson Tide did not have the speed to match up with Virginia Tech down the stretch, as they finished in 7:19.36.
Villanova finished third with a 7:23.76 despite not having a swimmer split under 1:50. South Carolina was fourth, thanks mostly to Meredith Vay’s 1:48.70. The rest of the relay did not split under 1:51.
Men’s 800 free relay finals:
South Carolina did win the men’s relay, however. Led by Kevin Leithold and Marwan El Kamash, the Gamecocks used a runaway train relay to win the relay. Leithold led off with a 1:36.48, followed by El Kamash’s 1:17.63, Tom Peribonio’s 1:37.70, and Patrick McCrillis’ 1:37.99.
Virginia Tech’s A relay touched in 6:31.84, Alabama’s finished in 6:39.11.
