MICHIGAN vs OAKLAND
- Saturday, October 8, 2022
- Oakland University Aquatic Center, Rochester, MI
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
TEAM SCORES
MEN
- Michigan – 160
- Oakland – 97
WOMEN
- Michigan – 169
- Oakland – 107
While Michigan had athletes competing at the SMU Classic, the rest of the Wolverines traveled to Rochester, MI this past weekend to face off against Horizon League powerhouse Oakland. Despite missing some of their top athletes, the Wolverines were still able to emerge victorious against the Golden Grizzlies by large margins.
Men’s Recap
Fifth year Nikola Acin, who transferred to Michigan from Purdue for this season, was a key contributor for the Wolverines, helping two relays to victories and winning a pair of individual events as well. Individually, Acin swam a 20.36 to win the men’s 50 free, leading a 1-2-3 charge from Michigan. Teammates Lucas Hodgson and Yousuf Al-Matrooshi, both freshmen, swam 20.67 and 21.11 respectively to finish second and third.
Acin then swam a 44.08 to win the men’s 100 free, tearing into the finish by well over a second. It was Oakland’s Christian Bart who finished second in that event, touching in 45.65.
Swimming on Michigan’s ‘A’ men’s 200 medley relay, Acin anchored in 19.55, pulling away from Oakland anchor Samuel McKenzie. The 200 medley relay was a great race, seeing Oakland get out to a lead over Michigan, thanks to a 22.69 lead-off from Marko Khotynetskyi and a 24.73 breast split from Christian Bart. Michigan found themselves in a hole, as Andrew Trepanier led the team off in 22.96 and Jack McCurdy split 25.38 on breast, hitting the 100-yard mark 0.90 seconds behind Oakland. The Wolverines’ back half was able to get the job done, however, seeing Charles Morici split 21.12 on fly, followed by Acin’s 19.55 free split, which was enough for Michigan to finish 0.94 seconds ahead of Oakland, 1:29.01 to 1:29.95.
The men’s 200 free relay was quite as close of a race, seeing Michigan’s ‘A’ team grab the win with a 1:22.01. while Oakland was second in 1:23.27. Acin led the team off in 20.35, followed by Al-Matrooshi (21.04), Hodgson (20.12), and Trepanier (20.50).
Oakland’s Marko Khotynetskyi, a senior, continues to be a force to be reckoned with in the men’s backstroke events. Khotynetskyi swam a speedy 48.55 to win the men’s 100 back, touching first by well over a second. He would then go on to clock a 1:48.91 in the 200 back, beating out Michigan freshman Jack Wilkening (1:49.78) by a little less than a second.
Eduardo Moraes swept the men’s mid-distance events for Michigan, swimming a 4:29.69 to win the 500 free, and a 1:37.49 in the 200 free. Ansel Froass was also a double event winner, taking the men’s 200 IM in 1:50.48 and the 200 breast in 2:02.30.
Other Men’s Event Winners:
- 1000 free: Yugo Tsukikawa (MICH) 9:31.81
- 100 breast: Christian Bart (OAK) – 55.31
- 200 fly: Connor Hunt (MICH) – 1:49.66
- 100 fly: Charles Morici (MICH) – 49.00
- 1-mtr diving: Kameron Liberman (MICH) – 303.98
Women’s Recap
Michigan got the ball rolling right away, taking the women’s 200 medley relay in 1:42.10. Noelle Kaufmann (25.50), Nat Kan (28.77), Brady Kendall (24.57), and Christey Liang (23.26) combined to get the job done, each posting the fastest split in the field in their respective strokes.
After the medley relay, Kaufmann and Oakland’s Susan LaGrand would go head-to-head in the women’s backstroke events. In the 100 back, it was Kaufmann who came out on top, establishing the early lead on LaGrand and managing to hold it through the back half. She swam a 55.21, beating LaGrand (55.86) by 0.65 seconds.
They would then face off again in the 200 back, where LaGrand, a two-time NCAA qualifier in the 200 back, swam a 2:01.48 to edge out Kaufmann (2:01.75). LaGrand took over the lead in the middle of the race, and managed to hold Kaufmann off on the final 50 to get her hand on the wall first.
Michigan’s Kathryn Shanley handled the women’s distance events, getting things going with a 10:05.11 to win the 1000 free by ten seconds. She swam a very consistent race, splitting 5:01.92 on the first 500 of the race and coming home in 5:03.19. Shanley would then go on to win the individual 500 free in 5:00.47, which was good enough for the win but only slightly faster than her 5:01.92 on the initial 500 of the 1000, which of course was also to the feet.
Oakland’s Taylor Bailey swept the women’s breaststroke events, inching ahead of Michigan’s Claire Donan on the second 50 of the 100 breast to get her hands on the wall first. Bailey swam a 1:04.96, touching just ahead of Donan’s 1:05.15. She went on to win the 200 breast much more handily, swimming a 2:18.90 to touch first by over three seconds. She split her race very well, going 32.12 on the first 50, then splitting 35.36, 35.36, and 36.06 on the remaining 50s.
Even with some of their top swimmers down in Texas, Michigan’s depth in the sprint events was on display at this meet. Sophomore Abbey Ketslakh took the women’s 50 free in 23.65, followed closely by freshmen teammates Brady Kendall (23.81) and Victoria Bergeli (24.00). Showing off some off her freestyle versatility, Kathryn Shanley finished fourth, touching in 24.37.
In the 100 free, Christey Liang, another freshman, won in 51.11, narrowly beating Ketslakh, who was second in 51.26. Oakland’s Jordyn Shipps took third with a 51.56, while it was a pair of Wolverines, Ella Piersma and Riley Francis, both of whom are freshmen, who were next in at 51.73 and 51.90 respectively.
Other Women’s Event Winners:
- 200 IM: Claire Donan (MICH) – 2:06.28
- 1-mtr diving: Chrismon Clark (MICH) – 285.15
- 200 free: Sophia Kudryashova (MICH) – 1:49.98
- 200 fly: Ella Piersma (MICH) – 2:04.38
- 100 fly: Nat Kan (MICH) – 55.26
