Ohio State Invite Gets Underway

COLUMBUS, Ohio, December 1. THE Ohio State men's swimming and diving team is in second place with 237 points after the first day of competition at the second annual Ohio State Swimming and Diving Invitational at the Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Minnesota is in first with 383 points, while South Carolina sits in third place with 172 points. The OSU women are in second place with 238 points. South Carolina leads the six-team field with 251.50 points, while the University of Utah is in third with a score of 223.

In the men's meet, Minnesota started the meet out with a sweep of the Top 2 places in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The Gophers' `A' team of Ales Volcansek, Mike Woodson, Tyler Schmidt and Igor Cerensek took first in a meet and pool record. Their time of 1:19.91 also qualifies as an NCAA `B' standard. Teammates Jason Timmer, Mario Delac, Matt Engel and Colin Lee-To finished next in a time of 1:21.542. South Carolina secured third place with 1:22.32. Ohio State's relay of Joe Doyle (Sr., Centerburg, Ohio/Centerburg), Matt Voelker (Jr., Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington), R.J. Lemyre (Sr., Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and Felipe Travesso (So., Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Lawrences North) finished fourth with a time of 1:22.42.

Minnesota again captured the first two places in the 500-yard freestyle. Ray Betuzzi won the event in the event in 4:23.38, breaking both the meet and pool record. Teammate Zach Wood picked up the silver in a time of 4:23.42. George Markovic finished in the bronze-medal spot with a team-record time of 4:24.22. All three swimmers swam under the NCAA `B' qualification time.

Gamecock Dominique Lendjel earned the victory in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:49.96. Minnesota swimmers Evan Bernier (1:50.50) and Jason Timmer (1:50.76) were responsible for the next two places. Nate King posted a season-best time of 1:51.05 to secure fifth place. King was the fastest Ohio State swimmer in the event.

The Gophers were again on top as Ales Volcansek and Igor Cerensek finished 1-2 in the 50-yard freestyle. Volcansek swam a NCAA `B' time of 19.89, while Cerensek finished the event in 20.29. Doyle stopped the clock third in a time of 20.45. The time is his fastest for the season. Voelker also swam in the championship final, finishing seventh in a time of 20.76.

Steven Lobue of Purdue posted a score of 340.95 to win the 1-meter. Arizona State's Michele Benedetti was the runner-up with a score of 336.40. Rueben Ross finished third for Miami (Fla.) with 331.80 points. Burkley Showe (So., Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) was Ohio State's highest place finisher at fourth with a score of 319.35.

Minnesota concluded the finals portion of Friday's events with the two fastest times in the 400-yard medley relay. The Gopher `A' team finished in meet record time of 3:13.79, while the `B' team finished in 3:16.46. Both times qualify as NCAA `B' standards. The Ohio State team of Lemyre, Travesso, Doyle and Voelker swam a time of 3:18.68 for third place in the team's first time swimming the race this season.

"I am really happy for George Markovic," Bill Wadley, head men's swimming coach, said. "He is a freshman who came back to break the school record in the 500 freestyle. That is a rare thing at this point in the season, especially since it hasn't been broken in six or eight years. I am pleased with how the team came back and swam better tonight."

For the women, the Utah Utes captured the first win of the meet when the relay team of Amber Walter, Ali McIntuff, Annie Van Leeuwen, and Jen Fredshall stopped the clock in a NCAA `B' qualifying standard of 1:33.21. South Carolina's Sharntelle McLean, Christy Williams, Kelly Giese and Kristina Delp touched in second with a time of 1:34.63. The Ohio State quad of Annie Rennebohm (Jr., Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington), Linda Lund (Jr., Roennede, Denmark/Haslev), Griet Buelens (Jr., Kapelle-Op-Den-Bos, Belgium/Ursuline Academy) and Elaine Chan (So., Hong Kong China/ Hupp Yenn) rounded out the Top 3 with a season-best time of 1:34.80.

Buelens came back to win the next event in a NCAA `B' standard of 4:50.40 in the 500-yard freestyle. Harmony Zeller of Denver was the runner-up in 4:55.85. Utah swimmer Shannon McQueen finished third with a time of 4:58.31.

The Gamecocks swept the Top 3 places in the 200-yard individual medley, with Amanda Dunningan (2:02.23) touching in first. Teammates Christy Williams (2:02.59) and Carly Hensel (2:03.85) finished in second and third place, respectively. All three women swam under the NCAA `B' standard. Swimming the event for the first time this season, Jill Lockhart (Fr., Munice, Ind./Yorktown) recorded Ohio State's highest finish of fifth in 2:05.48.

Amber Walter of Utah secured her spot at the NCAA championships when she swam the 50-yard freestyle in a meet record time of 22.59, which is an NCAA `A' qualifying time. Sharntelle McLean finished second for South Carolina in 23.17. The time qualifies as a NCAA `B' standard. Another Utes swimmer, Ali McInturff, picked up the bronze in 23.66. Chan recorded Ohio State's fastest time in the event, finishing in 23.38. The time earned her fourth place.

Purdue diver Amanda Miller garnered the victory in the 3-meter with a score 325.75. Chelsea Davis (So., Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) was behind her in second with 316.00 points. The score is her highest for the season. Heather Bounds of Miami (Fla.) finished the event third with a score of 293.90.

South Carolina concluded the final portion of the invitational with a win in the 400-yard medley relay (3:45.29). Minnesota's `A' team was next to stop the clock, finish the race in 3:46.38 In a race for third, the Ohio State quad of Gulsah Gunenc (Sr., Edirne, Turkey/Edirne Anatolian), Erin Church (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio, Ursline Academy), Buelens and Chan out touched Big Ten rival Iowa for the bronze. Their time of 3:51.71 is the team's fastest of the season.

"I am really happy with how we are doing," Jeanne Fleck, head swimming coach, said. "Actually, I couldn't be happier. We are right where we need to be. I am pleasantly surprised. Out team is young and I didn't know how they would respond in the invitational, but we did well."

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