Ohio State In Lead After Day One At Kenyon Winter Invitational

GAMBIER, Ohio, January 18. ALEX Norris set two individual pool records in the women’s 500 free and 400 IM and senior Tim Phillips made his season debut with a victory in the 100 fly as the Ohio State women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams jumped out to commanding leads during the first night of racing at the Kenyon Winter Invitational. Oakland, Cincinnati, Ashland and host Kenyon are also competing in the meet, which concludes this morning.

Ohio State Women’s Press Release

The 19th-ranked Ohio State women’s swimming and diving team got off to a fast start Friday night at the Kenyon Invite and stands in first place after the first day of competition. The Buckeyes earned 369 points, well ahead of Oakland (107 points), Cincinnati (102 points), Kenyon (100 points) and Ashland (62 points).

Ohio State’s night was highlighted by a pair of seniors – Alex Norris and Michelle Williams. Norris set pool records in the 500 freestyle and 400 individual medley while Williams earned three first-place finishes. Overall, the Buckeyes finished first in seven of the eight events.

The meet began with the 200 medley relay where the team of Williams, Aliena Schmidtke, Ashley Vance and Annie Jongekrijg finished in first with a time of 1:43.16. In second place was Camey Rabold, Rachael Dzierzak, Phoebe Cater and Norris (1:44.83).

Norris set the first of her two pool records in the next event, the 500 yard freestyle, when she touched the wall in 4:48.51. Behind her in second place was Kelly Ann Baird (4:51.41).

In the 100 butterfly, Schmidtke won the race with a time of 55.51 while Carter was second (56.83). In the next event, the 100 backstroke, freshman Zulal Zeren picked up her first win of the year when she touched the wall in 56.59. Behind her in second place was Annie Gillig (56.71).

The Buckeyes finished first-second in the next event, the 100 freestyle, as Williams (50.62) and Jongekrijg (50.84) continued their strong performances.

Norris recorded a first-place showing in the 400 individual medley when she touched the wall in a pool-record time of 4:21.77. The action was closed out with the 200 freestyle relay where Ohio State’s team of Williams, Jongekrijg, Schmidtke and Dzierzak finished in first place (1:33.08).

Competition at the Kenyon Invite continues tomorrow beginning at 11 a.m.

Ohio State Men’s Press Release

The 11th-ranked Ohio State men’s swimming and diving team showed no ill-effects from its long hiatus, surging into first place after the opening night of the Kenyon Winter Invite. The Buckeyes compiled 360 points, ahead of Oakland (148), Kenyon (128), Ashland (62) and Cincinnati (42). Ohio State had been off from competition since November’s Ohio State Invitational.

For the Buckeyes, senior Tim Phillips, a returning All-American, made his 2013-14 debut with a victory in the 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay. Phillips spent the fall semester training with an elite team in North Carolina. Additionally, sophomore Josh Fleagle and junior Keanu Stevenson were a multi-event winners. Overall, Ohio State took first place in all eight races.

The evening began with the 200 medley relay where Connor McDonald, Matt McHugh, Stevenson and Phillips touched the wall first with a time of 1:29.38. Behind them in second place was Garrett Trebilcock, DJ MacDonald, Fleagle and Mark Belenger.

Alex Miller won the next event, the 500 freestyle, with a time of 4:25.60 while Phillips continued the Buckeyes’ momentum when he picked up a victory in the 100 butterfly (47.76). Phillips’ time is an NCAA “B” cut. McHugh was second (49.06) followed by Peter Lyon (50.57).

In the 100 backstroke, Steven Zimmerman touched the wall first in 48.08 while Fleagle earned his first win of the night in the next event, the 100 freestyle, when he clocked a 44.40. Stevenson notched his second win of the night in the 100 breaststroke (55.56) where he was followed close behind in second place by MacDonald (55.71).

In the 400 individual medley, Tamas Gercsak clocked a 3:57.73 to finish first and the night was closed out by a Buckeye win in the 200 freestyle relay by Fleagle, Vladislav Komarov, Phillips and Michael DiSalle (1:21.59).

Action continues at the Kenyon Invite tomorrow beginning at 11 a.m.

Kenyon Women’s Press Release

Kenyon College played host to its Winter Invitational inside the James Steen Aquatic Center. Friday night marked the first portion of the two-day meet, mixing in a series of sprint and middle distance events for five teams to compete in. Even with three NCAA Division I opponents in the field, the Ladies’ Katie Kaestner highlighted the night with an individual win, keeping Kenyon in the mix for a top half finish.

Kaestner, a sophomore, topped the charts in the 100-yard breaststroke competition by out-touching Taylor Vargo of Ohio State University by 0.09 seconds. After finishing her first up-and-back trip in 30.91, Kaestner made the turn going for her second trip and sprinted out to the best 50-yard time among the field of 25 competitors (33.39). She was the first to hit the wall, clocking in a 1:04.30 finish time to take top honors.

Kenyon’s successes were outdone by Ohio State, who took a commanding lead after the first day of competition. The Buckeyes raced out to gain 369 points on the opening evening, winning the remaining seven events.

With four top-10 individual finishes and two top-5 relay finishes, Kenyon finds itself still in the mix to finish in the top half of the five-team field. With 100 points after day one, Kenyon trails the University of Cincinnati (102) and second-place Oakland University by less than 10 points. Ashland University rounds out the field in fifth place with 62 points.

Mariah Williamson put together two top-10 finishes on her own, taking seventh in the 500-yard freestyle (5:02.35) and eighth in the 400-yard individual medley (4:35.02).

Sophomore Natalie Parker placed seventh in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing in 58.46 while junior Celia Oberholzer took eighth in the 100-yard backstroke (57.37).

Kenyon placed third overall in the 200-yard freestyle relay when the tandem of Jourdan Cline, Jenner McLeod, Kaestner, and Haley Townsend put together a time of 1:37.41, falling one-half second short of second behind Ashland. The Ladies kicked off the night with a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay (1:46.93).

Day two of the Kenyon College Winter Invitational will commence at 11 a.m. on Saturday in the Steen Aquatic Center.

Kenyon Men’s Press Release

The Ohio State University men’s swimming and diving team dominated the field Friday in what was the first day of the two-day Kenyon College Winter Invitational held at Steen Aquatic Center. The Buckeyes won all nine events, racked up 360 points, and opened a 212-point lead over the rest of the field.

Oakland University held down second place with 148 points, host Kenyon was third with 128 points, Ashland University was fourth with 62 points, and the University of Cincinnati was fifth with 42 points.

For Kenyon, senior Andrew Chevalier had a couple of individual top-ten finishes. Early in the evening he took seventh place in the 500-yard freestyle with a swim that spanned 4:38.56. Later, he slid up a couple of spots and claimed fifth place in the 400-yard individual medley by clocking in at 4:02.57.

Junior Austin Caldwell also had a big night for the Lords. He swam a 46.19 in the 100-yard freestyle to take sixth place, just one spot ahead of teammate Joey Duronio, who completed in the race in 46.32. Caldwell also swam a leg on both Kenyon relay teams. He helped the meet-opening 200-yard medley team to a fifth-place time of 1:32.88 and he helped lift the 200-yard freestyle relay team to a third-place finish with a time of 1:23.09.

In addition to Caldwell’s and Duronio’s strong swims in the 100, Kenyon received a ninth-place swim from Austin Pu (46.74) and a tenth-place performance from Percy Gates (46.76). In the 100-yard butterfly, Christian Josephson and Ryan Funk placed seventh and eighth, respectively. Josephson turned in a time of 51.35, while Funk chalked up a 51.40. Additionally, the Kenyon men saw Trevor Manz and Ian Reardon follow up on Chevalier’s swim in the 400 individual medley. Manz took sixth in 4:05.40 and Reardon took eighth in 4:06.17.

Kenyon’s other Friday night top-ten individual finishes came from Arthur Conover and Alex Beckwith. Conover was tenth in the 500-yard freestyle (4:42.49) and Beckwith was eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke.

The five-team field will get back at it again tomorrow with an 11 a.m. start. The schedule includes nine more swimming events and both diving events.

Results For: Kenyon Winter Invitational, Day One

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