Ohio State Men’s Swimming Drops West Virginia

Photo Courtesy: Peter H.Bick

COLUMBUS – The Ohio State men’s swimming and diving team kicked off a busy weekend of racing with a 50-point win over West Virginia at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. The Buckeyes outscored the Mountaineers 170-120 in the team’s first of two dual meets this weekend.

Ohio State Men’s Press Release

The 12th-ranked Ohio State men’s swimming and diving team earned a 170-120 victory over West Virginia Friday evening at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. The Buckeyes will return to action for a double-dual vs. No. 9 Indiana and No. 4 Louisville on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to arrive early, as Ohio State will recognize an outstanding class of seniors prior to the meet.

Ohio State started off with a win in the 400 medley relay. Behind swims from Steven Zimmerman, DJ MacDonald, Matt McHugh and Josh Fleagle, the quartet clocked in a time of 3:15.61 for first. In all, the Scarlet and Gray picked up 13 points toward their team total with a third-place finish from the ‘B’ relay as well.

The 1000 freestyle ended in a Buckeye sweep, with junior Jovan Mitrovic claiming first (9:30.17), while sophomores Joey Long and Matt Moen followed in second and third, respectively. Ohio State then took the top two spots in the 200 freestyle, as Fleagle (1:37.74) claimed first and freshman Ching Lim earned second.

Moving onto the 100 backstroke, senior Rowan Williams came away with a runner-up finish. MacDonald then posted his second win of the meet with a first-place showing in the 100 breaststroke (55.55).

Before a brief break in action, senior Tamas Gercsak recorded a time of 1:50.55 in the 200 butterfly for first. In the 50 freestyle, McHugh finished first in 20.53, while Steffen Hillmer picked up a win in the 100 freestyle (45.14). Ohio State swept the 100 freestyle, as rookies Jack DiSalle and Kevin Musterait placed second and third, respectively.

The Buckeyes finished one-two in the 200 backstroke behind a first-place showing from Williams (1:48.47) and second-place finish from junior Chris DePietro (1:52.19). The 500 freestyle also went in OSU’s favor, with Alex Osterhage touching first in 4:35.77.

Ohio State scratched scores for the remainder of the meet; however, Lim touched first in the 200 individual medley (1:48.57) and the Buckeyes’ 200 freestyle relay contingent of Fleagle, McHugh, Michael DiSalle and Hillmer earned a top time of 1:21.28.

In the 3-meter diving competition, the Buckeyes completed a sweep with veterans Stephen Ettienne and Shane Miszkiel going one-two and freshman Stephen Romanik placing third. Ettienne posted a winning total of 435.98 in the event.

West Virginia Men’s Press Release

In its final dual meet of the season, the West Virginia University men’s swimming and diving team came up short at No. 12-ranked Ohio State earlier tonight in Columbus, Ohio.

Despite earning one-two-three finishes in the 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard IM events, the Mountaineers fell by a final score of 170-120 to the host Buckeyes.

“It was a really solid effort from the men,” said coach Vic Riggs. “Both relays had significant drops from the fall and overall we had 23 in season-best times.

“Max (Spencer) had some really solid breaststroke swims. Nate Carr swam three in season-best times as well. This was an excellent opportunity for us to race a very good OSU team. I felt we did a great job of racing against them, which I believe will helps us race at Big 12s.”

Andrew Marsh contributed to three first-place finishes on Friday night. Marsh took first place in the men’s 100-yard backstroke (48.97) and 100-yard butterfly (49.68).

Marsh, along with Ross Glegg, Frank Csonka and Tim Squires raced to a first-place result in the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay.

In the men’s 200-yard IM, the Mountaineers took first through fourth place. Nate Carr hit the wall first in 1:49.85, Chris Brill placed second in 1:56.24, Austin Green finished third in 1:58.07 and Chase Williams took fourth in 1:58.24.

West Virginia enjoyed another sweep in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke. Max Spencer hit the pad first in 2:02.70, Carr placed second in a season-best 2:02.23 and Brill finished third in 2:07.56

On the men’s 1-meter diving board, Alex Obendorf led the Mountaineers with a fifth-place overall finish, scoring 285.68. Obendorf also led WVU on the 3-meter board, recording a fourth-place result (333.08).

In the men’s 200-yard freestyle, Carr and Ross Glegg placed second (1:40.07) and third (1:40.96), respectively.

The men’s 500-yard freestyle saw Nathan Howells take second in 4:45.06. Pierce Bradshaw placed third in the event in 4:45.24 and James Koval finished fourth in 4:47.48.

The women’s diving team also competed at Ohio State on Saturday night. Senior Haily VandePoel took second on the 1-meter board with a mark of 277.58. Jennifer Rey took fourth in the event with a score of 251.40 and Lindsay Schmidt placed fifth, scoring 248.03.

VandePoel also led the group on the 3-meter board, placing third overall (292.73). Schmidt placed fourth (272.10) and Rey took fifth (261.45).

The women’s swimming and diving team hosts Ohio tomorrow at 4 p.m., at the WVU Natatorium, while the men won’t return to competition until the Big 12 Championships from Feb. 25-28.

West Virginia vs. Ohio State Dual Meet – Results

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