Virginia’s Courtney Bartholomew Scorches 100 Back With 50-Point Win at Ohio State Invite

COLUMBUS, Ohio, November 23. THE Ohio State Invitational featured another spate of ridiculously fast swimming this evening after an amazing first night of action. UVA’s Courtney Bartholomew backed up her 100 back relay leadoff with a sterling individual swim tonight.

Florida’s Sinead Russell (24.59), Hilda Luthersdottir (27.26), Ellese Zalewski (23.02) and Natalie Hinds (21.55) smoked the women’s 200 medley relay to open the night as the Gators clocked a meet-record 1:36.42 that also smashed the NCAA A cut.

Virginia’s Courtney Bartholomew (24.43), Laura Simon (27.57), Ellen Williamson (23.47) and Emily Lloyd (22.20) also cleared the A cut with a second-place time of 1:37.67. Virginia’s B squad of Charlotte Clark (25.02), Natalie Martin (28.95), Kaitlyn Jones (23.84) and Rachel Naurath (22.56) rounded out the top three in 1:40.37.

Ohio State’s Connor McDonald (21.86), Keanu Stevenson (24.09), Matt McHugh (20.28) and Josh Fleagle (19.34) turned in an NCAA A cut time of 1:25.57 to win the men’s 200-yard medley relay in front of a partisan crowd. Meanwhile, Florida just missed the NCAA A cut as Christian-Paul Homer (21.84), Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez (24.62), Marcin Cieslak (20.74) and Brad deBorde (18.90) clocked a 1:26.10. Both times surpassed the meet record of 1:26.79 set by OSU last year.

Ohio State demonstrated its depth in the sprint strokes as the B squad of Ryan Bubb (22.14), Dak Stone (24.58), Garrett Trebilcock (21.03) and Michael Disalle (19.68) placed third overall with a time of 1:27.43.

Florida’s Elizabeth Beisel beat her in-season best of 4:00.61 in the women’s 400-yard IM from this meet a year ago that stands as the meet record as Beisel blazed her way to a 4:00.55 to win this evening. That nearly beat Katinka Hosszu’s 2010 pool record of 4:00.03 set for USC.

Beisel had the pool to herself as Virginia’s Shaun Clark touched a distant second in 4:10.02, while teammate Haley Durmer claimed third in 4:11.19.

The Gators picked up a pair of NCAA A cuts in the men’s 400-yard IM as Sebastien Rousseau won the distance medley in 3:41.26 to better the meet record, while teammate Dan Wallace clocked a second-place time of 3:42.18. Ohio State’s Tamas Gercsak finished third overall with a time of 3:45.49.

Two more A cuts went up on the scoreboard in the women’s 100 fly with some sizzling times. Florida’s Ellese Zalewski blazed her way to a 51.13 to cut a second off her meet record of 52.26 from last year. Kentucky’s Tina Bechtel gave the Wildcats a big time automatic qualifier with a second-place time of 51.36. Florida’s Natalie Hinds earned third in 52.49.

Florida’s Marcin Cieslak set another meet record, this time with a 46.28 in the men’s 100-yard fly as he beat the NCAA B cut. That time cleared his 46.99 from last year. Ohio State’s Matt McHugh took second in 47.15, while fellow Buckeye Ryan Bubb posted a 47.44 for third.

All-everything Virginia freshman Leah Smith followed up her strong 500 free from last night with a 200 free win as she clocked a 1:45.09. Purdue had a surprisingly strong 2-3 finish, beating the rest of the teams to the top three as Rhiannon Sheets (1:46.45) and Carly Mercer (1:46.90) put up strong swims.

Ohio State’s Michael Disalle pocketed the men’s 200-yard free title in 1:35.57, while Florida’s Mitch D’Arrigo snared second in 1:35.84. Ohio State’s Josh Fleagle placed third in 1:36.45 as the Buckeyes took six of the top 10 spots this evening.

Florida’s Hilda Luthersdottir and Virginia’s Laura Simon dueled in the women’s 100-yard breast with the Gator taking the victory in 59.55. Simon, meanwhile, also broke 1:00 with a second-place 59.89. Ohio State’s Taylor Vargo rounded out the top three with a time of 1:02.30.

In another close contest, Florida’s Solaeche-Gomez touched out Virginia’s Yannick Kaeser, 53.67 to 53.79, in the men’s 100-yard breaststroke. Ohio State’s Keanu Stevenson turned in a third-place time of 54.06.

After dropping a ridiculous 50-point on leadoff duty last night, Virginia’s Courtney Bartholomew scorched the individual 100-yard backstroke this evening with a blistering time of 50.73 to far surpass the NCAA A cut in the process. Bartholomew has NCAA title contention on her mind next March with the swims she’s putting up. Florida’s Sinead Russell touched second in 52.46, while Virginia’s Kaitlyn Jones claimed third in 53.72.

After clocking a 46.79 this morning, Ohio State’s Connor McDonald claimed the men’s 100 back title in 46.88. Virginia went 2-3 in the finale with Luke Papendick taking second in 47.05 and Jack Murfee clinching third in 47.08.

Florida’s Ellese Zalewski (1:45.85), Elizabeth Beisel (1:44.81), Sinead Russell (1:46.67) and Ashlee Linn (1:48.38) took down the NCAA A cut in the 800 free relay with a 7:05.71. Virginia’s Leah Smith (1:46.18), Ellen Williamson (1:47.30), Caroline Kenney (1:47.41) and Kaitlyn Jones (1:47.06) finished second in 7:07.95. Florida’s B squad of Lindsey McKnight (1:47.65), Natalie Hinds (1:47.61), Danielle Valley (1:49.24) and Alicia Mathieu (1:48.51) picked up third in 7:13.01.

Florida closed out the night with a pool and meet record in the men’s 800-yard free relay. Sebastien Rousseau (1:34.19), Marcin Cieslak (1:36.14), Corey Main (1:34.74) and Dan Wallace (1:35.87) blasted the field in an NCAA A cut time of 6:20.94. That beat Florida’s pool and meet record of 6:21.84 from a year ago as well.

Ohio State’s Steffen Hillmer (1:37.46), Michael Disalle (1:35.93), Josh Fleagle (1:36.87) and Alex Miller (1:37.51) finished second in 6:27.77, while Florida’s B team of Solaeche-Gomez (1:36.34), Matt Curby (1:39.71), D’Arrigo (1:37.18) and Matt Thompson (1:36.81) placed third in 6:30.04.

In diving, Purdue’s Casey Matthews clinched the women’s one-meter event with 312.95 points, while Florida’s Kahlia Warner took second with 301.95 points. Purdue’s MacKenzie Tweardy collected 288.95 points to take third overall. Ohio State’s Christian Holstein dominated the men’s three-meter event with 403.60 points. Kentucky’s Greg Ferrucci picked up second with 355.40 points, while Purdue’s Alex Back took third with 346.75 points.

Women
1. Virginia, 699
2. Florida, 637
3. Ohio State, 379.5
4. Purdue, 348.5
5. Kentucky 234

Men
1. Ohio State, 727
2. Florida, 706
3. Virginia, 467
4. Kentucky, 262

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