Ohio State Invite Continues

COLUMBUS, Ohio, December 2. THE Ohio State men's swimming and diving team remains in second place with 518 points after the second day of competition at the second annual Ohio State Swimming and Diving Invitational at the Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Minnesota continues its hold on first place with 823 points, while Notre Dame moved into the third-place spot with 422 points. The Ohio State women remain in second place with 526 points. South Carolina held onto its lead of the seven-team field with 554 points, just 28 points in front of Ohio State at the end of the second day. The University of Utah enters the third day in third place with 476 points.

Minnesota opened the finals competition with a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Its time of 1:27.37 is both a pool record and NCAA `B' qualifying standard. The Ohio State team of R.J. Lemyre (Sr., Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington), Felipe Travesso (So., Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Lawrences North), Joe Doyle (Sr., Centerburg, Ohio/Centerburg) and Matt Voelker (Jr., Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) was the runner-up in a season-best time of 1:30.23. Notre Dame stopped the clock at 1:31.04 for third place.

South Carolina picked up its first win of the night in the 400-yard individual medley when Kyle Corimer came from behind to win with a time of 3:55.22. Minnesota was responsible for the next two finishes as Russ Payne completed the race in 3:56.25 for second and Alex Wold finished it in 3:56.83 for third. Nate King (Sr., Youngstown, Ohio/Warren Harding) swam the event in 4:02.12 to finish seventh.

Doyle recorded Ohio State's first win in the invitational in the 100-yard butterfly. He stopped the clock more than a second ahead of the competition at 47.63, breaking both the meet and pool record. The time qualifies as a NCAA `B' standard, making Doyle one step closer to the NCAA championships. Gopher swimmers Dan Berve (48.71) and Evan Bernier (48.83) finished second and third, respectively.

Gopher Igor Cerensek set a pool record to earn the title in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:36.93. South Carolina's Dan White was the runner-up in 1:37.72, while Tyler Schmidt of Minnesota picked up the bronze in 1:37.94. All three men recorded NCAA `B' times. George Markovic (Fr., Sydney, Australia/St. Ives) swam Ohio State's fastest time of 1:40.51 to finish eighth.

Big Ten swimmers decorated the podium, as Gophers Colin Lee-To and Drew Knoechel and Hawkeye Dragos Agache completed the Top 3. Lee-To won the race with a NCAA `B' and pool-record time of 54.60. Agache picked up the silver in 55.44, while Knoechel earned the bronze in 55.70. Buckeyes Daniel Malnik (Fr., Rishon le-Zion, Israel/Gan-Nahum) and Felipe Travesso also competed in the championship final, finishing fourth and seventh, respectively. Malnik's time of 55.85 was a season-best time. Travesso swam the event in 56.70.

Minnesota swept the Top 2 places in the 100-yard backstroke. David Plummer earned the victory by more than two seconds in a time of 47.85. The time is both a NCAA `B' qualifying standard and pool record. Teammate Dan Berve was next to touch in, stopping the clock at 49.44. Dan Novak (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil/Foothill) swam a season-best time of 49.81 to finish third. Lemyre also swam in the championship final, finishing in fourth with 49.88. The time also was Lemyre's fastest for the season.

Michele Benedetti of Arizona State won the 3-meter springboard with a score of 381.50. Buckeye Ryan Jefferson (Fr., Madison, Wis./Madison Edgewood) picked up the silver with a score of 365.55, improving his preliminary score by almost 50 more points. His final score also is 50 points higher than he has scored in the event all season. Miami (Fla.) diver Rueben Ross finished third in the event, scoring 356.55 points.

Minnesota concluded the second day of competition with a win in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Their time of 6:29.80 is a pool record. South Carolina came up with the second-place finish in 6:35.62. Swimming the event for the first time this season, the Ohio State team of Doyle, Voelker, George Markovic (Fr., Sydney, Australia/St. Ives) and Matthias Sigrist (So., Schaffhausen, Switzerland/Schaffhausen) stopped the clock third at 6:36.78. All three relays qualified as NCAA `B' times.

"The men gave an excellent effort at the end of a long day," Bill Wadley, head swimming coach, said. "It was a great effort in the 800 free relay. Joe Doyle's 100 fly was excellent. He proved he could be the swimmer we knew he could be. Overall, it was just a great day of racing."

For the women's meet, South Carolina opened the meet with a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Its meet-record time of 1:42.16 qualifies as a NCAA `B' standard. Utah claimed the second-place spot with 1:43.82, while Arkansas slid into touched in third in a time of 1:45.20. Ohio State's team of Gulsah Gunenc (Sr., Edirne, Turkey/Edirne Anatolian), Erin Church (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy), Linda Lund (Jr., Roennede, Denmark/Haslev.) and Elaine Chan (So., Hong Kong China/ Hupp Yenn) completed the race in a time of 1:46.33 for fifth place. Their time was the team's fastest in the relay this season.

South Carolina picked up its second win of the night in the 400-yard individual medley when Amanda Dunnigan stopped the clock first at 4:18.28. Her time is a meet record and NCAA `B' qualifying standard. Teammate Carly Hensel finished next with 4:26.55. Arkansas swimmer Mariann Fulop secured third place with her time of 4:27.57. Gunenc bettered her preliminary time by two seconds to finish fifth in 4:28.91.

Continuing its winning streak, the Gamecocks garnered another win when Christy Williams swam the fastest time in the 100-yard butterfly. Her time of 54.63 is a meet record and qualifies as a NCAA `B' standard. Griet Buelens (Jr., Kapelle-Op-Den-Bos, Belgium/Ursuline Academy) out-touched Arkansas swimmer Emily Gregory for second place in a time of 55.82. Gregory completed the race in 56.01 to give Arkansas its third bronze-medal finish of the night. Swimming her third consecutive event, Gunenec placed seventh with 57.03.

Ali McInturff of Utah turned in a winning performance in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing in a meet record and NCAA `B' time of 1:48.26. Buelens was the runner-up for the second consecutive event, touching in at 1:49.58. The time is her second NCAA `B' cut of the invitational. Gamecock Christy Williams rounded out the podium with 1:50.92.

South Carolina swimmer Lindsey Tiberio (1:01.97) earned the title in the 100-yard breaststroke with a pool-record and NCAA `B' time of 1:01.97. Amber Walter also posted a NCAA `B' time to take second place. Emmy Haeger gave Iowa its first Top 3 finish of the invitational when she completed the race in the third-fastest time of 1:04.33. Buckeyes Megan Alexander (1:05.35) and Church (1:05.92) also raced in the championship final, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively.

Swimming a NCAA `B' time in the 100-yard backstroke, Utah swimmer Shannon McQueen won the event in 56.09. Denver got on the podium for the first time of the night when Kelsey Totura recorded the second-fastest time of 56.39. Bowling Green also found itself on the podium for the first time as Alisha Yee finished third in 56.86. Stephanie Fennell (Sr., Ottawa, Canada/Milton District) swam a time of 59.75 to give Ohio State its fastest time of the night. She placed 10th in the race.

Amanda Miller of Purdue earned her second consecutive diving title as she scored a total of 293.30 points to win the 1-meter springboard. Miami (Fla.) diver Jenna Dreyer finished in second place with a score of 289.95. Chelsea Davis (So., Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) rounded out the Top 3 with a score of 279.50.

Utah concluded the meet with a win in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:27.86. The Gamecocks raced to the second-place spot in a time of 7:30.07. Ohio State's team of Buelens, Annie Rennenbom (Jr., Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington), Jill Lockhart (Fr., Munice, Ind./Yorktown) and Haley Mitchell (Fr., Walled Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Western) finished third in 7:31.00. Their time is the fastest of the season by 10 seconds.

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