Liberty Clark, Zalan Sarkany Dominate as Indiana Sweeps Louisville
The Louisville Cardinals traveled to Bloomington, Ind., Friday to take on the Hoosiers in dual-meet action. A dramatic women’s showdown went Indiana’s way; with Liberty Clark leading the way, Indiana won 161-138. For the men, Indiana finished first in every event but one, three of those victories coming from Zalan Sarkany, in a 216-84 triumph.
Clark continued her ascendant freshman campaign in style as she dominated the 200 freestyle in 1:41.35. That time was only eight hundredths behind her midseason mark of 1:41.27, which sits at No. 4 in the national rankings. Clark later won the 100 free in 46.36, lobbing almost a half-second off her previous best time while improving to third in the national standings, trailing only Anna Moesch and Torri Huske. Clark also placed second in the 50 free (21.48), and her 400 free leadoff (46.38) was only two hundredths slower than her winning time from the individual race.
Miranda Grana topped the 100 backstroke in 50.91, and she returned to dominate the 200-yard race (1:50.94). Alex Shackell dominated the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:54.41, and she led the way in the 100 fly in 51.08, with Grana taking second (51.08). In diving, Lily Witte won 3-meter (350.18) while Kaylee Bishop took first on 1-meter (283.65). Clark, Grace Hoeper, Shackell and Kristina Paegle combined to secure the 400 free relay win in 3:08.07.
The Louisville women crushed the top Hoosiers team by 2.5 seconds in the 200 medley relay. Julie Mishler, Anastasia Gorbenko, Ella Welch and Julia Dennis finished in 1:33.59, within two tenths of the Cardinals’ third-place time from the 2025 NCAA Championships. Dennis continued her strong season in the sprints with a 20.84 anchor split, and she won the 50 free in 21.46.
Gorbenko dominated the 100 breaststroke by almost three seconds in 57.81. She later clocked 2:06.75 as she cruised to first in the 200 breast, and she finished off the day with a winning time of 4:06.52 in the 400 IM. Louisville’s Leticia Fassina Romao topped the 1000 free in 9:36.48 while Daria Golovaty finished first in the 500 free (4:43.97).
Sarkany, seeking his third consecutive national title in the 1650 freestyle this March, was brilliant against Louisville with three individual triumphs. He went 8:40.40 for an 18.5-second win in the 1000 free, and his 4:16.79 in the 500 free was enough to win by almost five seconds. Finally, he edged out teammate Josh Bey to win the 400 IM after a back-and-forth affair, with Sarkany going 3:43.28 and Bey 3:43.34.
The Hoosier men got off to a fast start courtesy of Miroslav Knedla, Travis Gulledge, Owen McDonald and Mikkel Lee in the 200 medley relay (1:22.63). Knedla put up a time of 44.78 for first in the 100 back, with McDonald coming in second (45.58). Knedla added a top result in the 200 back (1:40.88).
Lee got first in the 50 free (19.03), followed by Joshua Sollenberger scoring 366.60 in 1-meter diving to lead an Indiana 1-2-3 finish. Following the break, Lee was back in the pool to score a 42.35 win in the 100 free. Aaron Shackell was first in the 200 free (1:33.97), and Raekwon Noel led the way in the 200 fly (1:41.14) and 100 fly (45.78).
Alexei Avakov topped the 100 breast in 51.98, and he led for almost the entire distance in the 200 breast, but a painful final 50 yards allowed Bey to come from behind and win in 1:53.24. McDonald, Lee, Knedla and Dylan Smiley ended the meet with a resounding win in the 400 free relay. The Hoosiers trailed at the halfway point, but Lee’s 41.59 kept it close before Knedla pulled ahead with his 42.04, and the final margin of victory was almost a second.
The only event Louisville’s men managed to win was 3-meter diving, as Ray Pres won with 383.03.