Ohio State Wins Six Events on Night One of Cleveland Speedo Sectionals

Photo Courtesy: Kara Sekenski

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The 2018 Speedo Sectionals Series – Cleveland kicked off today in Cleveland, Ohio. Co-hosted by the Firestone Akron Swim Team and the Hudson Explores Aquatic Team, the meet will run from July 19-22 at Cleveland State’s Busbey Natatorium.

Full results can me found on Meet Mobile – 2018 LE Speedo Sectionals at Cleveland State.

Women’s 800 Free

Club Wolverine’s Katie Duggan won the meet’s opening event, the women’s 800 free, in a time of 8:54.45. She knocked off over three seconds from her best time as the only swimmer under the nine-minute barrier.

Ohio State’s Natalia Jaspeado finished second in 9:04.99 while Nicole Swartz took third in 9:08.44.

Men’s 1500 Free

Ohio State’s Carson Burt dipped under the 16-minute mark in the men’s 1500 free, finishing with a time of 15:59.08. That marks a new personal best by just over 25 seconds.

Cincinnati Marlins’ Kellen Roddy dropped 40 seconds to earn a second-place showing in 16:19.03 while Utica Shelby’s Daniel Frederick was third in 16:21.78.

Women’s 200 Back

Ohio State’s Mikayla Murphy dropped over one second to win the women’s 200 back, finishing with a final time of 2:16.40.

Racing amongst talented college swimmers, 16-year-old Paige McCormick of Hudson Explorer finished second in a lifetime best of 2:17.20 while Firestone Akron’s Anna Nebraska took third in 2:18.15.

Men’s 200 Back

A trio of 16-year-olds swept the podium in the men’s 200 back, led by Northern Kentucky Clippers’ Ethan Hanna. He took the title in a time of 2:06.02.

Cincinnati Marlins’ Aaron Sequeira finished second in 2:06.50 and Firestone Akron’s Kaden Smesko finished third in 2:06.95. This marked new lifetime bests for all of the top three finishers.

Women’s 50 Free

Ohio State’s Freya Rayner, who finished fifth at this year’s Big Ten Championships in this event, won the women’s 50 free in 25.94 as the only swimmer under 26 seconds.

Second place went to Liquid Lightning’s Claire Abbasse in 26.37 while Ohio State’s Taylor Petrak took a close third in 26.40.

Men’s 50 Free

The men’s 50 free title went to Ohio State’s Mateo Chavez, who swam a new personal best of 22.68 to win the race by half a second.

Cincinnati Marlins’ Justin Grender sprinted his way to second in 23.18 while Hudson Explorer’s Jay Johnson powered home to a third-place finish in 23.54.

Women’s 200 Breast

Club Wolverine’s Delaney Duncan shaved off nearly four seconds from her previous best time to win the women’s 200 breast, getting her hands to the wall first in 2:32.65.

Lake Erie’s Laura Goettler wound up second in 2:33.38 and Club Wolverine’s Alexandra Hughes finished third in 2:33.99.

Men’s 200 Breast

Ohio State’s Alex Jahan won the men’s 200 breast by just under a second, touching the wall in 2:18.94 to achieve a new best time by over three seconds.

Firestone Akron’s Richard Kurlich finished second in 2:19.91 while Cincinnati Marlins’ Scott Soboleweski stopped the clock in 2:20.39 for third.

Women’s 4×200 Free Relay

The Ohio State quartet of Lucija Jurkovic-Perisa (2:06.08), Kerrigan Vargo, Murphy (2:05.56) and Maria Coy (2:07.84), dominated the evening’s final event, winning by over 15 seconds in 8:24.46.

Hudson Explorer finished second in 8:39.72 while Cincinnati Marlins took third in 8:42.81.

Prelims for the second day of competition will begin at 9:00 a.m. EST.

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