Ohio State Women’s Swimming and Diving Drops In-State Rival Ohio In Dual Meet

Photo Courtesy: Walt Middleton Photography 2013

ATHENS – The Ohio State women’s swimming and diving team won 12 of 16 events this afternoon to top in-state rival Ohio, 222-95. Kathleen Cook and Lindsey Clary each won two individual events to lead the Buckeyes to victory.

Ohio State Women’s Press Release

The Ohio State women’s swimming and diving team rounded out their three-meet, three-day series by defeating Ohio University, 222-95, in Athens, Ohio on Saturday. Strong showings from members of the freshmen class, Cook, Menninger and McNulty, proved to be a strong asset in lifting the Buckeyes over the Bobcats.

The Buckeye 400 medley relay contingent of Annie Gillig, Rachael Dzierzak, Amanda McNulty and Macie McNichols kept the race close, ensuring a second-place finish (3:47.84). In the event, Ohio State picked up six points toward its overall total.

Freshman Kathleen Cook, an Atlanta, Ga. native, picked up her first individual win of the afternoon in the 1000 freestyle (10:17.77). Keeping up the momentum, she posted a dominant performance in the 100 freestyle. With a time of 52.28, Cook recorded her second win of the meet.

Ohio State swept the top-three spots in the 200 freestyle. The Buckeyes were led by sophomore Lindsey Clary in first (1:52.18), while Erin Dunseith and Ashley Vance followed in second and third, respectively.

Gillig added two more solid swims for the Buckeyes. In the 100 backstroke, she took the runner-up spot in 56.74, and in the 500 freestyle she claimed victory with a time of 5:01.06.

A strong finish by McNulty in the 200 butterfly awarded her a first-place finish (2:02.06). McNichols then followed in suit, clinching the top spot in the 50 freestyle (24.03).

Newcomer Brittany Menninger was awarded a score of 282.83 for runner-up in the three-meter diving competition. She later followed it up with a first-place showing on the one-meter apparatus (280.05).

The 200 backstroke was swept by Buckeye veterans Lauren Davis (2:04.02), Dunseith and Clary. Taylor Vargo, a breaststroke specialist, furthered the squad’s point total when she took first in the 200 breaststroke (2:21.11). Annelise Sprau proceeded to record a win for the Buckeyes in the 100 butterfly shortly after (56.17).

Clary finished her solid three-meet showing in the 200 individual medley, touching in 2:06.41 for first.

The Buckeye relay team of Zhesi Li, Annie Jongekrig, Dzierzak and Sprau concluded the meet with a successful, first-place finish in the 200 free relay with a mark of1:34.56.

Ohio State returns to McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on Thursday, Oct. 30th for a dual against Cleveland State. Races are set to begin at 6 p.m. (ET).

Ohio Press Release

The Ohio swimming and diving team fell 206-92 to Ohio State in its 2014-15 season opener Saturday afternoon at the Ohio University Aquatics Center.
The competition opened with diving. Senior Morgan Srail (Avon, Ohio) and freshman Karrisa Conner (Granite Bay, Calif.) represented the Bobcats, with Srail winning the three-meter competition with a score of 304.05. She then took third in the one-meter competition with a score of 239.47.

“For a first meet, you don’t really know what to expect,” diving coach Russ Dekker said. “I thought they did a good job. Morgan [Srail] – I was thrilled that she won the three-meter. That’s always a good feeling. Karrisa [Conner] really improved from what she’s been doing. She was nervous, so it was nice to see her start to relax and dive a bit more like she does in practice.”

After diving, the `Cats started off strong against the Buckeyes. The quartet of Laura Dawson (Newcastle Upon Tyne, Eng.), Tori Bagan (Roanoke, Ind.) Carrie Dukes (Monkton, MD), and Haley Clark (College Station, Texas) won the 400-yard medley relay, with a time of 3:47.55. Bianca Hauzer (Bedfordview, South Africa) followed suit, finishing second in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:20.30.

The Buckeyes fought back, but junior Addison Ferguson (Westfield Center, Ohio) won first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.62, followed by freshman Caroline Raley (Mobile, Ala.) in third place with a 58.34. Tori Bagan then performed well for the Bobcats a second time, winning the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:02.75.

In the 200-yard butterfly, Dukes remained strong and took first with a time of 5.12; Clark then took third in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.12.

Dawson took second-place in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.48. Dawson then continued to remind the Buckeyes of whose pool they were in, taking another second-place finish in the 200- yard individual medley with a time of 2:06.57.

To complete their opening competition, the Ohio 200-yard freestyle relay team of Hauzer, Dukes, Liz Murphy (Western Springs, IL) and Clark finished third, with a time of 1:39.51.

“I think the girls showed a lot of heart,” head coach Rachel Komisarz-Baugh said. “They swam tough and raced hard. Overall, I’m very pleased with their performances. We definitely had some highlights, and it definitely showed us where we have things to work on. I think this was a really good learning opportunity for us to move forward.”

The Bobcats return to action Friday, Oct. 3 when they travel to Rochester, Mich. to partake in a tri-meet against Oakland and Youngstown State. Competition is set to begin at 6 p.m.

Results: Ohio State vs. Ohio

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