Ohio State Men and Purdue Women Win the 2014 Ohio State Invite

After an exciting Sunday night finals session of the 2014 Ohio State Invite, the Ohio State men’s team and the Purdue women’s team left McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion with wins. The highlight of the evening was Kentucky senior Christina Bechtel’s 200 Butterfly win. Bechtel set a new meet record and posted a time that would have achieved a second place finish at the 2014 NCAA Championships. However, Bechtel’s swim was not the only impressive one this evening. In almost every event, the top finishers lowered their prelims times significantly. Here’s your Sunday night finals session recap:

1650 Freestyle

This afternoon, in the longest event of the weekend, Lindsey Clary took first place for the Buckeyes in a time of 16:13.63. It was a close race to the end, with second place finisher Kendal Casey of Kentucky touching the wall in 16:15.91. Purdue’s Nika Karlina Petric claimed third in 16:18.88. For the men, Wisconsin’s Matthew Hutchins finished first in 15:05.25, followed by Ohio State’s Brayden Seal in 15:14.43 and Drew Aviotti of Kentucky in 15:22.64.

200 Backstroke

In the women’s event, Danielle Galyer of Kentucky lowered her prelims time to finish first in a time of 1:53.28, an NCAA B cut time. Brigette Alexander, a freshman at Kentucky, touched the wall second in 1:55.74. Purdue’s Trish Regan touched third in 1:58.93, a four second drop from her morning swim. In the men’s event, former NCAA champion Drew Teduits of Wisconsin won the event in 1:41.96, almost three seconds faster than his prelims time. Ohio State claimed second and third with Steven Zimmerman’s 1:43.16 and Rowan Williams’ 1:43.21.

100 Freestyle

Purdue freshman Abby Jagdfeld won the 100 Freestyle in a time of 49.83, followed by Zhesi Li of Ohio State in 49.92. Both of these women achieved the NCAA B cut time. Purdue also claimed third, with senior Kylie Vogel finishing in 50.13. In the men’s event, Josh Fleagle of Ohio State took first in 43.49, a slightly faster time than he posted this morning. Wisconsin’s Cannon Clifton finished second in 43.72, followed by Michael Disalle of Ohio State in 43.73. All three men achieved the NCAA B cut standard.

200 Breaststroke

Purdue delivered a 1-2 punch in the women’s event. Seniors Emily Fogle and Francesca Marr took first and second in times of 2:11.93 and 2:12.98, respectively. Kendra Crew of Kentucky finished third in a time of 2:13.33. Wisconsin’s Nick Schafer won the men’s event in 1:56.17. Following Schafer were DJ Macdonald of Ohio State (1:56.75; NCAA B cut) and Dustin Tynes of Ohio State (2:00.28).

200 Butterfly

Christina Bechtel of Kentucky blazed to the finish, winning the event in 1:52.36. Her time tonight was once again an NCAA A cut time, and she lowered her time almost two seconds from this morning. Bechtel also broke her own meet record from last year’s Ohio State Invite (1:54.21) and missed the pool record by about a second. At last year’s NCAA Championships, the top time was Cammile Adams’ 1:52.25, so Bechtel will be someone to watch as the championship season approaches. Purdue’s Rhiannon Sheets took second in 1:56.83 followed by Abby Myers of Kentucky in 1:58.24. In the men’s event, Ohio State’s Tamas Gercsak took first in a time of 1:44.67, dropping almost four seconds from his morning swim. Kyle Higgins of Kentucky placed second in 1:45.32, followed by Ching Hwan Lim of Ohio State in 1:46.32.

400 Freestyle Relay

The Purdue quartet of Abby Jagdfeld, Kylie Vogel, Gracie Hernandez, and Rhiannon Sheets placed first in 3:19.55, garnering 40 points for the Boilermakers. Wisconsin’s A relay claimed second in 2:21.14 and Kentucky’s A relay in 3:22.31. The Ohio State A relay of Michael Disalle, Steffen Hillmer, Steven Zimmerman, and Josh Fleagle claimed first in 2:55.98. They were followed by the Ohio State B relay in 3:00.42, achieving some serious points for the Buckeyes. Kenyon’s A relay claimed third place in 3:02.14.

Men’s Final Scores:
Ohio State – 1546
Wisconsin – 823
Kentucky – 512
Kenyon – 398
Purdue – 167
Virginia (diving only) – 103
Miami (Florida; diving only) – 65

Women’s Final Scores:
Purdue – 1097
Kentucky – 934
Wisconsin – 698
Ohio State – 652
Kenyon – 211
Miami (Florida; diving only) – 112
Virginia (diving only) – 104

Complete live results can be found at http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/livestats/m-swim/.