Notre Dame’s Hutchinson Drops 5 Seconds in 500 on Day 1 of OSU Winter Invite

OHIO STATE WINTER INVITE

• February 14-16, 2020
• Hosted by Ohio State
• Short Course Yards
• Day 1 Results

Ohio State opened their winter invite on Friday with the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and 200 free relay. Notre Dame freshman Liam Hutchinson made a big drop in the 500 free. His 4:19.11 was his first sub-4:20 swim and a best by about 5 seconds. Joe Turk kept the ball rolling for the Irish, coming within tenths of his best to win the 200 IM in 1:47.67.

Johns Hopkins’ Nat Davenport was just hundredths away from his best in the 50 free. He won the race in 20.38. His best is a 20.32 from midseason at the Big Al Open. Davenport is a Division 3 NCAA All-American.

The Buckeye women swept the individual events. Freshman Meredith Moellering led the pack in the 500 free, posting a 4:48.44 ahead of Kentucky’s Lauren Denham (4:52.04) and OSU teammate Grace Kowal (4:53.62). Denham’s time was her fastest since the 2018 SEC Championships.

Fellow freshman Sarah Turchanik dropped over a second to win the 200 IM in 2:01.09. Becca Luft then clipped her best time in the 50 free, winning in 23.17. That’s Luft’s first best time in the event since 2018, as she dropped 5 hundredths.

PRESS RELEASE – OHIO STATE

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State swimming and diving program opened day one of the Ohio State Winter Invitational with six podium finishes in the afternoon finals and four first-place finishes. Every Buckeye swimmer competed in an A final after posting top marks in morning prelims. Day two preliminary heats will begin at 11 a.m. Feb. 15.

Live results will be available at OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Admission is free to the meet. Fans who are unable to attend are encouraged to follow the action live on Twitter @OhioStSwimDive.

MORNING RECAP

Ten Buckeye women qualified for “A” finals after day one of morning preliminary races with Lauren Kurzydlo qualifying for both the 50 and 500 yard freestyle finals. All eight Ohio State men who are competing in the winter invite qualified for their respective finals as well with Jonathan Sugar, Kyle Silver, Colin Roy and Dom Harry all competing for gold in the 50 yard freestyle final.

FINALS

The No. 7 Ohio State women placed first in all three individual events in day one finals. Meredith Moellering swam to victory in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 4:48.44, improving on her morning time by nearly seven seconds. Grace Kowal placed third (4:53.62) while Lauren Kurzydlo (4:54.60) and Kendyl Ferrara (4:55.14) finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Next up, Sarah Turchanik finished first in the 200 yard IM with a time of 2:01.09. Alissa Cook finished just .13 seconds behind Turchanik for second. Finally, Becca Luft took first in the 50 yard freestyle at 23.17 while Brooke Glesenkamp, Katie Wright and Kurzydlo finished second, fourth and eighth, respectively. Ohio State’s 400 medley relay “A” team placed second, just over six seconds behind Akron’s relay team.

The No. 14 Buckeye men started the evening on a high note as the 200 freestyle relay “A” team placed first with a time of 1:22.35. In the 500 freestyle, John Sampson finished on the podium in third with a time of 4:27.30. He improved on his morning time by over four seconds. Jay Johnson and Matthew Magness finished fourth and seventh, respectively. Ian Mikesell was the lone Buckeye to compete in the 200 yard IM and finished eighth. In the 50 yard freestyle, the Bucks finished 5-6-7 as Colin Roy led the pack (20.77) followed by Jonathan Sugar and Dom Harry. Kyle Silver placed ninth. Finally, the 400 medley relay team capped off the evening with a third place finish and a time of 3:19.14.

DAY 2 SCHEDULE

Saturday, February 15
7:00 a.m. – McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion Open
9:00 a.m. – Warm-Ups Begin
11:00 a.m. – Day 2 Swimming Prelims
3:00 p.m. – Warm-Ups Begin
5:00 p.m. – Day 2 Swimming Finals

Day two preliminaries will begin at 11 a.m. and will include the 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and the 100 backstroke. Finals begin at 5 p.m. and will feature all preliminary events in addition to the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay.