Indiana Rallies for Thrilling Relay Wins at Ohio State Invite, But Buckeyes Still Sweep

2022 OHIO STATE INVITATIONAL

• November 17-19, 2022
• McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, Columbus, OH
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Watch
• Live Results or MeetMobile
• Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap
• Day 3 PDF Results

Indiana won the last two relays of the Ohio State Invitational in dramatic fashion, but it wasn’t enough to stop the host Buckeyes from topping the men’s and women’s standings after the third day of racing in Columbus on Saturday.

Final Team Scores Through Day 3

Men’s

1. Ohio State – 2,555.5
2. Indiana – 2,422.5
3. Notre Dame – 1,586.5
4. Virginia Tech – 1,523
5. Kentucky – 1,028.5
6. Cincinnati – 934
7. Yale – 910.5
8. Lindenwood – 632
9. University of Miami – 221.5
10. Pitt – 213
11. Kenyon College – 39

Women’s 

1. Ohio State – 2,525
2. Indiana – 2,348.5
3. Kentucky – 2,016
4. Virginia Tech – 1,281
5. UCLA – 1,004.5
6. Notre Dame – 986
7. Yale – 906
8. Ohio – 478.5
9. Navy – 419.5
10. Cincinnati – 416
11. Lindenwood – 301
12. Pitt – 119
13. University of Miami – 32

With the Hoosiers trailing Ohio State by two-tenths of a second heading into the anchor leg of the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay, Indiana freshman Kristina Paegle outdueled 100 free champion Amy Fulmer by throwing down a 47.07 anchor split to give her squad a slim victory in a new program record of 3:13.45.

Earlier in the meet, Fulmer (48.09) had edged Paegle (48.15) in the 100 free individually. Joining Paegle on the Hoosiers’ record-breaking relay team were Anna Peplowski (48.73), Ashley Turak (48.43), and Ella Ristic (49.22).

The Buckeyes reached the wall just .16 seconds behind the Hoosiers in a back-and-forth showdown between Big Ten rivals. Katherine Zenick (48.34), Nyah Funderburke (49.46), Teresa Ivan (48.38), and Fulmer (47.43) combined for a total time of 3:13.61. Virginia Tech’s quartet of Carmen Weiler Sastre (48.74), Emily Claesson (49.02), Fanni Gyurinovics (48.28), Madelyn Moore (48.69) clocked a 3:14.73 to keep close in third place.

The men’s 400 free relay featured nearly as tight of a finish as the women’s. Indiana (2:49.51), Virginia Tech (2:49.77), and Ohio State (2:49.94) were separated by less than half a second in the men’s 400 free relay final.

The race got off to a blistering start as Virginia Tech junior Youssef Ramadan (41.99) and Indiana fifth-year Van Mathias (42.36) posted the two fastest 100 free times of the season so far. The Hokies led by more than a second heading into the final switch after strong middle legs from Mario Molla Yanes (42.32) and Luis Dominguez Calonge (42.30), but Carles Coll Marti (43.16) couldn’t hang on against Hoosiers sophomore Rafael Miroslaw (41.57).

Gavin Wright (42.80) and Tomer Frankel (42.78) also contributed to Indiana’s winning team. Ohio State’s third-place squad was made up of Alex Quach (43.05), Daniel Baltes (41.80), James Ward (43.59), and Ruslan Gaziev (41.50). Earlier in the night, Gaziev recorded the third-fastest time this season in the 100 free individually with a 42.45, just two one-hundredths of a second behind Ramadan (42.43). It was the second session in a row where Ramadan clocked the top overall time out of the B-final after the 20-year-old Egyptian triumphed in the 100 fly out of the 11th qualifying spot on Friday.

Other Highlights

• The Peplowski sisters put together a dominant showing for Indiana. Anna Peplowski shaved a second off her PB to become just the fourth Hoosier to hit 1:52 in her 200 back victory, which was one of three individual wins and six total for the sophomore this weekend. She also touched first in the 100 back (52.12) and 200 free (1:44.19) along with the 200 free relay (22.53 leadoff), 200 medley relay (24.61 leadoff), and the aforementioned 400 free relay (48.73 split). Her older sister, Noelle Peplowski, picked up two individual wins in the 100 breast (59.17) and 200 breast (2:05.52). The latter mark was an NCAA ‘A’ cut, lowering her previous best by nearly a second and making her the second-fastest woman in program history behind Lilly King (2:02.60). It’s also one of the fastest times in the nation this season behind Alex Walsh (2:03.93) and Kate Douglass (2:01.87), who broke her own NCAA record on Saturday.
• Virginia Tech freshman Carmen Weiler Sastre was everywhere in Columbus the past three days, posting seven top-10 times in program history. Her best results individually included a second-place finish in the 200 back (1:52.97), a third-place finish in the 200 free (1:45.18), and a fourth-place finish in the 100 back (52.71). Notably, Weiler Sastre’s 200 back time dropped two seconds off her previous best from prelims and vaulted her into second all-time in the Hokies’ record books.
• Kentucky freshman Levi Sandidge tallied the second-best time in program history with a 14:51.24 that secured him second place behind Ohio State junior Charlie Clark (14:46.80, an NCAA ‘B’ cut). Wildcats fifth-year diver Kyndal Knight also moved up to second place in the UK record books with her 314.45 points on the platform. She placed second in the event Saturday behind Ohio State junior Ciara McGing (322.3). Fellow Kentucky divers Abby Devereaux (240.45) and Claire McDaniels (236.15) also achieved NCAA zone standards with their sixth- and seventh-place finishes, respectively. The Wildcats got three other podium finishes on day 3 courtesy of Mason Wilby (third place in the men’s 200 fly, 1:44.73), Gillian Davey (third place in the women’s 200 breast, 2:09.12), and Caitlin Brooks (third place in the women’s 200 back, 1:53.36).
• After breaking three program records during the first two days of the Ohio State Invitational, Cincinnati didn’t rewrite any more school records on Saturday. However, the Bearcats came close in the 200 backstroke races as Lily Jones (1:57.56) and Hunter Gubeno (1:41.47) both swam the second-fastest times in program history.
• Ohio State fifth-year Felicia Pasadyn pulled off an impressive double. First she placed fourth in the 200 back with a 1:53.60 before recording the second-fastest time in program history (1:54.51) to win the 200 fly. Both marks are NCAA ‘B’ cuts.
• Noelle Peplowski’s 200 breast PB wasn’t the only big performance out of “Breaststroke U.” Indiana took three of the top four spots in the men’s 200 breast, with Josh Matheny leading the way in 1:51.68 followed by Jassen Yep (1:53.17) and Maxwell Reich (1:53.69). Indiana women went 1-2 in the mile as Ching Hwee Gan (16:05.69) beat teammate Mariah Denigan (16:08.72) to the wall by three seconds. The Hoosiers also had a dominant showing in the men’s 100 free, placing four swimmers in the top 10 and displaying depth that paid off for them later during their 400 free relay win. Indiana’s other individual winners from day 3 included Brendan Burns in the men’s 200 back (1:40.66) and Frankel in the men’s 200 fly (1:42.72).