Indiana swimming and diving closed out its midseason meet at the Ohio State Invitational Saturday (Nov. 18) night inside the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
IU won the men’s team competition with 2,803 points, while the women finished second from 2,553 points.
The night ended with an epic relay performance by Indiana’s men. The field trailed Notre Dame after Chris Guiliano split 41.23 on the opening leg. IU junior Rafael Miroslaw opened for IU in 42.58. Senior Tomer Frankel’s 41.97 bit into the Fighting Irish lead, and senior Gavin Wight kept the Hoosiers in the hunt with a 42.52. Freshman Mikkel Lee leaped into the water behind by seven tenths and blasted the only anchor leg under 42 seconds. His 41.66 was just enough to touch in ahead of Notre Dame senior Tanner Filion by four hundredths of a second. IU’s 2:48.73 set a meet and pool record and earned an NCAA ‘A’ cut.
The women’s quartet of junior Anna Peplowski, senior Ashley Turak, sophomore Kristina Paegle and senior Ella Ristic also captured an NCAA ‘A’ cut in 3:12.86, within half of a second of the program record 3:12.39 they set together at the 2022 NCAA Championships. Paegle had the quickest split of anyone, going 47.21.
Junior Skyler Liu completed her dominant week on the diving boards with a winning performance on platform. Liu scored 351.00 points Saturday, outscoring second place by 40.85 points. Liu won on 3-meter springboard Friday and finished second on 1-meter Thursday.
Ching Hwee Gan kicked off IU’s evening with an NCAA ‘A’ cut in the 1,650-yard freestyle, going 15:48.70 to finish over seven seconds faster than second place. The NCAA runner-up last season, Gan was 2.5 seconds short of her personal best set at last year’s national meet.
The IU men’s breaststroke group swept the podium spots for a second straight night, this time in the 200-yard event. The trio of senior Jassen Yep, junior Josh Matheny and junior Maxwell Reich repeated their order as IU dominated event with six top-10 finishers. Yep’s NCAA ‘A’ cut 1:50.71 obliterated the pool record (1:51.73) and meet record (1:54.69) and makes him the third-fastest man in program history behind Ian Finnerty (1:49.90) and Matheny (1:50.12). Matheny went 1:51.13 and Reich a personal best 1:51.89.
Junior Brearna Crawford won the women’s 200 breast in 2:07.62. In the morning, she dropped a personal best 2:29.09 in the long course preliminary.
Indiana had strong showings in both the men’s and women’s fly, combining for nine top-10 finishers between the two races. The women had five of those, led by freshman Ava Whitaker’s second-place finish in 1:56.51. Sophomores Katie Forrester (1:58.06) and Avery Spade (1:58.28) placed fourth and fifth, and senior Anna Freed (1:58.46) was right behind them in sixth. Another sophomore, Lily Hann, was ninth in 1:59.60.
On the men’s side, seniors Tomer Frankel (1:41.94) and Armando Vegas (1:42.80) went 1-2. Sophomore Drew Reiter made it three Hoosiers in the top four with a 1:44.03, and freshman Dylan Smiley placed eighth in 1:46.42.
The women had five top-10 finishers in the 200-yard backstroke. Junior Anna Peplowski (1:52.94) was second, sophomore Mya DeWitt (1:54.39) third and junior Elyse Heiser (1:55.75) fifth. Senior Anna Freed (1:56.79) and freshman Jessica Cheng (2:00.48) finished seventh and 10th, respectively.
TEAM SCORES
Men
- Indiana – 2,803
- Ohio State – 2,459
- Louisville – 1,985.5
- Notre Dame – 1,797.5
- Cincinnati – 1,247
- Pittsburgh – 341
- Cal – 214
Women
- Ohio State – 2,666
- Indiana – 2,553
- Louisville – 2,022
- Notre Dame – 1,459
- Cincinnati – 1,317
- Pittsburgh – 253
- Ohio – 199
- Cal – 171
HOOSIER WINNERS
Men
Tomer Frankel – 200 butterfly (1:41.94), 400 freestyle relay (2:48.73)
Mikkel Lee – 400 freestyle relay (2:48.73)
Rafael Miroslaw – 400 freestyle relay (2:48.73)
Gavin Wight – 400 freestyle relay (2:48.73)
Jassen Yep – 200 breaststroke (1:50.71)
Women
Brearna Crawford – 200 breaststroke (2:07.62)
Ching Hwee Gan – 1,650 freestyle (15:48.70)
NCAA CUTS
A: Women’s 400 freestyle relay (3:12.86); Men’s 400 freestyle relay (2:48.73); Ching Hwee Gan – 1,650 free (15:48.70); Jassen Yep – 200 breast (1:50.71).
B: Toby Barnett – 200 breast (1:55.13); Luke Barr – 200 breast (1:55.18); Warren Briggs – 1,650 free (15:04.72); Jackson Carlile – 1,650 free (15:17.28); Mason Carlton – 1,650 free (15:24.49); Brearna Crawford – 200 breast (2:07.62); Mya DeWitt – 200 back (1:54.39); Tristan DeWitt – 1,650 free (15:00.62); Katie Forrester – 200 fly (1:58.06); Tomer Frankel – 200 fly (1:41.94); Anna Freed – 200 back (1:56.79), 200 fly (1:58.46); Lily Hann – 200 fly (1:59.60); Mikkel Lee – 100 free (42.67); Josh Matheny – 200 breast (1:51.13); Kacey McKenna – 200 back (1:53.96); Rafael Miroslaw – 100 free (42.54); Elyse Heiser – 200 back (1:55.75); Kristina Paegle – 100 free (47.96); Leo Pelaez – 1,650 free (15:22.79); Anna Peplowski – 200 back (1:52.94); Maxwell Reich – 200 breast (1:51.89); Drew Reiter – 200 fly (1:44.03); Avery Spade – 200 fly (1:58.28); Ashley Turak – 100 free (48.78); Ava Whitaker – 200 fly (1:56.51); Gavin Wight – 100 free (43.01); Armando Vegas – 200 fly (1:42.80).
NCAA ZONE QUALIFYING SCORES (FINALS)
Platform: Skyler Liu – 351.00, Maxwell Weinrich – 319.80
