No. 3/10 Indiana Makes First Midseason Impressions

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana swimming and diving laid the foundation for its week at the Ohio State Invitational Tuesday (Nov. 18) night, posting four NCAA qualifying times in four relays during the opening night of its midseason meet inside the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the campus of the Ohio State University.

Both the men and the women had one victory and one runner-up finish on the night, and through two events the men sit atop their team standings with 128 points. The women are third in what should be a tight race with Louisville and Ohio State.

The men started the night victorious in the 200-yard medley relay thanks to a scorching first half of the quartet. Sophomores Miroslav Knedla (20.66) and Travis Gulledge (22.78) had the quickest backstroke and breaststroke legs, respectively, to gain an early cushion. Senior Owen McDonald (19.89) and junior Mikkel Lee (18.66) followed with strong splits in the butterfly and freestyle as the Hoosiers touched in 1:21.99 – a best time this season and 1.06 seconds quicker than Ohio State.

McDonald was the only Hoosier to swim both ‘A’ relays, leading off the 800-yard freestyle. Junior Aaron Shackell had IU’s best split in 1:32.22, as the group placed second with a time of 6:13.01.

Freshman Liberty Clark led the ladies to victory in the 800 free relay, dropping a 1:41.55 leadoff. She was followed by juniors Miranda Grana (1:44.94), Macky Hodges (1:43.81) and Reese Tiltmann (1:45.61), summing up to a 6:55.91. That time ranks No. 5 in program history and beat runner-up Louisville by 5.85 seconds.

Clark’s leadoff marks her first time under 1:42.00 and places her fifth in IU’s all-time performance list in the 200 free. Her best time coming into college was a 1:45.76.

The Indiana women took second in the 200 medley relay. Senior Mya DeWitt posted the best leadoff split, a personal best 23.73 in the 50 back. Sophomore Jonette Lagreid (27.29) gave way to Grana (22.91) and senior Kristina Paegle, whose 21.03 anchor ranked No. 2 in the field.

TEAM STANDINGS

Men

1. Indiana – 128
2. Ohio State – 104
3. Louisville – 98
4. Yale – 70
5. Kentucky – 68
6. Penn State – 62
7. Purdue – 58
8. Cincinnati – 30

Women

1. Louisville – 112
2. Ohio State – 104
3. Indiana – 100
4. UCLA – 76
5. Purdue – 68
6. Cincinnati – 54
7. Kentucky – 46
8. Penn State – 38
9. Yale – 22

RESULTS2

Women’s 200 Medley Relay

2. A – Mya DeWitt, Jonette Laegreid, Miranda Grana, Kristina Paegle – 1:34.96 (NCAA Qualifier)
3. B – Grace Hoeper, Alessandra Gusperti, Amelia Bray, Chiok Sze Yeo – 1:37.82
4. C – Colleen Bull, Kamile Zinis, Katie Forrester, MacKenna Lieske (Early Take-off Swimmer 2)

Men’s 200 Medley Relay

1. A – Miroslav Knedla, Travis Gulledge, Owen McDonald, Mikkel Lee – 1:21.99 (NCAA Qualifier)
2. C – David Kovac, Noah Cakir, Andrew Shackell, Vidar Carlbaum – 1:24.40
3. B – Raekwon Noel, Alexei Avakov, Max Lestina, Dylan Smiley (Early Take-off Swimmer 3)

Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay

1. Liberty Clark, Miranda Grana, Macky Hodges, Reese Tiltmann – 6:55.91 (NCAA Qualifier)

Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay

2. A – Owen McDonald, Aaron Shackell, Raekwon Noel, Zalán Sárkány – 6:13.01 (NCAA Qualifier)
3. B – Andrew Shackell, Cooper McDonald, Brandon Fleck, Josh Bey – 6:21.25