Miranda Grana, Liberty Clark Excel for Indiana Women at Ohio State Invite
The Indiana women put up star performances in Columbus, Ohio, at the Ohio State Invitational. Miranda Grana (100 butterfly) and Liberty Clark (200 freestyle) each swam the second-fastest time in the country in their respective events Wednesday. In the team competition, the host Buckeye women have a narrow lead over Louisville and Indiana while the Hoosier men are 200 points ahead.
Grana won the 100 fly in 49.98, which sits behind only the 48.90 that Stanford’s Torri Huske swam Wednesday at the Texas Invite. She was followed by Louisville duo of Ella Welch (51.34) and Caroline Larsen (51.49).
Later in the session, Clark posted a time of 1:41.27 in the 200 free, a quarter-second faster than her 800 free relay leadoff from Tuesday evening (1:41.55). The time was quicker than any other swimmer had posted all season, although USC’s Minna Abraham would record an even quicker mark later in the evening in Texas (1:40.47). Behind Clark were Ohio State’s Rachel Bockrath (1:43.14) and Louisville’s Daria Golovaty (1:43.52).
Cincinnati’s Joleigh Crye, fourth at the NCAA Championships in the 100 breaststroke last season, closed down Ohio State’s Maria Ramos Najji on the final length to take the win in her best event in 57.99, one hundredth ahead of Ramos Najji (58.00). Louisville’s Mia Cheatwood took third (59.29). The 400 IM went to UCLA’s Rosie Murphy in 4:06.08, with OSU’s Paige Delma (4:07.99) and Indiana’s Reese Tiltmann (4:09.45) rounding out the top-three.
In the 200 free relay, Louisville’s Julia Dennis swam her second 20-second relay split in two days with a 20.75 on the second leg. Larsen, Julia Mishler and Welch contributed to a win in 1:25.36. Indiana, led off by Clark in 21.61, placed second in 1:26.83, while UCLA was third (1:28.45). That allowed Louisville to finish the night with 736 points, just behind the Buckeyes’ 744, with Indiana just behind (717.5).
In the men’s competition, Ohio State’s Tristan Jankovics held off a spirited challenge from Louisville’s Jackson Millard to win the 400 IM. Jankovics, last year’s national runnerup in the event, came in at 3:38.91 to win by two tenths over Millard (3:39.11). Indiana’s Zalan Sarkany, the two-time NCAA champion in the 1650 free, was third (3:39.73).
The Buckeyes got a second win from Tomas Navikonis in the 200 free, with the senior going 1:31.60 to win by 0.35 over Louisville’s Guy Brooks (1:31.95), with Indiana’s Aaron Shackell third (1:32.29). The 100 fly saw Yale’s Nicholas Finch hold off Indiana’s Owen McDonald at the finish by six hundredths, 44.62 to 44.68. Ohio State’s Matthew Klinge was just behind (44.81).
Penn State’s Mariano Lazzerini went under 51 seconds to secure the win in the 100 breast, clocking 50.96. Indiana’s Alexei Avakov took second (51.34) with Louisville’s Jake Eccleston third (51.92).
Louisville took first in the 200 free relay in 1:15.74 with a team of Nikita Sheremet, Charlie Crush, Aiden Musso and Guy Brooks. Indiana got second in 1:16.37, and Ohio State was third in 1:16.62, with Klinge coming home in 18.36.
The Hoosiers did not get any first-place finishes for the men, but they still finished the session with 943 points, well ahead of Louisville (722) and Ohio State (656).