Zalan Sarkany Blasts Elite Mile Performance as Indiana Men, Ohio State Women Secure Invite Wins
The Indiana men reinforced their national prominence this week as they dominated competition at the Ohio State Invitational. The Hoosiers finished with 2636 points, finishing almost 700 points clear of runnerup Louisville (1955.5) while the hosting Buckeyes were third (1661). For the women, Ohio State rode strong depth to come out on top with 2151 points, surpassing Indiana (1940.5) and Louisville (1932).
The Hoosiers’ Zalan Sarkany swam the country’s fastest time this season in the 1650 freestyle at 14:23.85. Sarkany is the two-time defending NCAA champion in the event, having won for Arizona State in 2024 and Indiana in 2025. His performance Friday was within three seconds of his time from last March and quicker than any other swimmer in the race. Indiana swept the top-three spots in the event, with Luke Whitlock (14:37.47) and Luke Ellis (14:45.59) coming in next.
A stellar week for Owen McDonald concluded with a win in the 200 IM. McDonald recorded his third win in 1:40.90, ahead of Ohio State’s Tristan Jankovics (1:43.43) and Penn State’s Matthew Bittner (1:43.55). Indiana’s Andrew Shackell was first in the 200 butterfly in 1:41.26, crushing Louisville teammates Gregg Enoch (1:43.48) and Tommy Bried (1:43.64).
The Hoosiers also got a win from Raekwon Noel in the 200 backstroke, his time of 1:40.63 taking down Louisville’s Filip Kosinski (1:40.65) by two hundredths, while the Hoosiers’ Miroslav Knedla placed third (1:40.93). Mikkel Lee, McDonald, Dylan Smiley and Knedla won the 400 free relay in 2:46.69, well ahead of Louisville (2:48.40) and Ohio State (2:50.52).
Louisville dominated the 100 free, with Guy Brooks going 41.87 to take first and Nikita Sheremet placing second (42.04). Lee was third in 42.15.
The top women’s performances of the meet’s last session were also provided by Indiana-trained athletes. Miranda Grana swam a time of 1:49.06 to dominate the 200 back. She was not far off the 1:48.73 she swam in the event at last season’s NCAA Championships as she easily surpassed UCLA’s Rosie Murphy (1:52.60) and Indiana’s Macky Hodges (1:52.77).
Indiana freshman Liberty Clark continued to shine after recording the nation’s second-best time in the 200 free Wednesday evening. Clark won the 100 free in 46.87, a half-second clear of the Louisville duo of Julia Dennis (47.38) and Caroline Larsen (47.38). Indiana also got a win in the 200 fly from Katie Forrester, who finished in 1:56.99 to beat out Purdue’s Campbell Scofield (1:57.89) and Ohio State’s Jessica Eden (1:58.09).
The Buckeyes dominated the scoring in the 1650 free with Emma Finlin winning in 15:55.09 and teammates Mila Nikanarov (15:57.83) and Adair Shaw (16:14.49) placing third and fourth, respectively. Louisville’s Leticia Fassina Romao split the difference in 15:57.78, just edging Nikanarov at the finish. The 200 IM went to Murphy in 1:54.89, beating out OSU’s Paige Delma (1:57.07) and Louisville’s Kim Herkle (1:57.98).
The Louisville women were in position to earn second place in the team competition, but they were disqualified in the meet-ending 400 free relay. That allowed Indiana to pull ahead with a win. Clark led off in 46.83, quicker than her time from the individual event earlier in he night, and Kristina Paegle, Grana and Hodges contributed to a final time of 3:10.49. Ohio State placed second (3:12.14) with the Indiana “B” team third (3:12.14).