Women Swimmers and Divers Look to Stay Unbeaten in 08 – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swim & Dive
Columbus, Ohio The Ohio State women’s swimming and diving teams resume competition this week with two co-ed dual meets with the Ohio State men’s team at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion: Friday at 5 p.m. vs. Wright State University and Saturday at 1 p.m. vs. the Kentucky Wildcats. The team is coming off a 181.5-118.5 win over Toledo last week in their first meet of the new year.
Scoring
The 13-event format 122 points needed to win will be used against Wright State and the 16-event format 151 points needed to win will be used against Kentucky. Scoring will be 9-4-3-2-1 for first through fifth places, respectively, in individual events and 11-4-2 for first, second and third, respectively, in relays.
Ohio State Women’s Team Improves to 2-3 in Dual Meets
The Ohio State women’s swimming and diving defeated the Toledo Rockets, 181.5-118.5, last Saturday at the McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion and improved their record to 2-3 on the season in the process. The meet between the Buckeyes and the Rockets was swum in short course meters. The length of the pool was 25 meters as opposed to the normal collegiate distance of 25 yards.
Ohio State swimmers won nine events and came away with nine second place finishes. Coach Vince Panzano’s divers swept both the one- and three-meter events. Jill Lockhart led the Buckeyes with three first place finishes. The sophomore captured the 100-meter backstroke (1:03.32), 200 backstroke (2:15.42) and the 200 individual medley (2:18.94). Finishing with two wins for the Scarlet and Gray was freshman Anita Beck, who took first in the 200 butterfly (2:17.22) and the 100 butterfly (1:03.64). On the boards, freshman Bianca Alvarez earned her fourth-consecutive win in the one-meter with 301.28 points. Junior Chelsea Davis took first in the three-meter after recording 350.78 points.
Raiders Riding High
Wright State has opened the season with a 6-1 record in dual meets the best start in school history. Swimmers have claimed pool records in the 200 medley relay, in a time of 1:49.24, and the 400 medley relay, posting a time of 3:56.73 and they have set a school record in the 800 free relay. The team of Krystyna Wieczerzak, Kelsey Cooper, Kassie Schmidt and Mabel Fernandez swam a time of 7:35.93, besting the old record by almost two seconds. Wieczerzak also has her own school record, as she topped the 200 backstroke mark at the Miami Invitational. Jessica Weidert set an individual school record at the Miami Invitational when she placed second in the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:18.44. In the process, Weidert posted a NCAA “B” qualifying time. Thus far in 2007, Wieczerzak and Weidert have each garnered Swimmer of the Week honors from the Horizon League.
UK is OK
The Wildcats are 3-3 so far on the dual meet season and have won two consecutive dual meets, a 185-115 win over Louisville on Nov. 3 and a 164-134 win over Indiana on Nov. 30. The win over Indiana was the team’s first against the Hoosiers since the 1999-2000 season. The Bradford twins, Heather and Jenny, were instrumental in the win. Jenny notched victories in both the 100-freestyle (51.29) and 200-freestyle (1:51.60) after leading the 200-medley relay team to victory earlier in the meet. Heather earned two individual wins as well, clocking in at 23.18 to win the 50-freestyle and at 55.15 to win the 100-fly.
Buckeye Freshmen Make “B” Qualifying Times
Three Ohio State freshmen – Samantha Cheverton, Katelyn Brix and Anita Beck – have combined for six NCAA “B” qualifying times in the first half of the season. Cheverton leads the team with “B” cut times in the 500-yard freestyle, 200 freestyle and in the 200 butterfly. Brix has qualified in the 400 individual medley and the 1,650 freestyle, while Beck has a “B” cut time in the 500 freestyle.
Lund-Kristiansen and Rennebohm are Captains
Captains for this year’s team are Linda Lund-Kristiansen and Annie Rennebohm. They are overseeing a 2007-08 Ohio State women’s swimming and diving squad that is made up primarily of freshmen and sophomores. The team is comprised of a total of five juniors and seniors with 12 sophomores and 11 freshmen.
Head Coach Jeanne Fleck
Head women’s swimming coach Jeanne Fleck is in her ninth year as head coach of Buckeyes. In her eight years at Ohio State, she has worked to improve the team and gain recognition on the conference and national levels. Last season’s campaign saw the Buckeyes finish 6-3 overall and take eighth in the Big Ten Championships, sending two swimmers to the 2007 NCAA Championships. During her tenure at Ohio State she has geared the Buckeyes to 12 school records. She has also had 53 Academic All-Big Ten selections and 98 OSU Scholar-Athletes.
Diving Coach Vince Panzano
Vince Panzano is coach of the Ohio State men’s and women’s diving teams. Panzano, who was named the 2004 Big Ten Women’s Diving Coach of the Year and has a total of nine Big Ten Coach of the Year honors (three for the women and six for the men), has produced one world champion, one junior world champion, two Olympic medalists, 22 U.S. Diving champions, ten NCAA champions, 14 NCAA runners-up, 48 Big Ten champions and 69 NCAA All-Americans.
