Emerging Buckeyes Runner-Up at OSU Invite – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swim & Dive
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s swimming and diving team capped a fine weekend by taking runner-up honors at its own Swimming and Diving Invitational with 784 points. Minnesota won the meet with 1,125 points. Six schools sent swimmers and divers to the meet and an additional six more sent divers only.
“Overall, I’m pleased with our effort,” second-year Ohio State swimming coach Bill Dorenkott said. “I don’t think we swam all that fast, but our efforts were consistent throughout the meet.”
A pair of runner-up swims highlighted the team’s Sunday efforts. First, junior Samantha Cheverton and senior Jill Lockhart went two-three in the 200 backstroke. Emily Creran and Haley Mitchell added to the 60-point event for Ohio State by finishing in fifth- and eighth-place, respectively.
Freshman Megan Detro followed with a second-place effort in the 50 freestyle in a time of 50.32.
The 400 freestyle relay team of Detro, Anita Beck, Cheverton and Mitchell also placed second in 3:21.85.
What a difference a year has made. The team’s second-place performance was a significant improvement from one year ago at this meet, when Ohio State finished fourth and trailed Minnesota by 837 points, Penn State by 409 points and Notre Dame by 24.
“We were a better swimming team this past summer than we were last year,” Dorenkott said. “And we’re a better team now. The swimmers are getting accustomed to our processes and expectations. And they are understanding there is a difference between just swimming fast and swimming fast with proper technique.”
Katelyn Brix, who had a terrific invitational with three finals swims, including a third-place finish Sunday in the 200 breaststroke, couldn’t help but smile when the subject of last year vs. this year came up in a discussion.
“We have come so far as a team and we have much more confidence this year,” the junior from Brentwood, Calif., said. “We all have the same goal of learning how to race and wanting to race. The upperclassmen understand this and it is rubbing off on all the freshman that our goal is to race and to compete.”
Colleen Schweitzer, one of seven senior swimmers on the team, and who swam in finals in both the 100 breaststroke Saturday and the 200 breaststroke Sunday (she finished sixth), said the team is becoming believers.
“Bill always tells us to believe in yourself,” Schweitzer said, “and people on this team are really starting to believe in themselves.”
Believe it! The Buckeyes are emerging. How else could a team have a 400-point difference from one year to the next?
Some Final Thoughts from the Pool Deck
Championship Starts & Swims Buckeyes were on the starting blocks in an individual championship race 26 times over the three-day meet. Thirteen different swimmers made at least one championship swim with Jill Lockhart (200 back, 200 IM, 400 IM), Samantha Cheverton (200 back, 500 free, 200 free) and Katelyn Brix (200 breaststroke, 200 IM, 400 IM) working on their championship starts and swims the most.
Recalling “Elf” Bill Dorenkott brought up the Will Farrell movie “Elf” with his team before the preliminary events Sunday (Dorenkott and his wife have four children, and the kids watch the movie…a lot). He referred to a scene in the movie when Farrell responds to a question from his boss by saying “Smiling is my favorite.” Dorenkott asked his team to make “toughness their favorite.” A strong final day seems to indicate they did as he asked.
Bill on Toughness “I want the team to be tough on this third day because this is when we are going to need to be strong…at this year’s Big Ten championships and down the road when we’re fighting at the NCAA championships.”
“B” Ohio State swimmers hit five individual NCAA “B” qualifying standards and three relay standards during the three-day invitational. Those qualifiers were:
- Katelyn Brix – 200 IM (2:01.77) and 400 IM (4:19.4);
- Samantha Cheverton – 500 Free (4:46.38) and 200 Free (1:47.73);
- Haley Mitchell – 500 Free (4:51.88);
- Anita Beck, Cheverton, Haley Mitchell, Megan Detro – 800 Free Relay (7:17.41);
- Kelsey Moran, Catherine Eitel, Shannon Draves, Detro – 200 Medley Relay (1:41.61); and
- Detro, Beck, Cheverton, Mitchell – 400 Free Relay (3:20.63).
This Week It’s final exams week on the Ohio State campus this week. Once all exams have been taken, a handful of swimmers age 18-and-under will have an opportunity to compete at the 2009 USA Swimming Short Course Junior National Championships and Long Course Invitational. The event runs Thursday through Sunday at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Possible competitors: freshmen Kimberly Bowman, Jackie Brousseau, Shannon Draves, Evann Heidersbach and Angela Severn, and sophomore Catherine Eitel.
Another Championship-Format Meet The Buckeyes will next compete as a team Dec . 17-20 at the Chesapeake Energy Elite Pro-Am in Oklahoma City, Okla. Then it’s…
Home for the Holidays Swimmers will head home Dec. 23 to be with family for the holidays. They will return to campus Dec. 29.
Women’s Swimming
Ohio State Invitational Final Results
Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009
Columbus, Ohio
Final Team Scores: 1. Minnesota 1,125; 2. Ohio State 784; 3. West Virginia 529.5; 4. Penn State 458; 5. Miami (Fla.) 302; 6. Pittsburgh 234.5.
Event Winners & Ohio State Top Finishers: 1650 freestyle – 1. Ashley Steenvoorden, Minn. (16.16.21); 7. Natalie Nichols (17:02.60); 200 backstroke – 1. Amy Modglin, PSU (1:57.12);2. Samantha Cheverton, OSU (1:59.60); 100 freestyle – 1. Kayla Andrews, WVU (49.27); 2. Megan Detro, OSU (50.32); 200 breaststroke – 1. Jillian Tyler, Minn. (2:10.54); 3. Katelyn Brix (2:17.27); 200 butterfly – 1. Molly Belk, Minn. (1:59.62); 5. Shannon Draves (2:01.25); 10-meter platform – 1. Amy Korthauer, IU (294.25); 400 free relay – 1. Minn., (3:20.63); 2. Detro, Beck, Cheverton, Mitchell (3:21.85).
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