Dec. 6, 2008
OSU Invitational Saturday Men's Results
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 13 women's swimming team held their ground in the second day of the Ohio State Invitational. After today's competition it is still in second place with 527 points behind No. 9 Minnesota. The No. 16 men's team also remains in third place with 432 points behind host and No. 13 Ohio State and No. 9 Minnesota.
"The competition level is very good," said head coach John Hargis. "Minnesota's women and Ohio State's men are shaved and rested. Everyone is swimming very well."
Once again the women got off to a strong start in the preliminaries as Karie Haglund earned her third NCAA `B' qualifying time, this time in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.38. Michelle Myers earned a qualifying time of her own in the 100 backstroke with a `B' time of 54.98. Myers and Haglund teamed up with Kelly Nelson and Lyndsey Deforrest in the 200 medley relay for a third place finish and yet another `B' qualifying time of 1:41.32. Nelson struck again in the 200 free as she touched the wall third in 1:47.23 for her fourth `B' qualifying time of the year.
Kaitlin O'Brien convincingly won the 400 IM in 4:11.41, three seconds ahead of the second place finisher. The relay teams continued their successful run as Sarah Baker, Nelson, O'Brien and Deforrest earned a second place finish with an NCAA `B' qualifying time of 7:17.11.
On the men's side, Patrick Schirk continued his dominance of the backstroke with a first place finish touching the wall in 48.20 to earn his second NCAA `B' cut of the year. Schirk went on to join forces with Brian Alden, Basil Kaaki, and Jon Cochrane to claim third place in the 800 free relay and am NCAA `B' time of 6:33.08.
Other individuals earning point were Alden with a seventh place finish in the 100 breaststroke. Cochrane and Kaaki were 7th and 8th respectively in the 200 free, and Tim Williams placed 6th in the 100 butterfly while Dito Calderon finished eighth in the 400 IM.
Throughout the competition times in the preliminary events have been consistently better than in the finals.
"Championships are won in the morning," Hargis commented. "In order to score points at night you need to qualify in the prelims, and we are doing well in the morning."
The Nittany Lions will take to the pool tomorrow at 9 a.m. for preliminary competition in the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and 1,650 freestyle. The finals will commence at 3 p.m. and will also include the 400 freestyle relay.