OXFORD, Ohio - Gavin Webb won the 1650 free and three school records were broken to highlight the Youngstown State men's and women's swimming and diving programs outings at the three-day Miami (Ohio) Invitational that concluded on Saturday at the Nixon Aquatic Center.
Webb clocked a 15:18.15 in his victory in the 1650 free, finishing nearly 30 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Webb added a second and third-place finish to his impressive performance at the meet. He placed second in the 400 IM with a time of 3:57.12 and third in the 500 free, clocking a 4:28.95.
The men's 200 free relay squad of Rares Druga, Aleksa Radenovic, Darren Laing, and Gavin Redden opened the finals session on the first day of competition with a school record performance. The impressive group clocked a 1:21.83 to finish third overall in the race.
The Penguins closed out the meet with another men's relay record when the same record-setters (Druga, Radenovic, Redden and Laing) clocked a 239.30 to best the 400 free relay mark. The squad finished fourth in the event.
Also breaking a school record was freshman diver Hanna Held. Held scored a 239.20 in the platform dive to set the program record and finish second in the event at the invite. Held also led the Penguins in the three-meter dive with a fifth-place finish and score of 244.00.
Radenovic delivered top-six finishes in three different individual events. His top finish of the invite was a runner-up nod in the 200 fly, clocking a 1:47.44. Additionally, he placed fourth in the 100 back with a time of 49.10 and sixth in the 200 IM with a time of 1:49.96.
Miriam Frass led the women's swimmers with a fourth-place finish in the 1650 free, clocking a 17:11.94, and a fifth-place finish in the 400 IM with a time of 4:29.42. She added another top-10 finish in the 500 free, clocking a 4:57.18. Frass also rounded out the top-16 spots in the 100 free with a time of 52.21.
Crispy Barton delivered two top-five finishes. After advancing to the A final in the 400 IM, Barton clocked a 3:59.10 to finish third. He also placed fifth in the 1650 free with a time of 16:08.26.
James Slessor advanced to the A final in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. He placed fourth in the 100 breast with a time of 55.04 and sixth in the 200 breast with a time of 2:02.54. He also advanced to the B final and placed 11th overall in the 200 IM with a time of 1:53.35.
In both the 100 and 200 backstroke, Soma Albert qualified for the A final. He clocked a 1:48.61 to finish fourth in the 200 back and a 50.42 to place eighth in the 100 back.
Redden and Laing both advanced to the A final of the 100 free where they finished neck-and-neck with Redden narrowly edging Laing by .01 seconds. Redden clocked a 45.13 for sixth place while Laing swam a time of 45.14 for seventh. Druga, Laing, and Redden swam in the B final of the 50 free where Druga rounded out the top-10 overall with a time of 20.75 while Laing was 12th (20.83) and Redden was 15th (21.16). In the 200 free, the trio of sprinters also advanced to the B final. Leading the way was Laing with an 11th-place overall finish with a time of 1:41.24. Redden and Druga were .01 seconds apart, placing 15th and 16th with times of 1:42.16 and 1:42.17, respectively.
Dominic Bono earned three top-10 finishes including two B-final victories. He clocked a 4:03.61 in the 400 IM and a 1:49.53 in the 200 back to finish ninth in each event overall. His tenth-place finish was in the 1650 free, where he clocked a 16:31.26.
The women had two swimmers advance to the B final in both the 400 IM and 100 breast. Macy Wang led the Penguins in the 400 IM, finishing 14th overall with a time of 4:36.01. Sydney VanderVelde rounded out the top 16 with a time of 4:44.67. In the 100 breast, Chiara Vetter and Oliwia Kaniak finished 15th and 16th, respectively. Vetter clocked a 1:05.24 while Kaniak was close behind with a time of 1:05.61. Kaniak also advanced to the B final in the 200 breast where she placed 12th with a time of 2:22.91.
Ellen Linscheid advanced to the final in the one-meter dive while Emma Schum qualified in the three-meter. Linscheid delivered a score of 226.40 to round out the top eight while Schum scored a 239.00 in her sixth-place finish. Natalie Weissman placed fifth in the platform dive with a score of 177.25 while Dasha Toth was eighth with a score of 166.45.
Cody Thill just missed advancing to the final in the one-meter dive, finishing ninth overall with a score of 259.25. He also finished 12th in the three-meter with a score of 244.95. Simon Iwanonkiw finished seventh in the platform dive with a score of 183.65 and placed 11th in the three-meter dive with a score of 249.00.
In team scores, the men's squad finished fourth at the invite with 627 points. The women's team placed fifth overall with 316 points. Miami (Ohio) won the invite for the men while Grand Canyon earned the victory for the women.
Up next for Youngstown State, select distance swimmers will compete at the CSCAA Open Water National Championships at Florida International University in Biscayne Bay on Sunday, Dec. 17. The men's 5k race will begin at 8 a.m., and the women's 5k race will follow at 10 a.m.
