Indianapolis, Ind – The Youngstown State men's and women's swimming and diving programs returned from the holidays as they battled fellow Horizon League member IU Indianapolis in a dual this weekend at the IU Natatorium.
Friday Highlights:
The women's 200-medley relay team of Izzy Rossi, Oliwia Kaniak, Natalia Andres, and Madelyn Mahoney began the meet with a third-place finish as they swam a time of 1:46.16. The men's 200-medley relay squad of Elliot Elmore, James Slessor, Gavin Redden, and Darren Laing followed that up with a runner-up finish as they swam a collective time of 1:31.01.
Both the men and the women had very impressive showings in the 1650 free. Miriam Frass, Hailey Clark, and Olivia Sweetman all garnered points for the team as they finished two-three-four in the event. Frass finished runner-up with a time of 17:02.29, Clark finished third with a time of 17:11.65, and Sweetman finished fourth as she clocked a time of 17:12.84. On the men's side, Poyraz San Askin captured the first event victory for the Penguins during the meet as he swam a time of 15:41.03. Gavin Webb finished right behind him in second place with a time of 15:42.88.
Miriam Frass, Madelyn Mahoney, and Morgan Glass all finished in the top five in the 200 free with Frass' time of 1:53.98 being good enough for a second-place finish, and Mahoney (1:56.81) and Glass (1:57.61) finishing in fourth and fifth, respectively. Jacob Gramer, Ethan Woycehoski, and Rares Druga finished three-four-five in the men's 200 free, with Gramer swimming a time of 1:40.60, Woycehoski finishing with a time of 1:44.35, and Druga clocking a time of 1:44.75.
In the 100 backstroke event, the women were led by Izzy Rossi, who finished in third with a time of 59.97. Jordan Truelsch (1:00.18), and Anna Kozinska (1:00.44), finished behind her in fourth and fifth, respectfully. During the men's portion, YSU was led by Elliot Elmore who finished in fourth place with a time of 51.93.
The Penguin men and women combined for two top-three finishes in both the 100 breaststroke and 200 butterfly. First in the 100 breaststroke, Oliwia Kaniak led the women with a second-place finish, clocking a time of 1:03.74, and James Slessor led the men with an event victory, finishing with a time of 55.54. In the 200 butterfly, Olivia Sweetman led the women with a runner-up finish, clocking a time of 2:11.63, and Lorenz Beck led the men with a third-place finish as he swam a time of 1:50.29.
Madelyn Mahoney continued her great day in the pool in the 50 free as she finished in third place with a time of 24.75. Gavin Redden was the top finisher for the men in the 50 free, as he placed fifth with a time of 21.13.
During Friday's diving events, Zachary Lao and Cody Thill each garnered top-five finishes in the men's one-meter dive, as Lao finished fourth with a score of 251.48, and Thill finished in fifth place with a score of 239.63. The women competed in the three-meter dive, as Dasha Toth finished second with a score of 237.75, and Emma Schum finished in third place with a score of 237.38.
Oliwia Kaniak and Madelyn Mahoney both performed well in the 100 free, as Kaniak finished in second place with a time of 52.09, and Mahoney finished right behind her in third place with a time of 53.94. Gavin Redden finished third for the men in the event, clocking a time of 46.12.
The Penguin women were well-represented in the top five in the 200 backstroke, as Jordan Truelsch finished in second with a time of 2:10.07, Kate Wolf finished third with a time of 2:10.23, and Amelia Matzke followed her two teammates with a fourth-place finish, clocking a time of 2:10.50. Soma Albert finished in third place for the men in the event, finishing with a time of 1:50.35.
Like the 200 backstroke, the women had three swimmers finish in the top five. Miriam Frass finished second, clocking a time of 5:00.41, Olivia Sweetman finished in third with a time of 5:02.26, and Morgan Glass finished fourth with a time of 5:02.26. Gavin Webb and Poyraz San Askin represented the men in the top five of the vent, as Webb finished third with a time of 4:37.02, and San Askin finished two spots behind him in fifth place with a time of 4:40.96.
The 400-freestyle relay finished off Friday's events, as the women's squad of Miriam Frass, Olvia Sweetman, Chiara Vetter, and Morgan Glass finished runners-up as they combined for a time of 3:36.54, and the men's team of Jacob Gramer, Isaac Johnson, Darren Laing, and Lorenz Beck finished in third place as they swam a collective time of 3:05.56.
The men lost Friday's meet 208-73, and the women were topped as well, losing by a score of 186-95.
Saturday Highlights:
The Penguins began the final day of action with good showings in the 400-medley relay events. The women kicked things off with a runner-up finish, as the team of Izzy Rossi, Oliwia Kaniak, Natalia Andres, and Madelyn Mahoney swam a collective time of 3:55.00. The men also collected a second-place finish, as Elliot Elmore, James Slessor, Lorenz Beck, and Gavin Redden combined for a time of 3:20.78.
In the 400 IM, Miriam Frass finished second with a time of 4:29.13, and she was followed by fellow Penguin Macy Wang, who finished in third place with a time of 4:34.68. The men were led by Gavin Webb, who finished second with a time of 4:00.15. Dominic Bono finished fourth in the event with a time of 4:03.39.
Oliwia Kaniak captured the first event victory of the day for the Penguins in the 200 free, finishing with a time of 1:54.20. Madelyn Mahoney finished in third place as she swam a time of 1:56.36.
Izzy Rossi and Jacob Gramer each finished in third place for the Penguins in the 500 backstroke, as Rossi swam a time of 28.18, and Gramer swam a time of 23.66.
Youngstown State swept victories for both the men and women in the 50 breaststroke, as Oliwia Kaniak won her second event of the day with a time of 29.39. James Slessor picked up the first victory of the day for the men as he swam a time of 25.70. Dominic Panozzo also finished in the top three, as his time of 26.58 was good enough for a second-place finish.
Miriam Frass represented the Penguin women with a second-place finish in the 50 free as she finished with a time of 24.45. Rares Druga finished in third place for the men as he clocked a time of 21.28, two-hundredths of a second quicker than fellow Penguin Reid Withey, who finished in fourth place with a time of 21.30.
James Slessor collected his second event victory of the day in the 100 breaststroke as he swam a time of 55.40, just over one second quicker than Dominic Panozzo, who finished in third place with a time of 56.83. Miriam Frass finished in third place in the women's portion of the event with a time of 1:05.41.
Arguably the strongest event all weekend for the women was the 500 free, as Olivia Sweetman won the event with a time of 5:01.86, Hailey Clark finished in second place with a time of 5:06.87, and Morgan Glass rounded out the top three with a time of 5:11.19. Gavin Webb finished in third place in the men's 500 free, swimming a time of 4:37.29.
Oliwia Kaniak clinched her final event victory of another very strong meet for her as she won the 50 butterfly with a time of 25.67. Abby Perry finished in third as she swam a time of 26.91.
The Penguin men rounded out the meet with a runner-up finish in the 200-freestyle relay, as the group of Rares Druga, Darren Laing, Gavin Redden, and Jacob Gramer swam a collective time of 1:23.47.
