Around the Oval: Men's Swim and Dive Places Second at Big Tens, Fencing Wins Second Straight CCFC Championship and Track and Field Finds Success at Indoor Conference Championships

By Chase Brown on February 27, 2023 at 1:05 pm
Ohio State men’s swimming and diving
Ohio State Dept. of Athletics
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Another week, another successful seven days for Ohio State's Olympic sports.

The Buckeyes' non-revenue programs accomplished much past week, collecting wins, postseason trophies and other accolades from Monday to Monday.

In this edition of Around the Oval, Eleven Warriors’ one-stop shop for coverage of Ohio State's Olympic sports, we offer rundowns for men's swim and dive, fencing, track and field and many other teams. Over the weekend, we also covered women's hockey advancing to the WCHA Final Faceoff, swimmer Ruslan Gaziev setting a program record in Ann Arbor and men's hockey earning the No. 3 seed at the Big Ten Tournament.

Men's Swim and Dive

Ohio State men's swim and dive placed second overall at the Big Ten Championships over the weekend, the program's 14th consecutive top-three finish. The Buckeyes were led by Charlie Clark and Ruslan Gaziev at the championships, with Clark winning a gold medal in the 1650 free and Gaziev winning gold in the 100 free.

“I could not be more proud of our young men in the pool and on the boards,” swim and dive director Bill Dorenkott said after the event. “Our program has gone through a great deal of change over the past twelve months. For us to be in the hunt all the way through the last session of the meet is a testament to our culture.”

Clark's win in the 1650 free was his second straight victory in the event at the Big Ten Championships. The Sandusky, Ohio, native finished his swim in 14:41.75, which was more than nine seconds better than the second-place finisher and good for an NCAA B cut time ahead of the NCAA Championships later in March.

Gaziev's hit the wall at 41.38 to complete his record-setting performance in the 100 free. The historical marks Gaziev set include Ohio State's program record, Michigan's pool record (at the Canham Natatorium) and the Big Ten Championships' meet record. It was also good for an NCAA A cut time.

Ohio State won 11 total medals for the championships, including seven individual and four relay accolades. Clark, Gaziev, Alex Quach, Pete Krusinski and James Ward were the Buckeyes' first-team All-Big Ten honorees, while Lyle Yost and Daniel Baltes were second-team All-Big Ten recipients.

Indiana won the Big Ten title with 1,595.5 points. The Buckeyes placed second with 1,290.5 points and beat third-place Michigan (1,163) by 127.5 points.

Up Next 

The NCAA Championships will occur between March 22-25 in Minneapolis. Before then, some of Ohio State's swimmers will compete at the Last Chance Meet on March 5 and at the CSCAA National Invitational from March 5-11 for a chance to earn a spot at the NCAAs later this month.

Fencing

With undefeated records from both teams, Ohio State men's and women's fencing won their second consecutive CCFC Championships at the university's French Field House in Columbus. The Buckeyes also won squad titles in the men's and women's epee, men's and women's foil and women's sabre. 

The women's team was undefeated (6-0) at the event with wins over Wayne State, Detroit Mercy, Lawrence, Denison, Cleveland State and Northwestern. The Buckeyes claimed the championship with their victory against the Wildcats in the final round, defeating the purple and white 6-3 in sabre, 8-1 in foil and 7-2 in epee for an 11-point team win.

Miranda Freedman paced the Buckeyes with 11 wins in foil as Dasha Myroniuk picked up 10 wins in foil and Katherine Larimer had 10 victories in sabre. Kelly Feng, Julia Semikin and Eva Mazur each had five wins in epee.

The men's team was also undefeated (4-0) during the championships with wins over Detroit Mercy, Wayne State, Lawrence and Cleveland State. Ohio State collected a 23-1 overall record in squad matchups, including individual marks of 28-8 in epee, 22-5 in foil and 21-9 in sabre. 

Ilya Ayupov led the men with eight wins, while Lorenzo Mion and Solin Li each picked up seven victories in foil and Stephen Chou claimed seven wins to lead sabre. In epee, Matthew Bulau had a squad-best six wins and Paul Veltrup had five.

Up Next

Ohio State's next opportunity to compete will come at the NCAA Regionals on March 11 in Evanston, Illinois. Should the Buckeyes advance from that event, they will participate at the NCAA Championships from March 23-26 in Durham, North Carolina.

Track and Field

Ohio State track and field completed a successful weekend at the Big Ten Indoor Championships on Saturday, with the women's team earning second place and the men's team earning fifth at the event.

"The first track and field championship of my tenure as director was nothing short of exciting, watching both teams show up and be disruptive with intent and effort to win." director Rosalind Joseph said after the event. "I feel like they gave everything they had in every event. I’m proud of their team effort – events we weren’t expected to place in, events we typically haven’t been strong in – everyone took their job seriously and competed well."

The Buckeyes had multiple winners at the championships. Amaya Ugarte broke her own record when she cleared 1.89m to win the women's high jump, while Clarence Foote-Talley finished first in the men's triple jump with a season-best mark of 16.32m.

Ohio State also had several record-breakers despite not winning their respective events. Alyssa Marsh broke the women’s indoor program record in the 400m (52.55) and finished third. A relay team of Marsh, Jaydan Wood, Chanler Robinson and Bryannia Murhpy broke the women's program record in the 4x400m relay (3:31.14) and finished second.

Additionally, Shaun Miller Jr. (men's high jump), Alex Kenish (men's 600m), Oscar Smith (men's 60m hurdles) and Andrea Kuhn (women's 3000m) all improved their spots on the program's all-time records list with personal-best performances at the championships.

Up Next

Ohio State’s national qualifiers will compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships from March 10-11 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Following that event, the Buckeyes will begin their outdoor season on USF's campus in Tampa, Florida, for the Bulls Invitational from March 17-18.

Synchronized Swimming

Ohio State synchronized swimming closed its 2023 home slate with a win at the North Regional Championship over the weekend. The Buckeyes earned a team score of 105 points to finish ahead of Michigan (78) and Minnesota (60.5).

Emily Armstrong was the individual point winner in A figures with a score of 81.8797, while Victoria Carlson led B figures with a score of 72.8673. Ohio State took the top seven individual spots at the event in front of the Wolverines and Gophers.

In solos, Nikki Dzurko earned a victory with a score of 82.9750. The Buckeyes also saw Rose Homoelle (78.158) and Hannah Heffernan (69.7583) place second and third in the event.

Ohio State's duets took the first four spots in the duo category, with Armstrong and Ruby Remati pacing the Buckeyes with a score of 82.0167 followed by Paige Hopper and Emma Spot (75.5667) in second, Carlson and Trinity Patton (74.9917) in third and Madi Almond and Caroline Walsh (70.9250) in fourth.

The Buckeyes' trio squads also dominated the rankings, finishing with the top three spots. Dzurko, Hopper and Spott won the category with a score of 81.8833, while Armstrong, Heffernan and Remati scored a 79.7250 for second and Marian Catahan, Charlotte Gray and Olivia Schafer earned a 74.1250 for third.

Finally, Ohio State's scarlet team of Armstrong, Dzurko, Homoelle, Hopper, Olivia Malloy, Reverie Nedde, Remati and Spott took first in the team competition with a final score of 83.200. The Buckeyes' gray team of Carlson, Catahan, Gray, Lilly Ortiz, Patton, Schafer, Walsh and Megan Wong finished second at 78.1167.

Up Next

Ohio State has three weeks to prepare for the 2023 U.S. Collegiate National Championship meet set for March 22-25. The Buckeyes will make the trip to Wheaton College in Westmont, Illinois, for the event as they look to defend their 2022 national title and win the program's 34th national championship overall.

Other News and Notes

  • Ohio State baseball went 1-3 on its weekend trip to Phoenix, Arizona, where the team played two games each against Grand Canyon and Gonzaga. The Buckeyes were winless in their first three contests but closed the four-game stretch with a dominant 8-2 win over the Bulldogs on Sunday. Ohio State is now 3-5 on the year.
  • Ohio State softball had a successful weekend at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in California, winning three of four games. The Buckeyes' three victories came against Cal State Northridge (12-0), Oregon State (6-0) and San Diego State (5-4), and the team's only loss was to Utah, 9-1, in the finale. Ohio State is now 6-6 on the year.
  • Ohio State men's volleyball split its week of games as it earned a 3-0 sweep of Quincy on Friday but fell to Lindenwood, 3-2, on Saturday. The No. 11 Buckeyes are now 11-5 on the year with a 4-2 mark in MIVA play.
  • Ohio State men's lacrosse fell to No. 1 Virginia, 17-6, on Saturday at the Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples, Florida. The Buckeyes are now 3-1 on the year.
  • Ohio State women’s lacrosse team fell to No. 8 Denver, 11-4, on Saturday at the Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium. The Buckeyes are 3-2 on the year.

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