No. 24 Swim and Dive Wraps up Day One at Ohio State Invite
November 21, 2024 | Swimming & Diving
COLUMBUS, Ohio โ The No. 24 UCLA swimming and diving team currently sits in fourth place after the first day of competition at the Ohio State Invitational. Fifteen Bruins earned spots in the finals session on Thursday afternoon.ย ย
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The Bruins currently sit in fourth place after the opening day, 253 points behind Louisville in third place, while ahead of Notre Dame who currently has 301 points. ย
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In the first event of Thursday's final session, the Bruins' A team in the 200-yard freestyle relay finished in fifth place in the 'A' final with a time of 1:29.17. The team consisted of Emma Harvey, Ana Jih-Schiff, Gizem Guvenc, and Sarah Bennetts. The B team consisting of Claudia Yovanovich, Josie Arbuckle, Alexis Schaffer, and Joanie Cash finished in twelfth with a time of 1:31.78.ย
In the 200 IM, senior Paige Maceachern finished in fifth place in the 'A' final with a time of 1:58.25, her second NCAA B cut of the day. Senior Ana Jih-Schiff also achieved an NCAA B cut, finishing in eighth place with a time of 1:58.42. In the 'B' final, Rosie Murphy finished in 13th place with a time of 1:58.14. Eva Carlson finished in 24th place in the event with a time of 2:01.24, while Emma Matous took 29th in 2:02.94. Ashley Kolessar finished in 37th place in the 200 IM with a time of 2:03.07.ย
UCLA also found success in the finals of the 50 freestyle. Emma Harvey finished the 'A' final in 8th place with a time of 22.49, coming in under the NCAA B-cut time. Jih-Schiff took 19th place in the 'B' final with a time of 23.01. In the 'C' final, Sarah Bennetts took 24th place with a time of 22.97, Josie Arbuckle took 25th with a time of 23.03, and Claudia Yovanovich followed in 26th place with a time of 23.08. Amy Zhang took 37th place in the event with a time of 23.42.ย
In the 400 medley relay final, the Bruins' A team of Fay Lustria, Carlson, Harvey, and Guvenc finished in fourth place with a time of 3:34.06.ย
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In the morning preliminary session, 15 Bruins earned spots in the finals of their particular events. In the first event of the day, the 500 free, Ashley Kolessar and Gizem Guvenc earned spots in the 'B' final after finishing in 15th in 4:48.64 and 17th place in 4:49.94, while Beril Bocekler placed 21st in 4:53.18 to earn a spot in the 'C' final. ย
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The Bruins earned their first 'A' finalists in the second session of the morning when Jih-Schiff and MacEachern finished in third and fifth, respectively. Jih-Schiff touched the wall in 1:57.69, while MacEachern finished in 1:58.19, both under the NCAA 'B' cut qualifying time.ย Junior Rosie Murphy earned a spot in the 'B' final with another NCAA 'B' cut time of 1:59.01. Eva Carlson also qualified for a final by placing 21st in 2:00.88, as did Emma Matous who finished 25th with a time of 2:01.60. ย
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As for the 50 free prelims, Harvey earned UCLA's third 'A' final of the morning when she finished sixth in UCLA's fourth NCAA 'B' cut time of the session, finishing in 22.34. Jih-Schiff continued her strong morning session with a 20th place finish and a 'B' final appearance, while Guvenc took 22nd in 22.86 to earn a spot in the 'C' final. Sarah Bennetts and Claudia Yovanovich also earned spots in the 'C' final after placing 28th and 30th in prelims. Josie Arbuckle and Amy Zhang rounded out the Bruins to make finals in the 50 free by placing 32nd and 40th to earn spots in the 'D' final.ย
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Up Next: The UCLA Swimming and Diving team returns to action on Friday morning for day two of the Ohio State Invitational.
Players Mentioned
