Di Sibio’s Win Highlights Day Two at Ohio State

Friday, November 16

Columbus, Ohio

10:00 a.m.

West Virginia University

Ohio State Invitational (Swimming)

November 16, 2018 09:41 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Results

By: Joe Mitchin

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Redshirt senior Tristen Di Sibio's performance in the men's 100 breaststroke highlighted the second night of competition for the West Virginia University men's and women's swimming and diving teams at the Ohio State Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday.

Di Sibio won the 100 breast in a time of 53.52, the Mountaineers' first victory at the three-day, midseason invitational at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. The Lantana, Texas, native was one of four WVU swimmers to compete in an A final on the night.

Senior Jake Armstrong finished eighth overall in the men's 100 breast in a time of 55.08, while sophomore Angelo Russo placed eighth in the men's 100 backstroke in 49.17. Additionally, senior Emma Harris earned a 10th-place finish in the women's 100 breast, touching the wall in 1:02.66.

"We had a very solid day," WVU coach Vic Riggs said. "Our 200 medley relays once again got us off to a fast start with a second-place finish for the men and seventh for the women. Julia (Nilton) and Sam (Neaveill) led our pack of butterfliers with Alex (Pampalone), David (Dixon) and Philip Kay making great adjustments in the 400 individual medley. Our ladies had a very strong 200 freestyle with Morgan (Bullock) and Giselle (Gursoy) leading the way, while Max (Gustafson) led the men.

"Emma (Harris) had a very solid 100 breaststroke after swimming her best time in prelims, and the highlight of the night was Tristen winning the men's 100 breast. Our backstrokers were strong with Ally (VanNetta), Chris (O'Shea), Merwane (El Merini) and Angelo (Russo) all having good swims. We swam very well, won some of our heats and made really good adjustments tonight."

Friday's finals session began with the 200 medley relays, where the men's team, comprised of Russo, Di Sibio, sophomore David Dixon and senior Merwane El Merini, placed second in 1:26.76. Sophomore Ally VanNetta, Harris, junior Morgan Bullock and junior Julia Nilton teamed up for the women to earn a seventh-place finish in 1:40.83.

A pair of Mountaineers competed in the C final of the women's 100 butterfly, as Nilton placed 26th overall in 56.18, while VanNetta finished 28th overall in 56.33.

In the men's event, junior Sam Neaveill earned a trip to the B final, finishing 20th overall in 49.34. Junior Trayton Saladin (49.44) and junior Jack Frazier (49.75) swam in the C final, finishing 23rd overall and 28th, respectively. Sophomore Denys Kostromin (50.36) placed 39th overall after his D final swim.

In the women's 400 individual medley, junior Alex Pampalone finished fourth in the C final in 4:23.75, good for 34th overall. Dixon swam in the B final on the men's side, winning the heat in 3:51.20.

Sophomore Philip Kay won the C final in 3:57.25, ahead of freshman Josh Harlan, who finished 24th overall in 4:02.04. Senior Jake Preaskorn recorded a 37th-place finish in 4:16.08 in the D final.

Next came the women's 200 freestyle, where Bullock registered a 14th-place overall finish in 1:48.58. Sophomore Giselle Gursoy also competed in the B final, finishing 20th overall in 1:49.55. In the C final, freshman Lauryn Kallay touched the wall in 1:51.70, good for 30th place overall.

Three Mountaineer men earned second swims in the 200 freestyle, as sophomore Max Gustafson (16th place) tallied a 1:40.21 in the B final, senior Drew Damich (29th) went 1:41.78 in the C final and junior Brandon Christian (36th) earned a time of 1:42.11 in the D final.

Senior Marah Bieger and freshman Lauren Beckish joined Harris in earning second swims in the women's 100 breaststroke. Bieger placed 36th overall after finishing in 1:08.20 in the D final, while Beckish (1:09.00) finished two spots behind in 38th overall.

On the men's side, Di Sibio and Armstrong represented WVU in the A final, while freshman Fausto Huerta swam in the B final. Huerta touched the wall in 55.64 for fifth place in the heat and 15th overall. Sophomore Ben Brooks went 57.13 in the C final for 28th place overall, while juniors Jack Portmann (57.67) and Matthew Marsh (58.44) swam in the D final. The pair finished 32nd and 35th, respectively.

The final individual event of the night was the 100 backstroke, where VanNetta placed ninth in the women's B final in 55.79 for 19th overall, while freshman Megan Zartman earned a 36th-place finish after her 58.22 swim in the D final.

For the men, Russo represented the Mountaineers in the A final, after El Merini finished fourth in the B final (14th overall) in 48.71. Junior Austin Hartke swam in the C final, registering a 26th-place overall finish in 50.01, while sophomore Christopher O'Shea (31st place – 49.94) and freshman Josh Madzy (38th – 51.84) competed in the D final.

Friday's action concluded with the 800 freestyle relays. The men's team of Gustafson, Damich, Christian and freshman Tom Hubbard went 6:50.33 for 15th place, while the women – Bullock, Gursoy, Kallay and Pampalone – finished 17th in 7:27.82.

Following the second night of competition, the WVU men sit in sixth place with a team score of 662. The women are eighth with 392 points. The Mountaineer men are joined by No. 11 Ohio State, No. 21 Notre Dame, No. 23 Kentucky, Kenyon, Penn State, Pitt and Yale at the meet, while the women's team is competing against No. 3 Stanford, No. 14 Notre Dame, No. 17 Kentucky, No. 23 Ohio State, Indiana State, Kenyon, Ohio, Penn State, Pitt and Yale.

Competition in Columbus concludes on Saturday, beginning with preliminaries at 10 a.m. ET. Friday's finals session is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

Live results from the Ohio State Invitational are available at OhioStateBuckeyes.com/livestats. Additionally, a live video stream is being provided by the Big Ten Network, at btn2go.com. Streams will feature men's and women's preliminary sessions, as well as Saturday's finals session.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUSwimDive on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.