Michigan
Ohio State
Wolverines Hold Down Buckeyes to Win Tri-Meet in Columbus
1/20/2018 7:35:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
» The senior trio of Evan White, PJ Ransford and Tristan Sanders combined to win six events on Saturday. White won three (100-yard butterfly, 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard IM), Ransford won two (500-yard freestyle, 1,000-yard freestyle) and Sanders won one (200-yard backstroke).
» The Wolverines trailed Ohio State after the 100-yard freestyle, but rattled off six consecutive event wins -- including a 1-2-4-5 finish in the 200-yard breaststroke and a 1-2-3 finish in the 200-yard IM -- to take a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Site: Columbus, Ohio (McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion)
Scores: No. 7 Michigan 157, No. 16 Ohio State 143; No. 7 Michigan 196, No. 19 Virginia Tech 104
Records: U-M (7-1, 4-1 B1G), OSU (5-1), VT (7-3)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Feb. 2 -- vs. Michigan State (Canham Natatorium), 5:30 p.m.
• Complete Results
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Behind a combined six wins from seniors Evan White, PJ Ransford and Tristan Sanders, the No. 7-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team swept No. 16 Ohio State (157-143) and No. 19 Virginia Tech (196-104) in a championship-like environment on Saturday (Jan. 20) inside the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
"I was really proud of the way our team battled today," said head coach Mike Bottom. "Give Ohio State credit. We expected them to be ready to swim and they were. They got on us early, but we responded, and I think our seniors were behind that effort. Tristan swam a little differently than he did last week. He went out a little easier and came home a little stronger, and he had a great relay split. Evan, obviously, was fantastic today. He's a quiet leader, but stood tall every time today. And PJ cranked out two real good distance swims. They showed a lot of toughness and that rubbed off on the entire team throughout the meet."
The Wolverines received a strong challenge from the home team, as the teams were tied at 75 points at the halfway point of the meet. The Buckeyes pulled ahead after the 100-yard freestyle, but the Wolverines rattled off six consecutive event wins, beginning with Sanders in the 200-yard backstroke. After finishing fifth in the 100-yard backstroke earlier in the meet, the senior bounced back in a big way, touching first (1:46.31). That event turned the tide, as Michigan had four swimmers in the top seven, compared to just one for Ohio State.
White was the best swimmer in the pool on Saturday, winning three events. Two of his wins were of the come-from-behind variety, using big back-halves to claim the 100-yard butterfly (47.07) and 200-yard butterfly (1:45.11). And with the Wolverines clinging to a 14-point lead with two events to go, White led a 1-2-3 finish in the 200-yard IM (1:48.10), touching ahead of sophomores Tommy Cope and Charlie Swanson to expand the lead.
The sophomore duo, along with classmates Jacob Montague and Jeremy Babinet, dominated the breaststrokes; the class went 1-2-3 in the 100-yard breaststroke (Montague, Babinet, Swanson) and 1-2-4-5 in the 200-yard breaststroke (Cope, Montague, Swanson, Babinet).
Ransford cruised to win both distance events. He went out fast and kept up the pace in the 1,000-yard freestyle to finish in 8:59.00, a fantastic mid-season time. Freshman Ricardo Vargas picked it up in the second half and chased down Ohio State's Brayden Seal to take second (9:03.44) to complete the 1-2 finish. Ransford won the 500-yard freestyle later in the meet (4:21.64), as he held off Seal for the win.
Other team-high finishes came from sophomore Felix Auböck in the 200-yard freestyle (second, 1:36.71), graduate student James Peek in the 50-yard freestyle (second, 20.05) and sophomore James Jones in the 100-yard freestyle (44.36).
In the diving well, freshman Ross Todd returned to action after missing last week's meet vs. Indiana, finishing third on platform (365.03). Freshman Chris Canning was the team's best diver on one-meter, finishing ninth (290.03).
The Wolverines will return to action on Friday, Feb. 2, hosting Michigan State on Senior Night at Canham Natatorium. The meet will begin at 5:30 p.m. Following the dual, several of the program's past Olympians will be honored during the second intermission of the ice hockey game vs. Wisconsin, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Yost Ice Arena.
Players Mentioned
