Louisville Medley Relay Record Sends Cardinals Past Indiana in Split
Louisville set a pool record in the 200 medley relay, then used a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 butterfly to seal an upset of No. 6 Indiana on Friday.
The 10th-ranked Cardinals claimed a 170-130 win in Louisville. The No. 2 ranked Indiana men’s team prevailed, 189.5-110.5.
The quartet of Abby Karl, Caroline Larsen, Gabi Albiero and Julia Dennis went 1:35.30, downing the pool mark set in 2022 by Louisville. Louisville’s B squad (1:35.58) and Indiana’s A team (1:35.62) were also under the record, with three NCAA A cuts.
Louisville went 1-2 in both breaststroke events, Mia Cheatwood (58.96) and Ella Welch leading the 100 and Cheatwood and Kim Herkel in the 200. Cheatwood lowered the 2015 pool record of Andrea Cottrell in the 200 with her time of 2:08.07.
Welch went 51.67 in the 100 fly, edging out Gabi Albiero by four tenths and taking her 2022 pool record. Tristen Ulett followed in third place to all but seal the victory.
Ulett also won the 200 fly. Dennis claimed the 50 free, and Albiero was second in the 100 free. Leticia Fassina Romao claimed the 1,000 free. Herkle was the 400 IM runner-up. Larsen, Albiero, Lucy Mehraban and Dennis wrapped up the meet by winning the 400 free relay, Mehraban splitting 46.16.
Lindsay Gizzi gave the Cardinals a boost by scoring 314.85 to win 1-meter and was third on 3-meter, with teammate Samm Helmboldt second.
Anna Peplowski had an outstanding night even in the loss. She set the pool record by going 1:42.41 in the 200 free, and also won the 100 free in 47.68 and the 500 in 4:39.26.
Indiana won both backstroke events, Kacey McKenna setting the pool record of 52.05 to edge teammate Mya DeWitt in the 100, then DeWitt claiming the 200 over McKenna in 1:53.89. Reese Tiltmann won the 400 individual medley, and Lilly Witte claimed 3-meter diving for the Hoosiers.
Indiana’s dominance on the men’s side emanated from the freestyle ranks. Zalan Sarkany won the 1,000 free in 8:43.28, slicing 15 seconds off the pool record. Rafael Miroslaw went 1:.32 to claimed the 200 free, then claimed the 100 free in 42.12. Second in the latter was Matt King, who won the 50 free in 19.24. Sarkany won the 500 in a pool mark of 4:15.60.
The Hoosiers swept breaststroke, with Brian Benzing claiming the 100 in a 1-2-3. Third was Josh Matheny, who won the 200. Owen McDonald claimed the 100 back, and Finn Brooks augmented his runner-up result in the 100 breast by winning the 100 fly. Benzing, Brooks and King joined Miroslav Knedla in the winning 200 medley relay.
Louisville got a pair of wins from Tommy Bried. He claimed the 200 fly in 1:42.08, downing Nick Albiero’s pool mark, and the IM in 3:42.65. Filip Kosinski edged Knedla for the 200 back crown.
Diving went Indiana’s way, Quinn Henninger dashing the facility record by more than 40 points in winning 3-meter at 443.18. Carson Tyler and Max Weinrich followed. Henninger won 1-meter with 420.25 points.