University of Minnesota Athletics
Woodson, Payne Guide Gophers To Lead At Ohio State Invitational
12/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Seniors Mike Woodson and Russ Payne led the efforts by the 10th-ranked Minnesota men's swimming and diving team on the first day of competition at the Ohio State Invitational at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio this evening. Woodson won the 50 freestyle and contributed to two victorious relays while Payne claimed the title in the 200 individual medley. Minnesota has 371 points to lead the 12-team field, followed by Ohio State with 318, Denver with 151 and Notre Dame with 89.
Woodson's spectacular day began in the 200 freestyle relay when he swam a blistering third leg of the relay in 19.54 to buoy Minnesota's first place time of 1:20.04, an NCAA B cut standard. Colin Lee-To, Tyler Schmidt and Michael Richards comprised the rest of the relay team that bested Ohio State's second place time of 1:20.53. The Gophers B team of Jason Timmer, Matt Engel, Curt Carlson and Steve Miller placed third in 1:22.20.
Woodson went back to the blocks three events later where he won the 50 freestyle in a career-best time of 20.15 that also ranks 16th all-time at Minnesota. Ohio State's Matt Voelker took second in 20.43 while Schmidt was third in 20.54. Lee-To took fourth in 20.56 while Engel was sixth in 20.77 and Richards was eighth in 20.86. Miller took the consolation final in a career-best 20.69 while Carlson was 10th in 20.97. Jared White was 15th in 21.10 and Ray Betuzzi was 16th in 21.31.
Woodson ended the night leading Minnesota's 400 medley relay to a victory in an NCAA B cut time of 3:12.81. He posted the best fly leg of the event in 47.56 while David Plummer, Jon Roberts and Schmidt rounded out the rest of Minnesota's solid performance in the event. The Gophers won the event by over two seconds over second place Ohio State (3:15.07). The Gopher B team of White, Lee-To, Payne and Carlson was third in 3:15.24.
Not to be outdone, Payne clocked the third-best time in school history to claim the win in the 200 individual medley. His time of 1:46.88 was two seconds better than his previous career-best and was nearly an automatic NCAA qualifying time. He was pushed by his teammate, Roberts, who touched the wall second in 1:47.50, a time that ranks sixth all-time at Minnesota and was easily and NCAA B cut mark. Plummer placed fourth in 1:50.58 while Wold also finished sixth in 1:50.96. In the consolation final, Josh Griffey placed 10th in 1:51.41 while Timmer was 13th in 1:52.59 and Anthony Portela was 15th in 1:53.14. Mark Solfelt rounded out the consolation final in 16th with a time of 1:54.72.
Betuzzi was touched out in the championship final of the 500 freestyle by Ohio State's George Markovic. Betuzzi's late charge came up just .25 seconds short as Markovic touched in 4:22.17 while Betuzzi was in 4:22.42. However, Betuzzi's time was a season-best and was easily an NCAA B cut. Nico Zebley was fifth in 4:30.64 and Mike Holmes was sixth in 4:31.39.
In the 1-meter diving event, junior Cole Young led the Gophers with an 11th place finish in the tough field that included 11 teams and 16 divers. Young tallied a finals core of 288.20 while Drew Brown took 13th with a score of 284.05. Arizona State's Mark Benedetti was first with 374.80 points.
The Ohio State Invitational continues tomorrow with prelims at 10 a.m and finals at 5 p.m.
