By John Ostapowicz / The Jambar
Over a four-day span, the Youngstown State University swim and dive teams traveled to Indianapolis for the 2025 Swim and Dive Horizon League Championships.
Competition began Feb. 19-22 at Indiana University Natatorium, as seven conference teams competed in the event. With the conclusion of the championships, junior Miriam Frass became the first YSU women’s swimmer to earn the Horizon League Championships’ Women’s Swimmer of the Meet award.
The Penguins swam their way to a historic start on Day One with the women’s program’s first Horizon League title in the 800-meter freestyle relay.
The team of Frass, seniors Hailey Clark and Oliwia Kaniak and freshman Olivia Sweetman, recorded a record time of 7:20.87.
With the event win, Youngstown State broke Oakland University’s streak of 10 straight titles in the 800 free relay at the Horizon League Championships.
In the men’s 200-meter medley relay, fifth-year senior Darren Laing, junior James Slessor and freshmen Elliot Elmore and Jacob Gramer collectively finished in second place. The team set a new school record with a time of 1:27.88 in the event.
Heading into Day Two, five school records were broken on both the men’s and women’s side of competition. Kaniak set a program record in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2:02.46, finishing runner-up.
The men’s side was led by Gramer, who set a new program best in the 50 free with a time of 20.01 seconds. In the men’s 200 IM, senior Dominic Bono finished in 11th place with 1:49.35.
Youngstown State shined in the men’s and women’s 200 free relay as both programs set new record times.
Frass, Kaniak, junior Madelyn Mahoney and sophomore Izzy Rossi set a new time of 1:34.98 on the women’s side. Gramer, Laing, fifth-year senior Gavin Redden and freshman Lorenz Beck recorded a time of 1:20.15.
For the Penguins, Frass highlighted Day Three with her second-consecutive Horizon League title in the 400 IM. She also set a school record with a time of 4:18.91.
Kaniak led Youngstown State in the 100-meter breaststroke, with a runner-up finish of 1:02.61.
The YSU men’s team came up short of the title victory in the men’s 100-meter butterfly. Gramer was three-hundredths of a second slower than Oakland junior Sofus Balladone’s time of 47.10.
In the men’s 400 IM, Bono earned a second-place finish and set a new program best with a time 3:51.25.
The final day of competition was led by Frass who took home an individual award and the Horizon League title in the women’s 1650 freestyle. She also became the first member of the women’s program to win the event with an NCAA “B” cut time of 16:40.80.
Behind Frass, Sweetman rounded out the podium for YSU in second place.
For the men, Webb secured a third-place finish in the men’s 1650 freestyle with a time of 15:31.51, while Gramer placed third in the 100 free with a time of 44.08 seconds.
At the end of Day Four, Oakland won both the men’s and women’s out-right titles in the Horizon League Championships. Both programs won a combined five specialty awards, as Golden Grizzlies Head Coach Mitch Alters was named Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year.
Youngstown State will hit the pool for the final time March 13-15 at the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America Invitational Championship in Ocala, Florida.