MAC Announces Swimmer/Diver of the Week
MAC Women's Swimmer/Diver of the Week
Olivia Dillon, Ohio
R-Junior, Newcastle, Aus (Lambton High School)
Redshirt junior Olivia Dillon won the 1-meter dive event at the 2019 Buffalo Diving Invitational on Friday afternoon (Jan. 11). Dillon's performances today qualified her for the 2019 NCAA Diving Zones in March. In the finals, Dillon (Newcastle, Aus.) entered the finals as the top qualifier after finishing the preliminaries with a final score of 265.85, helping her finish 7.20 points above the second-place finisher. It was Dillon's score in the preliminaries that helped qualifier her for NCAA Diving Zones. Then, as the lone Bobcat in the finals, Dillon dominated the competition, scoring 264.50, finishing 13.35 points ahead of the next diver, helping her cement the first-place victory.
MAC Men's Swimmer/Diver of the Week
Eli James, Evansville
Sophomore, Boonville, Ind.
Sophomore Eli James put up a solid performance for the Aces in Wednesday night's competition with Eastern Illinois. He took the win in the 100 breaststroke, his time of 59.11 two seconds ahead of 2nd place. He also won the 200 breaststroke by nearly 5 seconds with a 2:13.69.
Other Nominees
Olivia Gardner, Akron
Freshman, Bromsgrove, England (Ellesmere College UK)
In a rare, non-traditional formatted “mystery dual” where the individual events were drawn out of a hat just before they were swam, freshman Olivia Gardner turned in three individual victories to help Akron to a 247-154 win over Duquesne. In the 200 individual medley, Gardner touched they wall at 2:07.69, nearly 10 seconds ahead of the second place swimmer. Additionally, she collected wins in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.16) and 400 individual medley (4:28.44).
Olivia Sapio, Buffalo
Sophomore, Orchard Park, NY / Orchard Park
Olivia Sapio had arguably her best showing for the Bulls this season, claiming two individual victories in the 100-yard IM and 400-yard IM events, as well as a relay victory in the 400-yard medley relay for Buffalo in the Bulls’ 277-79 rout over Duquesne in last Saturdays dual meet victory at the Towers Pool in Pittsburgh, PA. Her 400-IM winning time of 4:22.32 ranks as the eighth best time in program history as she swam to victory for the Bulls nearly five seconds in front of the second placed swimmer in the event.
Elli Machado, Eastern Michigan
Sophomore, Reading, Pa.-Exeter Township
Eastern Michigan sophomore breaststroke specialist Elli Machado earned two event titles in the Eagles’ clobbering of Wayne State, Saturday, Jan. 12. The Reading, Pa. native swept both of her stroke’s events, earning the top finish in the 100 Breast with a time of 1:05.63 while tapping the wall at 2:23.78 in the 200 Breast. As EMU swept every event title, Machado was the only student athlete donning the Green and White to earn more than one event title.
