Courtesy of MAC Sport Information Departments
Ball State // Notre Dame-Michigan State
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Ball State University swimming and diving team finished its regular season at a four-team event Saturday at Notre Dame and now shifts it focus to the Mid-American Conference Championships.
The women's team fell to Notre Dame (212-81), Michigan State (215-83) and Indiana State (146-144) on the day while the men dropped contests to Notre Dame (219-78) and Michigan State (228-70).
"I love that our team showed a lot of grit today," said head coach J. Agnew. "They're not afraid to race anybody and this will be beneficial for us going into the MAC Championships."
The day started with the 200 Medley Relay in which the women claimed fifth (1:44.73) and the men eighth (1:34.64). The Cardinals had a strong showing in the final event of the day, the 200 Free Relay, when Peighton Gilbert, Alex Bader, Apsara Sakbun and Anne Vormohr finished second (1:36.59). On the men's side, Owen Chaye, Duncan McLarty, Jack Wolfred and Ben Andrew also claimed second place (1:25.00).
Top finishers for BSU in the pool included Jared Holder who finished second in the 100 Back (51.50) and Alex Bader with a third-place finish in the 100 Breast (1:04.94).
On the diving boards, Caitlin Locante finished fifth on 3M (258.85) and fourth on 1M (268.00). Wyatt Blake was the top finisher on the men's side placing fifth on 1M (254.20) and sixth on 3M (229.25).
The Cardinals will now prepare for the MAC Championships to complete the season and attempt to qualify for NCAA's. The women's championships will be hosted by Buffalo February 26-29 while the men will travel to Southern Illinois March 4-7.
Buffalo // Akron-Duquesne
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo women's swimming and diving team (5-2, 4-1 MAC) hosted the Akron Zips and the Duquesne Dukes on Saturday afternoon. The Bulls defeated the MAC favorite Akron Zips by a score of 146.5-133 and swam by the Duquesne Dukes, 223-57.
Before the meet began, the team honored its' five seniors; Grace Baumer, Katelyn Burns, Andrea Ernst, Olivia Gosselin and Anna Vitolins who have combined for 21 top-10 times in UB's all-time results.
In the first event of the day, the team of Nicole Roitenberg, Katie Pollock, Jillian Lawton and Ellie Duley placed third in the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:43.30. This marks the Bulls' second-best time on the season.
Brittney Beetcher claimed first place in two individual heats. The first was in the 400 freestyle where she finished in 3:57.06 and later she completed the 800 freestyle in 8:05.48.
The Bulls took the podium in the 50 freestyle as Katelyn Burns took first place (23.36), Jillian Lawton (23.48) claimed second and Antonia Naccarella (23.67) finished in third.
Grace Baumer and Jenna Krull claimed silver and bronze in the 150 breaststroke. Baumer finished in a time of 1:43.39 as Krull was right behind and finished in 1:43.89.
In the diving well, Victoria Franz took home first place with a score of 308.65. That marks the freshman's fourth score on the season above 300. Journi Northorp finished in second with a score of 294.70. In the 1-meter dive, Franz (302.65) and Northorp (282.65) just like the 3-meter dive finished first and second.
To finish the day, the team of Ellie Duley, Katelyn Burns, Jillian Lawton and Antonia Naccarella surged to a first place finish in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:32.40. This season-best time beat Akron's A-Team by less than half a second.
"They mean a lot to this program," stated Head Coach Andy Bashor about this year's senior class. "Their times, but also their personalities, their leadership for this team toward the underclassmen, that's the impact they're going to leave for the rest of the team so they can build upon that. They've been here four years and have built a really good foundation for our team culture to now pass the torch to the freshmen, sophomores and juniors to make the team better."
The Bulls will be off until the Mid-American Conference Championships on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at the University at Buffalo Alumni Arena Natatorium. The championships will run through Saturday, Feb. 29. For more information on the MAC Swimming & Diving Championships.
Ohio // Marshall
ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio swimming & diving team (2-5, 1-3 MAC) capped off the home portion of its 2019-20 schedule by earning a 177-120 Senior Night victory over regional rival Marshall (1-6) this evening at the Ohio University Aquatic Center.
The Bobcats picked up a second-straight home victory after topping off Mid-American Conference foe Ball State, 188.5-110.5, last Saturday (Jan. 30).
"We've really asked a lot of them," said second-year head coach Mason Norman of his young team. "We've got a really good group of freshmen across the board; two divers, six swimmers. We've said, 'Hey, you've got to step up.' We've got some holes to fill with injuries and people being out and doing some things that maybe we're not going to ask of you in the next couple of years. We've had at least three freshmen on every 'A' relay we've swum, and putting them in a situation to thrive is exactly what I was brought here to do."
Ohio took 11 of the 16 events from the Thundering Herd. Five Bobcats tallied two event wins, including freshman Emma Fortman (Madeira, Ohio), junior Katherine Garrity (Eagan, Minn.), junior Samantha Glass (Villa Hills, Ky.), senior Emilia Lahtinen (Ylojarvi, Finland) and sophomore Taylor Miller (Latrobe, Pa.).
Lahtinen was one of three Bobcats honored during a Senior Night Ceremony prior to the meet.
"A lot of emotion, of course, but I was very glad I was able to finish it with these girls right here," said Lahtinen. "It was great. Like I said, a lot of emotion, but I really did enjoy every moment of it."
Garrity started the meet out strong for the Bobcats by taking first place in the first individual swimming event. Coming in with a time of 10:31.19 in the 1000-yard freestyle, Garrity recorded nine points for Ohio. During the 500-yard freestyle, Garrity secured her second win of the night with a time of 5:04.63.
Recording a time of 1:52.61, Fortman finished first in the 200-yard freestyle, continuing Ohio's win streak. In the 100-yard freestyle, Fortman finished in 51.79, only milliseconds in front of her competitor. The freshman had a second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle, clocking in at 5:09.19.
The trio of Lahtinen, junior Katelyn O'Brien (Williams Bay, Wis.), and sophomore Rebekah Klem (Columbiana, Ohio) swept both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke. Lahtinen took first in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:05.68, followed by O'Brien (1:07.58), and Klem (1:08.23). In the 200-yard breaststroke the order repeated, with Lahtinen in first (2:20.94), then O'Brien (2:25.98) and Klem (2:28.90). Lahtinen also had a third-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley in addition to her pair of first-place finishes, clocking in at 2:13.47.
"She's been awesome for us the last couple years," said Norman of Lahtinen "We can count on her to win her races. She's going to give us one hundred percent all the time. She's a great leader, super high energy all the time. That's what we coach. We want to be positive, we want that energy and the results will come. She's an example of what we expect our recruits to come in and be like. That's the goal, is for them to emulate her."
Glass captured victories in both the 200-yard backstroke (2:05.57) and the 200-yard individual medley (2:08.67). She also finished second in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:05.57 behind freshman Madeline Marks (Bentonville, Ark.), who won it in 2:04.79.
Madeline Marks added another win for the Bobcats in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing in 2:04.79. Sam Glass clocked in only moments later with a time of 2:05.57. Later in the evening, Glass got her own taste of victory finishing first in the 200-yard backstroke (2:03.99) and in the 200-yard IM (2:08.67), while Marks had a second place finish, coming in at 57.93 in the 100-yard butterfly.
Several other Ohio swimmers earned top-three finishes. Freshman McKenzie Grau (Mason, Ohio) was second in the 50-yard freestyle (24:39) while junior Carolyn Bischoff (New Hudson, Mich.) finished third (24.76). Grau also took second in the 200-yard individual medley as well with a time of 2:11.75. Sophomore Athena Aravantinou(North Bethesda, Md.) finished second in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:05.49 and third in the 100-yard backstroke in 58.45.
Miller produced a pair of first-place finishes in the diving events. She won the three-meter dive with a score of 291.97 and the one-meter with a score of 281.85. Freshman Halli Siwik (Fishers, Ind.) took second on one-meter with a score of 279.37 and third on three-meter with a score of 268.42. Miller achieved the NCAA Zone Diving Championships cut on three-meter while Siwik made it on one-meter with their performances against Marshall.
"Taylor trains hard. She's put together a pretty nice list of some challenging dives that have boosted her scores up pretty well," said Norman of Miller. "She had a rough first semester, came off a concussion in December, and she didn't dive in our first meet in January. She's came back and has won three out of four events in the last two meets. She works hard. She's been training all year and putting that list together. Britni's got the divers peaking at the right time. Our divers all hit personal bests today."
Next up, Ohio will make the drive to Columbus to participate in the OSU First Chance Meet next weekend (Feb. 7-8).
