Miami Women Swimmers Denison Men Swimmers Cruise to Victory in Miami Invitational

It was a Miami Invitational for the ages as Coach Dave Jennings' women's swimming and diving team cruised to nearly a 1,000-point victory in the 15th Annual event at the Nixon Aquatic Center.

During the three-day event, the RedHawk ladies established two Mid-American Conference (MAC) records and 14 varsity records, smashing some sort of standard in nearly every event they swam.

Team-wise, Miami piled up 2,440.5 points, 943 points ahead of runner-up Florida Gulf Coast and 1,140 better than third-place Illinois of the Big Ten Conference. Oakland University from Michigan finished in fourth place with 996 points. Emory, Denison, Cincinnati, Wright State and Marshall rounded out the team standings.

Senior Malarie Schmidt was the star of stars for Miami during the five-session invitational, grabbing two MAC and RedHawk records (100-yard backstroke and the 400 medley relay) and four more Miami marks in relay events.

"I can't say enough about the effort our ladies gave us this weekend," said Head Coach Dave Jennings. "Our relays were absolutely outstanding. It's cliche to say it, but I really attribute our success to talented swimmers and terrific team chemistry. This meet sets us up well for the rest of the season. Our ultimate goal, of course, is to win the MAC championship and this team has the potential to do just that."

The Miami women's swimming and diving team opened the Miami Invitational in record-setting fashion.

The 800-yard freestyle relay team of junior Allison Way, freshman CHELSEA BRUINGTON, and seniors Alyson Schmidt and Allison Stevens led from start to finish en route to breaking the school record by more than 10 seconds as well as the 12-year-old meet and pool records, previously held by the 1996 Michigan relay team, with a time of 7:17.42. The swim is the best by any Mid-American Conference team this season and ranks ninth best among all NCAA times. It also gives the RedHawks a 2009 NCAA Championship "B" qualifying standard.

The opening event set the tone for both the RedHawk men's and women's teams, who each ended the day in second place. The women finished with a score of 135 and trail only Florida Gulf Coast University (169), while the men are behind Wright State, 141-132.

Rounding out the top three in the 800-free relay were Florida Gulf Coast, who also broke its school record by more than 10 seconds, and the University of Illinois. Miami's men got started with top 10 finishes in the 1650-yard freestyle from sophomore DARIN BROWN (16:14.26) and freshman Brendan Melling (16:24.52) who finished sixth and ninth, respectively.

University of Cincinnati sophomores Nathan Williams (15:41.11) and Stephen Cunningham (15:50.28) finished first and second, followed closely by senior Keith Diggs of Emory University with a time of 15:50.90.

On the women's side, Florida Gulf Coast propelled itself into first place in the meet by taking the top two spots in the 1650-freestyle with swims by freshmen Rosy Murray (16:59.26) and Leah Daniel (16:59.54). Emory sophomore Liz Horvat finished third with a time of 17:05.41

Senior JENNIFER FLAHERTY posted the top finish for the RedHawks with a fifth-place effort in a time of 17:14.38. Sophomore Sarah Bullock finished seventh in 17:17.22.

 The closing event of the night was the men's 800-yard freestyle relay in which Oakland University (6:38.78), Denison (6:41.91) and Wright State (6:45.85) took the top three spots. The RedHawks' team of freshman Chris Gunnels, sophomore Jason Hass, senior Nick DuPuis, and junior DAVE BROWN finished fifth with a time of 6:55.73.

RedHawk seniors Malarie Schmidt and Allison Stevens continued to swim at frenetic paces Friday night at the Miami Invitational, as both ladies broke records twice within a 10-hour period.

Schmidt's victory in the 200-yard butterfly (2:01.95) was a meet, pool and varsity record, and her second-place finish in the 100 backstroke (:55.07) broke Mid-American Conference and Miami varsity marks. It was the second time today in the latter event that Schmidt broke the school records in both events. She edged teammate Allison Way by two-tenths of a second. Schmidt also was a member of two impressive relay units, including the 400 medley relay team that set school and MAC records. She and the 200 freestyle relay team also swam to victory.

In the 200-yard freestyle, Stevens set a Miami record for the second-time in 10 hours, sprinting to a clocking of 1:48.66 and bettering her time of Friday morning by :00.12. Teammate Chelsey Bruington placed second, finishing the race in a time of 1:49.81. Miami's Alyson Schmidt and Maggie French finished fourth and fifth, respectively, to give the RedHawks four of the race's top five finishers.

In the 400 medley relay, Miami's "A" relay team of Malarie Schmidt, Vehr, Way and Alyson Schmidt set a school and MAC standard and crushed the pool and meet records with a time of 3:41.98. The previous respective pool and meet marks were 3:46.87 and 3:47.45. The Redhawks' "B" relay team of Kasey Carpenter, Megan Brunn,Nicole Roddenbery and Stevens placed second in 3:48.32.

In the 100-yard breaststroke, Miami swimmers finished in the top four spots. Kelsey Vehr placed first in a time of 1:02.41, followed closely by Megan Brunn, Paige Iversen and Claire Fogarty.

Alyson Schmidt captured the women's 50 free style championship with a time of :22:90. RedHawk teammates Way and Stevens placed second and third

The winning 200 freestyle relay team included Malarie and Alyson Schmidt, Way and Stevens. That unit finished in a time of 1:32.71.

Miami's women's divers were equally successful as Melissa Roemmele and Kelsey Anagnos placed first and third in the three-meter competition.

Saturday evening's finals began with a bang as Miami's 200-yard medley relay team of Malarie Schmidt, Kelsey Vehr, Nicole Roddenbery and Alyson Schmidt swam to a meet, pool and school-record time of 1:41.35.

In the second final of the evening, Miami's Kasey Carpenter finished :00.29 behind Oakland University's Agnieszka Solan, but set a meet, pool and varsity record with a time of 1:58.73. Carpenter's time was :00.15 faster than the RedHawk record that she set during Saturday morning's prelims.

The women's 500 freestyle saw Maggie French swim an outstanding time of 4:59.82. In the 100 butterfly, Allison Way set a Miami pool and varsity record with a clocking of :54.90. Roddenbery placed third at :55.17.

The 200 breaststroke was a sensational event for Miami as RedHawks took four of the top five finishes. Vehr led the way at 2:15.71, just :00.18 off the varsity record set by Megan Brunn in Saturday morning's prelims. Brunn took second, Paige Iversen placed fourth and Claire Fogarty finished fifth.

Yet another varsity record was set in the 100 freestyle as Alyson Schmidt became the first Miami woman to eclipse 50 seconds. Schmidt's time of :49.59 was a meet, pool and varsity record. Allison Stevens finished second at :50.60.

The 200 individual medley belonged to Miami, too, as Malarie Schmidt claimed a three-second victory over Illinois ace Marissa Clapp. Schmidt swam the distance in a time of 2:01.92. Miami's Brunn placed third.

The action in the diving end of Nixon Aquatic Center was dominated by Miamians as well. In the one-meter competition, Melissa Roemmele, KELSEY ANGNOS and Rachel Smith took first, second and third place, respectively.

The women's final event, the 400 freestyle relay, again was dominated by the RedHawks. The quartet of Alyson Schmidt, Malarie Schmidt, Way and Stevens swam to a Miami record time of 3:22.74, tying a bow on an almost unbelievable weekend.

OAKLAND SWIMMING/Unold Makes Second NCAA B Cut in Final Day
Junior Marcin Unold made his second NCAA "B" cut of the weekend in the 100-yard freestyle with a first-place time of 43.62, which broke both meet and pool records, as well as putting his time as second best in OU history, as the Oakland University swimming team concluded action at the Miami Invitational Saturday.
 
The men's team won the meet with 1766.5 points and the women finished in fourth with 906 points.
 
Unold also swam a first-place time in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:46.25, which the second-best time in Oakland history. He now holds the top two times in that event. The Golden Grizzlies took four out of the top four spots in that event, as junior Patrick Downing finished in second at 1:50.50 and junior Eddie Toro finished in fourth with a time of 1:52.08.
 
More men's swimmers also made marks in the school record books for individual events. The 100 fly produced two new additions Oakland all-time list, with freshman Anders Jensen finishing the event in 49.42, which ranks seventh all-time, while Holdsworth swam it in 49:89, which is 10th all-time. In the 200 individual medley, Toro also had a first-place finish in the 200 IM with a time of 1:50.97, which ranks seventh all-time.
 
For the women, junior Agnes Solan broke a second pool record, this time in the 200 back with a first-place time of 1:58.44, which is also the best all-time in Oakland history. Senior Sophia Gustafsson also made a strong showing, as she swam a time of 4:59.95 in the 500 free (seventh all-time) and 2:08.5 in the 200 IM (10th all-time).
 
Other big finishes for the women's team were Alyssa Vela, who made her way into the top-10 for the 100 free, swimming a time of 51.35 (seventh all-time), and sophomore Emily and freshman Johanna Gustafsson for the 200 breaststroke, with a time of 2:21.85 for Wike (eighth all-time) and 2:23.17 for Gustafsson (ninth all-time).
 
The men's team also had two relay teams that earned spots on Oakland's all-time list. The 400 relay team of Unold, senior Justin Veneklase, senior Nick Bonucchi and senior Andy Kellogg set a meet record with a first-place time of 2:59.56 (sixth all-time) and the first-place 200 medley relay team of Unold, freshman Ben Vavra, Holdsworth and Kellogg now ranks fourth all-time for Oakland with a time of 1:29.99, which is also a meet record.
 
In all, three Oakland swimmers made four NCAA "B" Cuts and 27 entries were made into the Oakland University all-time records, including three new number one marks.
 
The Golden Grizzlies will next take off on their winter training trip in Florida and will return to host a home meet on Saturday, Jan. 10 against Eastern Michigan at the OU Aquatic Center. The meet is set to begin at 2 p.m.