Akron holds onto lead after day three of the 2015 Mid-American Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Championships here at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich. The Zips tallied 440 points, followed by Bowling Green 354 points and Eastern Michigan with 344points.
Buffalo's Spencer Rodriguez brought home the 400 individual medley title for the second year in a row with a time of 4:17.03, while Ohio's Addy Ferguson also grabbed back-to-back titles in the 100 butterfly with a new pool record time of 53.01.
Buffalo's Jessica Powers took home the 200 freestyle title with a time of 1:49.82. Bowling Green's Tara Capouch took home second place (1:49.03), while Toledo's Lauren Comer finished third in 1:50.32.
In other action, Miami's Stephanie Lemire won the 100 breaststroke in a pool record time of 1:01.60. The final individual race of the night was claimed by Ohio's Ferguson, who won her second straight 100 backstroke with a pool record time of time of 53.33.
The night concluded with Akron winning the 400 Medley Relay. The team of Hannah Raspopovich, Ludwika Szynal, Amanda Lawson, and Erin Seiler finished the race in a pool record time of 3:39.01?. Following the Zips was Ohio (3:39.99), while Eastern Michigan finished third (3:40.82).
The #MACtion continues Saturday with a preliminary session set for 11 a.m. ET to be followed by finals at 7 p.m.
Team Standings Through Day Three
1. Akron 440
2. Bowling Green 354
3. Eastern Michigan 344
4. Buffalo 318
5. Miami 285
6. Ohio 254
7. Toledo 229
8. Ball State 114
Bowling Green State
Another school record was broken on day three of the Mid-American Conference Championships, as the Bowling Green swim and dive team sits in second place following day three of competition. The Falcons got a record breaking performance from freshman Franziska Wohlert in the 400 individual medley.
Bowling Green moved from fifth-place after day two to second place with 354 points after day three. Akron leads with 440 points through five sessions.
"We had a big day today and the team did exactly what needed to be done," said head coach Petra Martin. "Tomorrow is another important day and we will need a lot of great swims from everyone in the morning again."
The Falcons swam particularly well at preliminaries this morning. In fact, Bowling Green had 11 swimmers in A finals this evening, which was the most out of any team heading into the night.
BG qualified four swimmers for the championship final of the 400 IM. Wohlert qualified with the third best time and went on to finish second in the finals, setting a new school record of 4:18.96, which is also an NCAA B cut qualifying time. The 400 IM record of 4:19.21 was previously held by Cheryl Patteson and set in 1993, which was tied for the longest standing record in school history.
She was joined in the A final by teammates Estela Davis, Jordan Bullock and Stephanie Boyle. Davis finished in third, swimming an NCAA B cut qualifying time of 4:19.38. Bullock took sixth and Boyle placed eighth overall. Combined, the four Falcon swimmers earned 57 points in the event.
In the 200 freestyle, BG had three swimmers back in the championship final. Tara Capouch placed second with a 1:49.03, making her the third fastest swimmer in Bowling Green history. Victoria Griffin and Hannah Newman finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
The Falcons' successful evening continued with the 100 breaststroke A final, where Daniela Carrillo and Kristin Filby both swam NCAA B cut qualifying times, placing fifth and sixth. Carmen Young swam a career best 1:03.89, adding a fifth place finish in the consolation final.
Estela Davis took sixth place in the 100 backstroke A final with a career personal best time of 55.04. This was her second NCAA B cut qualifying time of the evening. Maya Skorupski swam a career best time of 55.22 in the prelim heat this morning, and finished eighth in the championship final, although she was unable to better her time from the morning session.
The evening concluded with the 400 medley relay. Davis (back), Filby (breast), Bullock (fly) and Griffin (free) finished in fourth with a 3:41.44.
Miami (OH)
Miami University’s women’s swimming and diving team is in fifth place at the MAC Championships after day three.
Sophomore Stephanie LeMire continued her success this season by winning the 100-yard breaststroke. She clocked in with a time of 1:01.60 for 20 team points. Her time set a pool record.
Freshman Holly Schuster touched the wall in 4:21.87 in the 400-yard IM. Her efforts earned her fifth place and 14 points.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Brittany Dudzinski, who swam a 55.55 for seventh place and 12 team points for the RedHawks.
The day ended with the 400-yard medley relay, where Miami came in sixth place. The team consisted of Dudzinski, LeMire, Schuster and senior Annie Marquiss. They earned the RedHawks 26 points.
The three-meter dive finals have been pushed back to tomorrow night.
