The Mid-American Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Championships at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio begin Thursday. Prelims start at 11 am each day with finals beginning at 7 pm.
Women’s Swimming Preview
Akron
The University of Akron swimming and diving team is set to compete at the 2014 Mid-American Conference Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio from Thursday to Saturday. Preliminaries will begin at 11 a.m., with finals commencing at 7 p.m., each day.
The Zips will look to improve on their eighth place finish at the MAC Championships a year ago. So far this season Akron has performed well at the helm of first-year head coach Brian Peresie, notching three dual competition victories and a second-place finish at the 2013 Zippy Invitational.
The full Akron swimming and diving squad last competed against Toledo, which ended in a 183-117 loss for the Zips. UA earned three first place times from Erin Seiler (200 butterfly, 2:07.21), Kelsey Ferrante (100 freestyle, 57.72) and Kendra Colby (200 IM, 2:08.28), despite the defeat.
Akron received a first-place time from the 200 medley relay team of Ferrante, Kolby, Seiler and Hannah Raspopovich at Toledo. This season, the Zips 200 medley relay team has come in first place on five occasions, while the 400 medley relay team has accrued two top times.
In the diving pool, senior Carla McNamara has led the team with two first-place scores in 3-meter and one first-place finish in 1-meter diving. Senior Amy Dorow and freshman Paige Kelkenberg swept first place in both diving events in wins over Saint Francis and Youngstown State, respectively.
The SPIRE Institute is located in Geneva, Ohio, which is roughly an hour and fifteen minutes from the UA campus. Directions and more information on SPIRE can be foundhere. Tickets are available online or at the door at a variety of price levels. Any student with a MAC school student ID receives free entry to the competition.
Ball State
The Ball State women’s swimming and diving team travels to Geneva, Ohio to participate in the 2014 MAC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships held at the SPIRE Institute. Ball State is looking to improve from its performance in 2013 which saw the team pick up four individual medals and a relay medal.
Last season, Bridgette Ruehl earned two gold medals after sweeping the breaststroke events. Ruehl established school and pool records in both events and went on to be named to the First Team All-MAC.
Another Cardinal to earn First Team All-MAC honors was Mallory Miles. Miles earned her first-ever MAC gold medal after turning in a school and pool record in the 100 fly. In addition to her gold-medal-winning performance, Miles also established the school records in the 200 IM and 200 fly. Miles was the first woman in Ball State history to go under two minutes in the 200 fly.
The fourth individual medal for Ball State came off a bronze-medal-winning performance by Emily Wisolek in the 200 back. Wisolek also finished fifth in the 500 free after breaking a school record that had stood since the 1996 season. In the same event, Cheyanne Jackson became the fourth woman in Ball State history to go under five minutes in the 500 free.
The 400 medley relay of Katelyn Pratt, Ruehl, Haley Richter and Carlena Magley broke a school record and a pool record en route to a gold medal. The same group estabslihed a school record in the 200 medley relay and finished just outside of the medal stand in fourth place.
Tickets for the event can be purchased online at www.spireinstitute.org. All-session passes for adults are $25 while MAC students have free admission with their school ID. Parking will be $5 per car per day with unlimited in/out privileges.
Bowling Green
Following a successful regular season, the Bowling Green swimming team will compete in the three-day Mid-American Conference Championships at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio beginning Thursday. Prelims start at 11 am each day with finals beginning at 7 pm (with the 1650 freestyle taking place at 5 pm Saturday).
BGSU fans can follow BGSU Swimming with live stats (as available) and live video (as available) of meets. Follow along on Twitter via the official site of BGSU Athletics @BGAthletics or through the new home of BGSU Swimming and Diving @FalconSwimDive. BGSU Swimming can be found on Facebook by searching "BGSU Swimming".
Bowling Green finished third at the Mid-American Conference Championships, a climb of five spots over the previous season. Fourth-year head coach Petra Martin's squad is currently ranked second among MAC schools by CollegeSwimming.com despite not competing in the diving events. Miami (Ohio) is the favorite heading into the MAC Championships, while Toledo and Ohio are just behind the Falcons in third and fourth. Eastern Michigan, Akron, Ball State and Buffalo round out the MAC rankings.
BGSU freshman Victoria Griffin has swam the fastest time in the Mid-American Conference this year in the 100 freestyle at 49.87 seconds. The Falcons are ranked among the top three in the MAC in six different events and have as many as three swimmers with top 10 conference times in the 200 freestyle. The 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams have the second-fastest time in the MAC this year, while Griffin is third in the 200 freestyle and Daniela Carrillo is third in the 200 breaststroke.
Bowling Green has closed out dual meets in impressive fashion, winning the final relay of the competition seven straight times. In three of those dual meets, the winning team was yet to be determined heading into the final race. At Michigan State, BGSU trailed by three points before winning the 200 freestyle relay to win the meet. A week later, Bowling Green trailed rival Toledo by one point heading into the 200 free relay and won by the narrowest of margins, .03 seconds. Just a week later, the Falcons narrowly led Ohio heading into the 400 medley relay but BGSU clinched the win by taking first place. Bowling Green has also won that final relay against Xavier, Oakland and Marshall during the stretch.
Buffalo
The University at Buffalo women's swimming and diving team will embark on a Mid-American Conference title when the MAC Championships begin on Thursday in Geneva, OH.
The preliminaries begin on Thursday morning at 11:00 am at the SPIRE Institute and continue through Saturday. The Bulls have been improving all season and head coach Andy Bashor is pleased with how his team has been performing heading into the MACs.
"It's been really great over the last couple weeks seeing the women really coming around," Bashor said. "We are practicing better and this is the meet that we shoot for in our training. The energy has been great at practice."
All eyes will be on senior Brittney Kuras as she aims to earn MAC Swimmer of the Year for an unprecedented third straight season. She is having another standout campaign and this would cap an illustrious career. Bashor is excited to see what she can do.
"I love the energy she brings to her races and the energy she brings to our relays," Bashor said. "She's going to go out there and perform. She is a downright competitor and the competitors really shine in these types of meets."
This is the first year the Spire Institute will be hosting the MAC Championships and Bashor anticipates some fast times. One reason is the facilities state-of-the-art starting blocks.
"Spire uses the updated blocks with the fin on the back," Bashor said. "They have a fin on the back of the block that sticks up giving you a better push forward."
Junior distance swimmer Jess Powers has had a great season for the Bulls and thinks she and her teammates can really shine at the MAC Championships.
"We have all been swimming great and I think we are going to surprise ourselves," Powers said.
Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan University's women's swimming and diving team will head to Geneva, Ohio to take on the Mid-American Conference in the 2014 MAC Swimming and Diving Championships, Feb. 27-March 1 at the SPIRE Institute.
Riding an 8-4 dual record (4-2 MAC) heading into the conference meet, the Green and White will aim to improve upon its fourth-place finish from the 2013 MAC Championships. Below, an in-depth look at each team competing in the 2014 MAC Championships can be found, touching on last year's performances and the current frontrunners in the top-10 standings of each events.
The Eagles return five swimmers and three divers who placed in the top-eight during the 2013 MAC Championship meet, including redshirt-senior Danielle Hulvey (Pickerington, Ohio-Central), who set MAC and meet records in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. Hulvey scored 316.10 on the 1-meter springboard and 368.95 on the 3-meter board to take both events.
The only returning swimming Eagle that had a top-three finish is junior Jessie Godlewski (Apex, N.C.-Apex), who set the MAC and meet record in the 200 fly, touching in at 1:57.70. The Green and White will face a substantial setback with the loss of First Team All-American diver Kelly Hendricks and NCAA-qualifying distance specialist Briana Emig. The Eagles placed fourth with 450 points at the MAC meet.
EMU stands at the top of the season-best finishes in the MAC in the 800 free relay, placing second with a time of 7:29.52. The team's best time in the 800 came by way of Godlewski, junior Monica Dorszewski (Palatine, Ill.-Palatine), sophomore Becca Detro (Carmel, Ind.-Carmel), and freshman Grace Van Allen (Indianapolis, Ind.-North Central). Godlewski has also swum her way into conference standings in the 200 fly with a runner-up time of 2:02.03. In the 100 fly, senior Jackie Swartz (Centerville, Ohio-Centerville) holds the seventh-best time of 56.38. Dorszewski has been consistent as the top breaststroker on the squad, as she has the ninth-fastest time in the 100 breast (1:03.90) and the fourth-best time in the 200 breast (2:18.46). Rookie Sarah Cameron (Brownstone, Mich.-Carlson) edged her way into the standings in the Eagles' final meet at Ohio State, taking the 10th spot with a time of 2:20.01.
Joining Cameron as the only other Eagle freshman in top-10 rankings is Van Allen, whose 1:52.13 effort in the 200 free puts her in the eighth spot on the list. One more Eagle passed muster to be in the fastest times, as sophomore Audra Burtch (Goshen, Ind.-Concord) currently holds the 10th-best time in the 1000 free with a 10:26.86 mark.
This season, the Eagles have built up an 8-4 (4-2 MAC) record, picking up wins against Bowling Green, Akron, Oakland, Denison, Buffalo, Michigan State, Wayne State, and Ball State before dropping to the undefeated Miami RedHawks, Feb. 1.
Miami
Miami’s women’s swimming and diving team goes for their 18th conference title this weekend at the Mid-American Conference Championships being held at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio from Thursday, Feb. 27, through Saturday, Mar. 1. Preliminaries begin at 11 a.m. each day with the finals starting at 7 p.m. in the evenings.
The RedHawks enter the MAC Championships as one of the favorites with a 9-1 overall dual meet record this season and a perfect 7-0 record in MAC dual meet competition. Miami’s only loss was to Purdue in mid-October. Since then, the RedHawks have been impressive, winning nine straight meets entering this weekend’s competition.
The RedHawks are on the cusp of earning consecutive MAC titles for the first time since winning back-to-back conference championships in 2004 and 2005. The RedHawks won their 17th MAC Championship a year ago. Miami entered this season favored to repeat as conference champions following their undefeated 6-0 dual meet record against the MAC last season.
Ohio
The Ohio University swimming & diving team (6-5, 2-3 MAC) looks to capture its 12th Mid-American Conference title in program history this weekend (Feb. 27-March 1) at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
The Bobcats last captured the conference crown in 2011. Ohio placed second at last season's championships with 505 points.
Senior Laurin Williams (Shoreline, Wash.) - a two-time First Team All-MAC pick - ranks as the conference's top swimmer in several events heading into the championships. She is the league's top threat in the 500-yard freestyle (4:55.81), 1650-yard freestyle (16:36.24) and the 400-yard individual medley (4:24.50). Williams is the reigning 1650 champ.
Sophomore Addison Ferguson (Westfield Center, Ohio) earned First Team All-MAC honors as a freshman last year after capturing MAC gold in the 100-yard backstroke. She owns the MAC's top time in the 100 backstroke this season (54.92).
Senior Rachel Stearns (Minnetonka, Minn.), who garnered First Team All-MAC honors in 2012, is the conference's top swimmer in the 200-yard individual medley (2:04.74).
The Bobcats also posted the MAC's top times in the 200-yard medley relay (1:42.93) and the 400-yard medley relay (3:32.49).
Ohio's divers figure to be the favorites in both the three-meter dive and one-meter dive.
In the three-meter, junior Haleigh Bartlett (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; 336.45), junior Morgan Srail (Avon Lake, Ohio; 328.50) and senior Kristin Capcik (Milwaukee, Wis.; 327.8) own the top three scores in the conference.
Bartlett (310.05), Capcik (304.95), Srail (300.10) and redshirt senior MaryRose Hillstrom (Dimondale, Mich.; 291.97) tallied the top three MAC scores in the one-meter.
Preliminary events will begin at 11 a.m. each day with finals scheduled for 7 p.m. For a full schedule of events, please click the appropriate link at the top of the page. The MAC will also be providing live video of the Championships on MAC-Sports.com.
Toledo
The Toledo women’s swimming and diving team will compete in the 2014 Mid-American Conference Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday - Saturday, Feb. 27 - March 1, at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, OH.
Preliminaries are scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. on all three days, with the finals at 7:00 p.m. For a full schedule of events, please click the attached link for the MAC Championship page.
The Rockets have finished first or second in all but one MAC Championship meet since 2009 and earned conference championships in both the 2010 and 2012 seasons.
In the 2013-14 season, the Rockets went 4-1 against conference opponents, defeating Buffalo, Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Akron and falling to Bowling Green on the final event of the meet.
Toledo compiled an overall record of 6-3 in dual meets this season, with a win against Big Ten member Michigan State and its only other losses coming against No. 20 Michigan and No. 16 Ohio State.
The Rockets currently hold top-three regular season MAC times in 12 different swimming events.
Senior Beth Rogers has been one of the leaders for the Midnight Blue & Gold, as she holds the top time in the MAC in both the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard butterfly, is third in the 50-yard freestyle, and fourth in the 100-yard freestyle.
Fellow seniors Christina Noens and Rachel Johnson, and junior Maria Bargardi have two top five times, while sophomore Kristen Nunnelly holds three top fives.
Senior diver Kristy Richart and junior diver Allison Belcher have both qualified for the NCAA Zone Championships with dives against Ohio State on Saturday, Jan. 11. Richart qualified in the one-meter dive with a score of 282.08, while Belcher qualified in the three-meter dive with a mark of 316.43.
The Rockets finished sixth at the 2013 MAC Championships in head coach Chris Peters’ first season with the program.
