Sports
Swimming/Diving: Ohio Takes Care Of Business, Bests Ball State On Senior Day
By: Ian McConville
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While the Ohio basketball team was busy taking care of Ball State on the court, the swimming Bobcats did their part in dispatching the invading Cardinals, winning their dual meet by a final score of 189-106.
Ohio came out firing on all cylinders, winning the first 10 events of the day. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Rachel Stearns, Tori Bagan, Molly Slattery and Lauren Funk started the meet off positively for the 'Cats, winning that event in a time of 1:44.58. Laurin Williams then proceeded to add to the Ohio lead, winning the 1,000-yard freestyle by posting a 10:21.89. Ohio also took second and third in that event, with solid performances by Kristen Witham and Rachel Harrington, who finished in 10:24.57 and 10:29.28, respectively.
Not wanting to be outdone by their long distance teammates, Ohio's short-distance swimmers took four of the top five spots in the 200-yard freestyle, with Emma Michaels leading the charge in a time of 1:51.68. Stearns followed her performance in the 200 freestyle relay by winning the 100-yard backstroke, finishing with a time of 57.20. Bagan then took the 100-yard breaststroke, swimming a 1:04.21 in that event.
Amanda Cecere and Michelle Gasior finished one and two in the 200 yard butterfly, posting times of 2:06.25 and 2:08.05, respectively. Ohio took another one-two finish in the next event, the 50-yard freestyle, where Annie Donovan and Funk swam a 23.57 and a 24.15.
Kristin Capcik and Haleigh Bartlett led the 'Cats to a win in the 3-meter dive, with Capcik scoring a 285.53 to Bartlett’s 285.30.
Ohio went one, two and three in the 100 yard freestyle, as Katey Brooks, Abby Corcoran and Funk took the top spots. Stearns was the final winner in Ohio’s 10-event win streak, capturing victory in the 200 yard backstroke.
The Cats resumed their dominance over the Cardinals in the 500 yard freestyle, in which Ohio took the top 5 positions, led by Williams in a 5:01.60 performance. Mary Rose Hillstrom won the 1-meter dive with a score of 282.37. Ohio would ultimately win 13 of the day’s 16 events.
With the win Ohio improved to 8-1 in dual meets and 4-0 in the MAC, and it capped off a sweep of a weekend homestand after the 'Cats took down West Virginia on Friday night, which head coach Greg Werner said was huge for his team’s confidence.
“We feel like we gained some confidence and we’re still moving forward and advancing forward and we’re happy with the results that we saw,” Werner said.
Werner also commented that he has been pleased with his team’s aggressive style in their past two competitons.
“One of the areas that we identified here recently was to be the aggressor, to take it to the competition before they take it to us. You can still be a good counter-puncher, and come out on top, but that’s not how we wanted to approach these last two. We wanted to be the aggressor, and I felt like they did that both today and yesterday, and, ultimately, I think the scores indicated that,” Werner stated.
Ohio’s relay teams came up huge today, and coach Werner stated that a performance like that is a testament to the depth of his program.
“I feel like the relays are indicative of the type of team you have. It’s a team event, not an individual event, you have to put four people together, and they have to perform, and one weak link can pull the relay team down. We also have had gaps in our relays, and that’s what you saw today, with the medley relay to start the competition and then the last relay. But that’s indicative of a lot of people performing at a high level, and a lot of depth within the program. And to win a Mid-American Conference championship, you have to have depth,” Werner said.
Ohio continues it’s regular season with back-to-back road meets. On Friday, the Cats travel to Xavier before taking on rival Miami (OH) the next day.