Sports
Bowling Green Bests Ohio Swim And Dive
By: Abigail Carnivale, Sara Nealeigh
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Bowling Green traveled to Ohio Friday for another close meet that was sealed up in the final races of the day. The Falcons came away with a 155-138 victory, even with many Bobcats earning first honors and BGSU’s lack of diving team.
“It’s always fun to go against MAC competition, especially in a close meet like today,” interim coach Derick Roe said. “It’s always really exciting when it comes down to the final race.”
The Falcons pulled ahead in the third leg of the 400-yard medley relay to finish off the victory. They entered the race ahead by 8 points and fought off a competitive Ohio team comprised of Addy Ferguson, Hannah Shinn, Carrie Dukes, and Haley Clark, coming out on top in 3:48.14.
Senior Laurin Williams started of the placing for the cats as she dominated her typical long-distance events. Coming in first for the 1000-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle, Williams increased her lead by one second compared to her last finish against Akron. She beat her Bowling Green opponent by over 11 seconds in the 100-yard free.
Senior Rachel Stearns was able to return to the waters after a brief hiatus due to a health complication.
“I was nervous going into the 200 back, just I think it was a psychological thing,” Stearns said. “Last meet was really scary and so I Think now my head is better.”
Stearns didn’t skip a beat after missing several practices, as she still finished first in both the 400-yard IM and 200-yard backstroke.
“It was great to have her back,” Roe said, “she put together a great 200-free and put together a really nice 200-backstroke to pick up the win there as well.”
Also beating adversity was Ferguson, who has been swimming all season with an injured right shoulder. The sophomore still managed to end up on top in her races as she led the 100-yard backstroke, finishing with a time of 54.92 seconds. Ferguson is currently nearing her record-setting performance at last years Mid-American Conference tournament (54.0 seconds).
Ferguson also followed Stearns into the wall in the 200-yard backstroke, earning second place, just a second behind, at 2:04.04.
For the second meet in a row, freshman Carrie Dukes took first place in the 100-yard butterfly, just beating out her opponents with a time of 56.49.
Ohio Diving didn’t face much competition, as Bowling Green did not compete on the boards. Morgan Srail almost broke the 300 mark in the three-meter dive when she took first with a 299.7. Kristin Capcik, finished second with a 274.43, and Mary-Rose Hillstrom finished third.
Hillstrom took first in the one-meter dive with a score of 291.97.
The Bobcats will compete in the Aquatic Center again tomorrow, Feb. 1, in their final tri-meet of the season against Iowa State and West Virginia. Their final home meet will act as Senior Night for the class of 2014.