Sports
Healthy Bobcat Roster Splits Tri-Meet
By: Abbey Carnivale
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At its final tri-meet and Senior Night, Ohio swimming and diving hosted Iowa State and West Virginia with hopes of bouncing back after two close losses. The Bobcats were able to trump the Mountaineers after the events, 197.5-96.5, but fell to the Cyclones in a closer contest, 173-126.
Head coach Derick Roe explained the difficulties in preparing for a dual versus a tri-meet.
“It makes creating a lineup a little bit different because you’re trying to counteract not just one team’s winners,” Roe said. “You’re trying to position people to where we can take advantage of the weaknesses of both squads instead of having to just plan against one.”
After missing two meets and a week full of practices, Tori Bagan was cleared to return to the blocks after recovering from an unexpected case of MRSA.
“It was great to have her back. This morning she was really anxious and itching to get in and the trainers gave her the go-ahead and get in and swim one race today,” Roe said.
Bagan only competed in the 100-yard breaststroke, and placed third at 1:05.93.
“I was just so excited to be able to swim,” Bagan said. “Just being able to get in the water was the greatest feeling ever.”
Addy Ferguson was consistent in her placing, but not her final times in the 100-yard backstroke. She still finished at first place, but gained a second from her performance last night. Along with the 100-yard backstroke, Ferguson also took first in the 100-yard butterfly with a 56.61. Behind her at third was Carrie Dukes, the winner of the same event at the past two meets.
Laurin Williams was able to seal a win in the 1650-yard freestyle by a whole lap at 17:10, but could not translate that over to the 500-yard free when she came away with second. Although Williams finished a second before her time the day before, she was unable to take the win from Iowa’s Karyl Clarete.
Haley Clark proved herself a competitive opponent in the shorter freestyle events as she took second in the 50-yard free and the 100-yard free, with a 24.12 and a 52.40, respectively.
Rachel Stearns extended her comeback performance after battling an illness earlier in the week as she had top finishes in the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard IM. Her illness did not seem to affect her performance much as it was the second consecutive first place finish in the 200-yard back, at 2:04.42.
Stearns grabbed a second place finish at 2:08.81 in the 200 IM, cutting the distance in half compared to yesterday’s first place finish in the 400 IM.
Ohio swept the top three places in the one-meter dive, led by Morgan Srail at 300.10 Kristin Capcik followed at 285.8, then Mary Rose Hillstrom at 268.85.
Capcik continued her strong performance in the three-meter dive, finishing first with a score of 312.05. Srail followed right after with a 305.45.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better senior class to step in and get to work with as my first year as the head coach,” Roe said.
The Bobcats have another competition filled weekend coming up as they travel to Xavier on Feb. 7, then follow up the next day at Miami against the RedHawks on Feb. 8.