Dec. 6, 2008
AKRON, Ohio - Winning five of the eight event finals Saturday night, including both relays for the second-straight day, vaulted the Ohio swimming and diving team into first place with two-thirds of the Zippy Invitational in the books. The Bobcats sit atop the standings with 1043.5 points and hold a 141.5-point lead over host Akron, who rests in second place and was in first place after day one's action.
"One of the things we talk about is getting better each session--finding things to improve upon and executing the changes in the next opportunity," Ohio head coach Greg Werner said. "We weren't perfect tonight, but we were better than this morning, as we made some of the changes we talked about. The team competed very well and performed just as well."
Senior Ashley Marion (London, Ont.) led the charge for the 'Cats, swimming on both winning relay teams, while also grabbing first in the 100 backstroke in a lifetime-best time of 56.91, which is the seventh-fastest time in Ohio history. Sophomore Rachel Heim (San Diego, Calif.) finished third in the 100 back in 57.51, while freshman Sarah Owen (Portsmouth, England), who won the 500 freestyle yesterday in her Bobcat debut, took fourth in 58.03. Fellow freshman Abby Corcoran (Tucson, Ariz.) set a personal best in the event in 1:00.72.
Joining Marion on the winning 200 medley relay team were juniors Allison Schaefer (Medina, Ohio) and Chelsey Bower (Bethel Park, Pa.), as well as Heim, which took the race in a meet-record time of 1:46.04. The team of Owen, Corcoran, fellow freshman Petra Chomicz (King's Lynn, England) and sophomore Amanda Cecere (Chelmsford, Mass.) placed sixth for Ohio in the 200 medley relay in 1:47.96.
In the 800 freestyle relay, Marion again was on the winning team, this time joined by sophomore Amanda Traylor (Los Alamitos, Calif.), Cecere and Owen, which won the race in 7:36.75.
As with the relays, junior Lindsay Hamilton (White City, Sask.) won diving for the second-straight day, this time on the 3-meter springboard, after taking the 1-meter title yesterday. Hamilton scored a season-high 279.80 points in the victory, again fending off Buffalo's Meili Carpenter and Akron's Katie Carter, as she did a day ago, each of whom has one of the top-two scores in the Mid-American Conference this season in both 1-meter and 3-meter diving.
"Lindsay is one of the starts of our weekend so far. To win both diving events and top very good competition in Buffalo's Meili Carpenter and Akron's Katie Carter, just to name two of the strong divers at this meet, is a feather in her cap," Werner said. "Knowing where she was a year ago (with an injury), she's worked very hard and to see how she's performed is very satisfying."
Heim also garnered an individual win to go with her relay victory, taking the 100 butterfly in a meet-record time of 55.91. Cecere placed fourth in 57.26, while junior Caitlin Drozin (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) set a personal best in the event with a time of 59.45.
Traylor took third in the 200 freestyle in 1:54.10, while senior Carine Souza (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) qualified for the finals in 1:55.35, where she finished eighth. Freshman Annika Games (Brea, Calif.) placed sixth in the 400 individual medley in 4:41.81, while Buffalo nabbed the top-two spots. In the 100 breaststroke, the Bobcats had two swimmers qualify for the finals, as Schaefer placed seventh in 1:06.92, while Chomicz was eighth in 1:07.27
"We had some great performances when you look at first-place finishes, but the team has moved to the lead based on depth, similar to last year's meet, and is what we won with at the MAC Championship (last year)," Werner said. "We're seeing that again this year, and while we're winning our fair share of events, depth is really what's winning for us."
Ohio looks to lock up its second-consecutive Zippy Invitational Sunday, with the final six events of the meet on the schedule. The 'Cats have won nine of the first 14 events at the three-day, 13-team meet, including all four relays and both diving events. Sunday's prelims are set for 9 a.m. with the meet's final session beginning at 4 p.m., all of which takes place at Akron's Ocasek Natatorium.
For day one results, please click here.
