Feb. 1, 2008
CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Ohio swimming and diving team won its sixth-straight dual meet Friday evening, defeating host Xavier, 56-38, at the O'Conner Sports Center. The Bobcats cruised to victory by establishing five pool-records on the day.
Freshman Rachel Heim (San Diego, Calif.), sophomore Chelsey Bower (Bethel Park, Pa.), senior co-captain Ilse Petersen (Johannesburg, South Africa) and freshman Amanda Traylor (Los Alamitos, Calif.) all set pool-records at the O'Conner Sports Center.
Heim established two record times, touching the wall first in the 100-yard butterfly (57.54) and the 100-yard backstroke (58.97). Bower set the pool record in the 50-yard freestyle (24.18), Petersen established a new pool mark in the 200-yard individual medley (2:10.24) and Traylor established a new 500 freestyle pool-record with a time of 5:04.10 on her way to a first place finish in the 800-yard freestyle (8:09.71).
Ohio improves to 11-1 overall, while the Musketeers fall to 5-2-1 on the season.
The Bobcats won the first six events to take control early and proceeded to win eight of 11 events. Junior Sarah Vaughn (Athens, Ohio), Bower and Heim each posted two wins to lead the Bobcats.
Vaughn touched the wall first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.58. In the opening event, Vaughn and Bower teamed with senior Sigal Simsolo (Kibbutz Yakum, Israel) and freshman Amanda Cecere (Chelmsford, Mass.) to win the 400-yard medley relay (3:59.64).
Junior Carine Souza (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) had a solid meet for the Bobcats, placing first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:56.26) and teaming with Heim, Cecere, and senior Mallory Rico (Mentor, Ohio) to place second in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:39.16. The 200 relay was one of only three Xavier wins and the Musketeers had to set a new pool-record to earn the victory. Xavier's team of Allison Johnson, Elaina Suba, Alissa Schriner and Sarah Weichelt finished a little under half a second faster than the Bobcats to establish a new pool-record with a time of 1:38.67.
The record-setting time turned out to be the only bright spot of the meet for Xavier, as the Bobcats were able to easily win again. Ohio's streak of six-straight dual-meet victories stretches back to Nov. 10, 2007.
The Bobcats will look to win their seventh straight dual meet on Saturday when they face Ball State in their final dual of the season.
