Jan. 9, 2009
ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio University swimming and diving team showed few signs of rust after a month-long hiatus from competition, as the Bobcats knocked off Division III Denison (3-3, 2-1 North Coast Athletic Conference) Friday night, 171-121, in their first meet of 2009. Ohio (4-2, 2-2 Mid-American Conference) touched the wall first in 14 of the 16 events, including taking the top two spots in the first five individual races.
"I knew that some (swimmers) were going to be good, but I knew some would be a bit rusty as well, and that's what we saw tonight," Ohio head coach Greg Werner said. "We saw some that were exceptional and we saw some that still have some work to do."
The 'Cats opened the meet strong, taking first in the 200 medley relay, the first event of the meet, as senior Ashley Marion (London, Ont.), juniors Allison Schaefer (Medina, Ohio) and Chelsey Bower (Bethel Park, Pa.), and sophomore Rachel Heim (San Diego, Calif.) combined to finish in 1:45.83.
Heim also grabbed a pair of individual victories in the 200 butterfly (2:05.25) and 100 freestyle (52.03), with the latter time being a personal best. Junior Leah Giancarli (Akron, Ohio) touched second in the 200 fly in 2:07.43. Marion earned an individual win in the 200 breaststroke (2:23.31), while sophomore Stella Johnson (Jacksonville, Fla.) set one of her three personal bests on the night, with a time of 2:26.98 in the event.
In the 100 breaststroke, Schaefer placed first in 1:06.56, while Marion took second in 1:07.20. Johnson set another lifetime best in the 200 freestyle, where Ohio landed the top three spots. Sophomore Amanda Traylor (Los Alamitos, Calif.) won the race in 1:52.63, an Ohio season-best time, while fellow sophomore Amanda Cecere (Chelmsford, Mass.) was second in 1:54.83 and Johnson third in her personal-best time of 1:56.11.
On the diving board, junior Lindsay Hamilton (White City, Sask.) won both the 1-meter and 3-meter events with season-best scores of 282.70 and 294.70, respectively. Junior Amy Bromberg (Deerfield, Ill.) placed second in both events with lifetime-best scores of 244.70 in the 1-meter and 245.47 in the 3-meter, both of which shattered her previous bests.
In just her second meet of the season, sophomore Stacey Huber (Gainesville, Fla.) touched first in the 1650 freestyle in an Ohio season-best time of 17:06.71, with freshman Petra Chomicz (King's Lynn, England) finishing second in 17:09.06. The Bobcats also went 1-2 in both backstroke events, as freshman Sarah Owen (Portsmouth, England) and senior Carine Souza (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) placed first and second, respectively, in the 100 back, with Souza setting a personal best in a time of 58.93. In the 200 backstroke, freshman Annika Games (Brea, Calif.) got the win in 2:07.15, while Traylor was second in 2:09.46.
"It definitely boosted my confidence," Huber said of her 1650 freestyle win. "This is the fastest time I've had going back to last season in-season. That was really exciting to see because I wasn't expecting to go that fast and now I know I am still in contention of winning (at the MAC Championships)."
Ohio swimmers competed as an exhibition in the final three races, despite finishing first in all three events. In the 100 butterfly, Cecere touched first (58.21), while Bower swam the event in a personal-best time of 58.39. In the 400 individual medley, Traylor swam the top time in a personal-best 4:33.55, while Johnson capped off her career night by taking second in her third lifetime-best time of the night, 4:36.74. The Bobcats also touched first in the 400 freestyle relay, as Bower, Cecere, Owen and Heim finished in 3:31.23.
Ohio looks to extend its five-meet winning streak Tuesday, Jan. 20, when the 'Cats travel to Huntington, W.Va. for a 5 p.m. dual meet with Conference USA foe Marshall.
