Oct. 29, 2010
YPSILANTI, Mich. - The Ohio Swimming & Diving team splashed into their first victory of the season Friday night with a win over Mid-American Conference foe Eastern Michigan by a score of 165-135. The `Cats gave a strong display in the first meet of the season, winning nine of the 16 events.
"We really did not know what to expect coming into tonight's meet," said head coach Greg Werner. It was the first real competition for both teams so we just went in with the approach that we were going to compete and it was very exciting to get a win."
Ohio jumped out to an early 13-4 lead in the 200 Medley Relay as Rachel Heim (San Diego, Calif.), Petra Chomicz (King's Lynn, Norfolk, England), Amanda Cecere (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Anne Donovan (Findaly, Ohio) tallied 11 points with a time of 1:46.68, while Anastasia Bocharnikova (Nizhny Tagil, Russia), Katey Brooks (North Royalton, Ohio), Morgan Sprosty (Irvine, Calif.), and Lauren Funk (Springfield, Ohio) recorded the other two with a time of 1:47.27.
The next event was the 1000 Free, which the `Cats barely squeaked by 10-9. Stacey Huber (Gainesville, Fla.), Williams, and Annika Games (Brea, Calif.) took second, third, and fourth place with times of 10:22.59 and 10:24.21, and 10:36.78, respectively.
Continuing their success into the 200 Free, Ohio took the event 12-7 as Amanda Traylor (Los Alamitos, Calif.) took first place with a time of 1:52.58 and Sarah Owen took fourth with a personal-best time of 1:57.01.
Eastern Michigan showed signs of life as they responded by winning the 100 Back and 100 Breast. Rachel Stearns (Minnetonka, Minn.) and Bocharnikova both competed well in their first meets as Bobcats as they took second and third in the 100 Back with times of 57.52 and 57.95, respectively.
Ohio would bounce back, however, in both the 200 Fly with a 12-7 win and 50 Free with a 14-5 win. Rachel Heim continued her dominance with a first-place finish in the 200 Fly with a time of 2:07.83, while Cecere took third with a time of 2:10.15. Donovan, Abby Corcoran (Tucson, Ariz.), and Funk swept the 50 Free, finishing first, third, and fourth, respectively.
Lindsay Hamilton (White City, Saskatchewan) got the divers off to a good start on the one meter boards with a first-place finish and a score of 284.70. Freshman Kristin Capcik (Milwaukee, Wisc.) performed well in her first meet, finishing fifth with a score of 223.20
Eastern Michigan took the next event with a close 10-9 win in the 100 Free despite second, third, and fourth-place finishes from Donovan, Corcoran, and Brooks, respectively. Bocharnikova recorded her first first-place finish of the year in the 200 Back with a time of 2:04.48, leading the `Cats to a 16-3 win in the event. Stearns and Owen finished second and third in the event, with times of 2:04.77 and 2:06.69, respectively.
"Overall, I thought it was a well balanced performance by our team," said Werner. "We had a bunch of different girls win their events and most importantly, we had good depth. I think that was really the key to tonight's win."
Chomicz scored a crucial nine points in the 200 Breast to help Ohio win the event 10-9. She swam a 2:22.94, just a few seconds shy of her personal best, while Stella Johnson (Jacksonville, Fla.) took fourth with a time of 2:34.64.
The Eagles responded in the 500 Free with a 12-7 victory, but Heim and Sprosty helped the `Cats take the next event in the 100 Fly in a narrow 11-8 victory, finishing first and fourth respectively.
In the last three events, Eastern Michigan finished with strong victories in the three meter boards and 200 IM, but Ohio was able to capture a 13-4 win in the 400 Freestyle Relay to seal the meet. Brooks, Sprosty, Owen, and Corcoran finished first with a time of 3:33.88, while Kristyn Repke (Cary, N.C.), Megan Gegesky (Grosse Ile, Mich.), Games, and Katie Power (Ottawa, Ontario,) took third place with a time of 3:41.11.
The `Cats improve to 1-0 in MAC competition as they return to the pool tomorrow afternoon against the Toledo Rockets at 1 p.m.
"We are very excited for tomorrow's meet," said Werner. "Obviously, they are the defending conference champions so we're looking forward to see how we will stack up against them. We will definitely have to be better than we were today, but we're excited."
