Oct. 30, 2010
TOLEDO, Ohio - Two of the Mid-American Conference's swimming and diving heavyweights squared off Saturday in Toledo, but unfortunately for Ohio, it was the defending conference champion Rockets that managed to slip away with a 160.5-139.5 victory.
Toledo jumped out in front with an early lead through the first three events, claiming first-place finishes in the 200 Medley Relay, 1000 Free and 200 Free, respectively. Amanda Traylor (Los Alamitos, Calif.) helped pace Ohio in the 200 Free, tying for second with a 1:53.06.
The `Cats closed the gap with a strong showing in the 100 Back, taking three of the top four spots. Freshman Anastasia Bocharnikova (Nizhny Tagil, Russia) took the top spot at 58.19, while classmate Rachel Stearns (Minnetonka, Minn.) was close behind in second at 58.83. Sophomore Katie Power (Ottawa, Ontario) took fourth with a personal-best 1:00.35.
Events five and six, the 1000 Back and 200 Butterfly, saw the Rockets take the bulk of the points, before the Green and White made some nice ripples in the 50 Freestyle by taking the top three spots for a total of 16 points and closed the gap at 77.5 to 52.5. Anne Donovan (Findlay, Ohio) took the top spot at 23.80, while Lauren Funk (Springfield, Ohio) and Abby Corcoran (Tucson, Ariz.) finished second and third at 24.29 and 24.59, respectively.
Ohio's diving duo of Lindsay Hamilton (White City, Saskatchewan) and MaryRose Hillstrom (Dimondale, Mich.) took the top two spots on the one-meter board at 289.13 and 241.80, respectively. Coupled with Kristin Capcik's (Milwaukee, Wis.) 194.70, the `Cats narrowed the gap even more.
Rachel Heim (San Diego, Calif.) turned in a personal best in the 100 Free at 51.59, while Donovan and Katey Brooks (North Royalton, Ohio) came in third and fourth at 53.31 and 53.49, respectively. Ohio closed the gap to 86.5-81.5.
Bocharnikova and Stearns took second and third, respectively, in the 200 Back at 2:05.84 and 2:06.09 to keep the score tight. Toledo took 14 points in the 200 Breast to extend its lead, in spite of a strong showing from Petra Chomicz (King's Lynn, Norfolk, England) with a 2:23.24 to come in second place.
Following the 500 Free in which Toledo took most of the top spots, Heim took first in the 100 Butterfly with a 55.85 to keep the Rockets from extending the advantage much more.
Hillstrom and Hamilton gave the `Cats the top two finishers in the 3-Meter Dive. Hillstrom took the top spot at 240.50, with Hamilton recording a 237.80. Toledo responded by taking the top two spots in the 200 IM, however.
Bocharnikova, Stearns and Chomicz took three of the top five spots in the 200 IM, but the Rockets took the top two spots to get the majority of those points and essentially seal the win.
Ohio's team of Brooks, Traylor, Sarah Owen (Portsmouth, Hampshire, England) and Donovan took first in the 400 Free Relay at 3:31.29 to conclude the event, but it would not be enough to overcome Toledo in the final outcome.
The `Cats will return to the pool next Saturday, Nov. 6 as it hosts Bowling Green in the team's first home event of the year. Action is set to get under way at 1 p.m.
