Nov. 6, 2010
ATHENS, Ohio - In its first home meet of the season, the Ohio swimming and diving team cruised to a commanding 171-121 win Saturday over Mid-American Conference opponent Bowling Green. Senior diver Lindsay Hamilton had one of her best days as a Bobcat as she set a new school record on the three-meter boards with a score of 325.58, breaking her 2007 score of 316.65.
Ohio (2-1, 2-1 MAC) saw strong performances from both its upperclassmen and underclassmen as the `Cats won ten out of the 16 events. The 400 Medley Relay team of Anastasia Bocharnikova (Nizhny Tagil, Russia), Petra Chomicz (King's Lynn, Norfolk, England), Rachel Heim (San Diego, Calif.), and Annie Donovan (Findlay, Ohio) got the ball rolling with a first-place time of 3:51.78. The Rachel Stearns (Minnetonka, Minn.), Katey Brooks (North Royalton, Ohio), Morgan Sprosty (Irvine, Calif.), and Amanda Cecere (Chelmsford, Mass.) combination took third with a time of 3:59.74 to help seal a 13-4 lead.
"One of the things we talked about before was having a strong front half of the line up," said head coach Greg Werner. "They executed and performed well which gave us a nice lead."
Stacey Huber (Gainesville, Fla.), Laurin Williams (Shoreline, Wash.), and Stella Johnson (Jacksonville, Fla.) took first, second, and third in the 1000 Free with respective times of 10:20.28, 10:24.34, and 10:34.29 to increase Ohio's lead to 29-7. The Falcons would respond, however, in the 200 Free with a 13-6 advantage. Heim finished second in the event with a time of 1:56.40, while Kristen Witham (Fort Wayne, Ind.) took fifth at 1:56.63.
Bowling Green would cut Ohio's lead to 61-52 after winning the 100 Breast and 200 Fly despite solid finishes from Chomicz and Cecere. Donovan and Lauren Funk (Springfield, Ohio) got the `Cats back on track in the 50 Free as they finished first and second with times of 23.90 and 24.26, respectively. Donovan took first in the 100 Free as well with a time of 52.25, while Brooks and Funk took third and fourth with times of 53.15 and 53.81, respectively.
The `Cats won the 200 Back 15-5 as Bocharnikova continued her early-season success, placing first with a time of 2:05.53. Katie Power (Ottawa, Ontario) took second in the event with a career-best finish of 2:07.22, while Annika Games (Brea, Calif.) finished fourth with a 2:09.85. The Falcons would bounce back in the 200 Breast with a 14-5 win, despite a second-place finish from Chomicz with a time of 2:22.95.
"We have a lot of balance, said Werner. "I think one of our strengths this year is depth, but it's balance as well. Early in the season we're seeing it, and we hope we continue to see it because we have a long way to go. Things will change as you go through the season, but balance is our strength right now." Huber won her second event of the day in the 500 Free as she finished with a 5:04.97. Williams and Johnson placed second and third with times of 5:09.81 and 5:10.41, respectively, as Ohio dominated the event 16-1.
"It's very important that our older girls to come out and execute," said Werner. "They've been working hard and are in a tired position early on, so for them to come out and execute, it lets our younger girls see that. They see them doing it and they believe their time will come."
Divers Kristin Capcik (Milwaukee, Wisc.) and Alexa Gordish (North Canton, Ohio) also competed well as they finished second and third in the one and three-meter boards, respectively. Bowling Green did not compete in the diving events. The Falcons would take two out of the three final events with wins in the 100 Fly and 200 Freestyle Relay, but it would not be enough to top Ohio as the `Cats pulled away with the win.
"I'm pretty happy where we're at right now," said Werner. "We've had some great performances, some of them better than what I thought we'd have at this point. We would like to be 3-0, but if you can't be 3-0, 2-1 is second best."
Ohio returns to the Aquatic Center next weekend as they host in-state rival Ohio State. Action is set to begin at 5 p.m. Friday.
