Jan. 14, 2006
Courtesy of Miami Athletic Media Relations
OXFORD, Ohio - In its first meet of 2006, the Miami University women's
swimming and diving team (6-1, 4-0 MAC) showed no signs of rust after a
six-week break from competition as the RedHawks beat a pair of Big East
schools and finished first in its quadrangular home meet.
On Friday afternoon at the Nixon Aquatic Center, Miami placed first with
189 points and bested two Big East foes, the second-place Louisville
Cardinals (167 points) and the third-place Cincinnati Bearcats (101). The
Kenyon Ladies, a Division III powerhouse, finished fourth with 79 points.
The RedHawks posted wins in six events as junior swimmer Margaret Patrick
(Marietta, Ga.) and senior diver Christin Eberst (Clifton Park, N.Y.) each
tallied a pair of wins. Patrick upped her individual win total to eight
with her sweep of the freestyle sprint events, while Eberst's pair of wins
on the boards gave her a team-leading 12 first-place finishes on the
season.
Miami's "A" relay team started the meet with a third-place finish in the
400 medley relay, clocking in at 3:54.37, and freshman Jenn Flaherty
(Scarborough, Maine) followed with Miami's first win of the meet in the
1,000 free. Flaherty finished nearly four seconds ahead of the
second-place swimmer, touching the wall in 10:20.76, and the individual
win was her eighth of the season and fifth in the 1,000 free.
After senior Katie Forster (Centerville, Ohio) and junior Maggi Bulla
(Cincinnati, Ohio) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 200
free, Patrick was the top finisher in the 50 free with a first-place time
of 23.75. Miami then placed a pair of swimmers among the top three of the
200 IM as senior Katie Unger (Hartland, Wis.) and freshman Malarie Schmidt
(Batavia, Ill.) finished second and third, respectively.
The RedHawks won two of the next three events as Eberst and Patrick each
posted their second wins of the afternoon. Eberst was the top finisher in
the one-meter dive with a season-best score of 305.8, while Patrick was
the first-place swimmer in the 100 free in 52.26. Patrick's time was a
season-best and a new Miami unshaved record in the event.
After a third-place showing by Bulla in the 200 back and a second-place
finish by Forster in the 500 free, Miami closed the meet with wins in both
the three-meter dive and 400 freestyle relay. Eberst led a trio of RedHawk
divers who placed in the top three spots on the three-meter board, and
Miami's "A" relay team posted a first-place time of 3:32.85 in the 400
free relay.
Miami resumes Mid-American Conference dual meet action next weekend when
it travels to face the Toledo Rockets on Jan. 21. Against the Rockets, the
RedHawks will be looking to extend their streak of 36 consecutive
conference dual meet wins which dates back almost five years.