On-paper assumptions are usually wrong in sports - that's why teams compete.
That could not be more true for the Ohio men's swimming and diving team.
The Bobcats overcame a tumultuous season, after losing all four Mid-American Conference dual meets, to finish fourth in the MAC Championships this weekend with a team score of 515.
Diver Robert Krichbaum won his second consecutive three-meter diving event (475.90) and took second in the one-meter (283.35). He was later named MAC Most Outstanding Diver when the postseason awards were handed out.
Robert is a tremendous performer
Ohio coach Greg Werner said. He always competes and he always fights to the very end. In the three-meter he came back in the fourth round took the lead by a point in the fifth round and in the sixth
he extended it.
Werner said he was thoroughly impressed with the way the swimmers dropped time and the divers executed very difficult dives. Of 51 individual races, the Bobcats had lifetime bests in 37 of them.
Freestyler Donald Jupp had a career meet, posting a lifetime best in the 50 free (20.79) and taking second overall. He also finished seventh in the 100 free (46.37) and was the anchor in the second-place 200 medley relay (1:31.80) with Phil Zawadski, Nick Ivey and Mike Shelby. Shelby, who was considered a favorite in the 100 butterfly, backed up that seeding by finishing second with a time of 49.85. He also placed seventh in the 50 free (21.24) and was part of the second-place 200 free relay (1:22.33) along with Jupp, Jan Wuttig and Jason Folt.
Mike had a great year
Werner said. He rededicated himself to change things (from last year)
and he stood up and made finals in the 50 free and 100 fly. He also had some great relay splits and certainly established himself as one of the best swimmers in the MAC.
Ohio's Matthew Bey further solidified the Bobcats in the stroke events by finishing fourth in the 100 fly (50.11) and sixth in the 100 back. Distance freestyler Jon Palmer clocked 4:31.06 in the 500 free, which was good enough for fourth.
Unfortunately for the rest of the league, Eastern Michigan did follow what was supposed to happen on paper. The Eagles were a 300-400 point favorite going into the meet and backed that assumption by winning convincingly with 1010 points, a MAC record for most points in a meet. The team victory gave the Eagles their 24th championship and fifth straight.
Miami finished second with 699 points while Ball State ended in third (592 points) and Buffalo finished last with 322 points.
At the end of the meet, the MAC coaches voted on postseason awards. In addition to earning the MAC Most Outstanding Diver award, Krichbaum was placed on the All-MAC first team, and Werner was named Coach of the Year. Shelby, Bey and Palmer were voted onto the All-MAC second team
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Laurie Duffy
