After a slow start on the evening, the Ohio women's swimming and diving team ended the first day of the Mid-American Conference women's swimming and diving Championships on a high note with a come-from-behind win in the 400-yard medley relay.
The relay team of Melissa Dunn, Michaela Hahn-Lawson, Barbara de Sa' and Ilse Petersen won the event in a season-best time of 3:49.11, beating Toledo to the wall by .62 seconds.
Petersen, who swam a 50.88 freestyle leg, said she was ready to swim fast when she entered the water.
We really wanted to win
she said. Everyone was really excited so I think that gave me a lot of energy to swim fast.
Petersen also placed second in the 500 freestyle earlier in the evening with a time of 4:53.16.
Hahn-Lawson was Ohio's other top-three finisher on the night with a third-place finish in the 200 individual medley with a personal best time of 2:03.98. Lawson said she exceeded her expectations in her 200 IM race.
I guess as far as the IM goes if you're not a breaststroker
you're at a disadvantage
so for me to be a breaststroker is a huge advantage
she said. I just wanted to place well for team points.
Other top-16 finishers for the Bobcats were Jessica Waites, Becky McGaughey and Simone Swanepoel in the 500 freestyle; Debbie Thornbury in the 1-meter diving; Emily Wylam, Sigal Simsolo and Dunn in the 200 individual medley; and de Sa' and Lindsey DeStefano in the 50 freestyle.
DeStefano, de Sa', McGaughey and Petersen also finished fifth in the 200 freestyle relay (1:35.66).
Coach Greg Werner said there are areas where the team can improve during the next two days.
Today was our weakest day
he said. We had a couple of swims that were a little off but then we had a lot that were fantastic.
After the first day of competition, Miami is first with 163 points, followed by Ohio with 146.50 points. Eastern Michigan rounds out the top three with 140 points.
The 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 800 freestyle relay events will be contested today. The 3-meter diving preliminaries will also be held today.
Swimming preliminaries start at 11 a.m. today with diving preliminaries at 2:30 p.m. Finals begin at 7 p.m. All events will take place in the Aquatic Center.
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Julie Goldberg
