The Ohio men's swimming and diving team will put aside its 0-4 Mid-American Conference dual meet record as they compete at the MAC Championships in Oxford today through Saturday.
Coach Greg Werner said the team goal is to move up from last year's finish.
We were fourth (out of five teams) last year
so we would like to improve upon that he said. The idea is to be the best we've been all year (at MAC Championships).
Werner said the Bobcat men would be competitive in the sprint and distance freestyle events and sprint butterfly events, in which they have been strong all season.
Sprint freestyler Donald Jupp enters the meet ranked fifth in the conference in the 50-yard freestyle and 10th in the 100 freestyle.
Mike Shelby has the second-fastest time in the 100 butterfly in the conference entering this weekend's championships.
Slated to swim the 500 and 1650 freestyle and 400 individual medley events, Luke Herlehy said he is looking forward to competing in his first MAC Championships.
I'm really excited he said. All the other guys say it's a lot of fun and a good bonding experience.
Herlehy ranks sixth in the MAC in the 1650 freestyle, 13th in the 500 freestyle and 12th in the 400 individual medley entering the meet.
Diving coach Russ Dekker said Rick Wade is one of the divers in the MAC who could contend for the conference championship in both diving events.
I think he's going to be one of five or six guys that could win either (the 1-meter or 3-meter) boards or win both boards
he said. He's proven himself that he has beaten almost everybody in the conference at one point or another on one board or another.
Going into this weekend, Wade has the third-highest score on the 1-meter and seventh-highest score on the 3-meter springboard in the conference.
Werner said Eastern Michigan, which is aiming for its 25th conference title this weekend, would be the team to beat.
Swimming preliminaries begin at noon, with diving preliminaries following at 3 p.m. Finals start at 7 p.m. The 200 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 400 medley relay and 1-meter diving events will be contested today. All events will take place in the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center in Oxford.
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Julie Goldberg
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Senior Brian Teske practices his freestyle stroke during a practice early in the season.
