The final weekend of dual meets proved to be a tough one for the Ohio men's and women's swimming and diving teams.
The women split the weekend, losing to rival Miami, 189-109, Friday in Oxford and squeaking by Ball State, 155-145, Saturday in Muncie, Ind. The men fell to a rolling Ball State team, 165-78, on Saturday.
While the men knew how good the Cardinals were, they probably were not expecting to see Ball State win 11 of 13 events. Ohio diver Robert Krichbaum won the 3-meter with a score of 288.68. He also placed second in the 1-meter (268.72), falling to Cardinal diver Ryan Plantz by 10 points.
In the last event of the afternoon, Ohio's 400 freestyle relay of Mike Shelby, Eric Flecher, Jon Palmer and Jan Wuttig brought home a seven-second victory in a time of 3:13.94. That time is the fastest posted by a Bobcat relay this season.
The women fared better against Ball State, winning 11 of 16 events. Ohio backstroker Shannon Kelly picked up wins in the 200-yard individual medley (2:08.70), 100 butterfly (57.42) and 100 back (58.65).
Ohio freestyler Becky McGaughey put in her best performance of the season in the 100 free with a time of 1:53.82 and the 100 free in 53.31. She was also the anchor on the meet-clinching 400 free relay (3:34.03).
Against Miami, Ohio was not so lucky. The team won only five of 16 races, which included one relay. Kelly and McGaughey continued to impress.
Kelly took first in the 200 IM, 100 free and 50 free while McGaughey won the 200 free and swam third for the winning 200 free relay.
With the weekend split, the Ohio women move to 9-2 overall and 7-1 in the Mid-American Conference. The men slid to 0-4 in the MAC and 1-6 overall. Now finished with regular season competition, both teams now begin their taper and look forward to MAC Championships. The women's meet will be held at Miami Feb. 26-28 while the men will travel to Eastern Michigan March 4-6.
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