December 4, 2014, Oxford, OH – The 21st Annual Miami Invitational got underway today, as teams from Denison University, University of Cincinnati, Emory University, Urbana University, and Wright State convened at the Nixon Aquatic Center to battle it out over the next three days.
On this, the first night of finals, the Emory Eagle women kicked off the meet with a win in the 200y freestyle relay. The squad of sophomore Claire Liu (23.71), sophomore Marissa Bergh (23.21), senior Dana Holt (23.74), and senior Nancy Larson (22.64) combined to take first place in a time of 1:33.30. Miami University was right on their heels, touching the wall just .04 later in a time of 1:33.34. The University of Cincinnati women closed out the top three spots with their time of 1:33.51.
The University of Cincinnati men swam to a first place finish in their 200 freestyle relay tonight. The Bearcat men of sophomore Eitan Holder, freshman Ryan Charbonneau, sophomore Connor Davis, and sophomore D.J. Waite put together a winning time of 1:21.99 to beat out second place Denison (1:22.19) and third place Wright State (1:22.26).
Next up in the women’s 500y freestyle, Bearcat sophomore Jackie Keire earned an NCAA “B” cut with her winning time of 4:46.27. This was a nice time drop from the last time she swam this event against EMU earlier this season, where she clocked a 4:57.86. Denison’s Campbell Costley finished in second place (4:51.84), while Stephanie Pearce from Miami claimed the third spot in 4:52.30.
An Emory man won the 500y freestyle tonight, as Farragut, TN native, Christian Baker, touched the wall in 4:26.36. This was an improvement for the sophomore, as his last time out in this event (against UNCW in October) resulted in a final time of 4:39.47. Tonight, Baker was followed by University of Cincinnati swimmer Eitan Holder (4:26.56) and Denison freshman Stuart Hohm (4:27.82).
The Emory Eagles followed up with a win in the men’s 200y individual medley. Junior Andrew Wilson clocked a 1:47.59 to land him in the top spot. Mitchell Stover from Wright State closed in second place in a time of 1:48.65, while Jack Lindell from Denison swam a time of 1:49.48 to earn third place.
Jackie Keire (Cincinnati) claimed another win tonight, as she went from one end of the freestyle speed spectrum (the 500y she won earlier) to the other, clocking the fastest 50y freestyle time (22.94) in tonight’s final. That surpasses the NCAA “B” mark for the sophomore out of Ontario. Miami University’s Annie Marquiss finished second with a 23.16, while Denison’s Carolyn Kane rounded out the top three with her 23.25 time.
The men’s 50y freestyle was won by Miami University senior Joe Baumgartner. His 20.20 time kept his winning streak alive, with Baumgartner swimming to a first-place finish in every meet this season, according to the Miami University Swim & Dive website. Ryan Fleming from Denison (20.56) finished second tonight, followed by Ollie Smith from Emory in third (20.62).
The University of Toledo Rocket women pulled out the win to close out the session in the final event, the women’s 400y medley relay. The combined efforts of Maria Bargardi, Sammy Richart, Katrin Streicher, and Brooke Edwards took Toledo to the top of the podium in a time of 3:43.19.
On the men’s side of the relay, Emory University went with the line-up of Mitchell Cooper, Andrew Wilson, Hayden Baker, and Alex Hardwick to earn the win in 3:16.70.
Competition resumes with prelims beginning at 11am Eastern on Thursday.
Full Meet Results Available Here
*NOTE: the women’s 200y individual medley results were not available at the time this article was published