Toledo fell to Bowling Green, 182-118 on Friday. Bowling Green’s Victoria Griffin posted a 50.89 100 freestyle, just .01 away from making the team’s top 10 all time list.
Toledo:
TOLEDO, OH – Toledo swimming and diving opened up Mid-American Conference action on Friday but fell to Bowling Green 182-118 in its home opener at the UT Student Rec Center.
The Rockets recorded six victories in the 16 events at Friday’s meet, as sophomore Katrin Streicher led the way, scoring wins in the 100 and 200-yard butterfly. In the 200 fly, Streicher touched with a time of 2:05.49 and in the 100 fly she recorded a 56.96.
“I don’t think this was the best version of ourselves,” said head coach Chris Peters. “Three of our team leaders, Kat, Lauren and Sammy, were all injured yet they still won events. I am really proud of them, they showed toughness and leadership. After the meet I told the team that if they follow those girls’ lead, we will be a completely different team next week for MSU.”
Seniors Samantha Richart and Lauren Comer took the top places in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard freestyle, respectively. Richart placed with a time of 1:03.28 and Comer touched at 2:09.01. Comer also posted a second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle.
Both Rocket divers both took home their first wins of the year. Senior Jamie Schindler scored first in the one-meter (220.57) and sophomore Danielle Forbes won the three-meter with a score of 182.47. Schindler notched third in the three-meter with a 145.90 mark.
Senior Brooke Edwards posted a second and third-place finishes in the 100 and 50-yard freestyles, respectively.
Sophomore Jessica Avery and Richart took the second and third-place spots in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Sophomore Maggie Hack and junior Rachael Hester both scored points for the Rockets in freestyle events. Hack finished second in the 200-yard free and Hester touched second in the 1,000-yard freestyle.
Both of UT’s relay teams finished second on the night.
The Midnight Blue and Gold return to action next Friday, Nov. 6 when they welcome Michigan State to the UT Student Rec Center for a 5:00 p.m. meet.
Swimming news courtesy of Toledo Swimming & Diving.
Bowling Green:
TOLEDO, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University swimming and diving program continued their strong start to the 2015-16 season on Friday evening, defeating the University of Toledo 182-118 at UT’s Student Recreation Center. For the Falcons, it was their second straight dual victory to begin the season, and their third straight victory over Toledo in a dual meet.
“The entire team – both swimmers and divers – came into today prepared and ready to race,” head coachMatt Ense, whose first season at the helm of the Orange and Brown is off to a strong start, said. “From the 200 medley relay all the way to the 400 free relay, we competed from start to finish and came out with a great team win.”
Several Falcons led the way, as the Orange and Brown were victorious in 10 of the 14 swimming events in the meet. For the second straight meet the Falcons started strong, winning the first four races to get out to a big lead. Five swimmers – Victoria Griffin, Maya Skorupski, Natalie Criswell, Kayla Effinger, and Franziska Wohlert – all were victorious in multiple events, led by Griffin’s three first-place swims.
Griffin, a junior who has twice been named first team All-MAC, won both the 50 and 100 free events, while also swimming the first leg in the 400 free relay team which turned in a first-place finish to close the meet out strong. Griffin’s swim of 50.89 seconds in the 100 free was just .01 seconds off a top 10 swim all-time in school history.
Skorupski started the meet off strong by getting the 200 medley relay team off to a strong start on their way to a first-place finish. She then turned around a few races later and finished first in the 100 back with a time of 56.98. For the second straight meet Wohlert won two events, turning in first-place finishes in the 200 free and 200 back.
Sophomore Natalie Criswell turned in an impressive performance, winning the two longest races of the day in the 500 free and 1000 free. A native of Portage, Mich., Criswell’s time of 10:24.63 in the 1000 free set a new personal best.
Senior Kayla Effinger was also impressive in both relays, helping the Orange and Brown book-end the meet with victories in both the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay.
In addition to the swimmers on Friday, the Falcons’ divers had a strong day. After several years of getting no contribution in dual meets off the 1- and 3-meter boards, the BGSU divers turned in 16 total points in the two diving events during the meet against their arch-rivals. In the 1 meter event, senior Rachel Perry turned in a second-place finish, while Claire Stam and Kylie Bosco finished right behind her. In the 3 meter dive, Stam finished second to help the Falcons past the Rockets in the meet.
Bowling Green will continue their season on Friday, Nov. 13 with a tri-meet at Michigan State University. The Falcons will swim against both the Spartans and the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Both Ense and assistant coach Jaclyn Rosen were assistants at UC last season. The meet will begin at 5:00 p.m. at MSU’s McCaffree Pool.
Swimming news courtesy of Bowling Green Swimming & Diving.