Marshall Upsets Cincinnati in Dramatic Fashion

Marshall University’s win over the University of Cincinnati came down to the very last event of the meet. The team of Lauren Cowher, Maggie Stovall, Gloriya Mavrova, and Chloe Parsemain took the final event of the meet, touching out Cincinnati by just over a second, and giving the Thundering Herd a meet win in dramatic fashion. The final score showed 126-117.

Women’s Meet:

Marshall 126, Cincinnati 117

Marshall 125, VMI 20

Cincinnati 205, VMI 20

Marshall hosted a double dual against Cincinnati and the Virginia Military Institute on Friday. Most of the competition was between the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Bearcats started out strong with a win in the 200 medley relay with the team of Lindsey Niehaus, Carlie Perretta, Iuliia Fedoreeva, and Jackie Keire. They finished a full second ahead of the Marshall team, which consisted of Carin Ingram, Alex Black, Chloe Parsemain, and Cowher.  Cincinnati then started their dominance in the free events, beginning with the 1000. Sara Wanasek took first in the 1000 free (10:21.06) and 500 free (5:04.16). She was joined by teammate and NCAA All-American Jacqueline Keire who took first in the 200 (1:5047) and 100 (50.56). Some other Bearcat event winners include: Tal Kidron (200 back, 2:03.89) and Perretta (200 breast, 2:22.18).

Mavrova had the first Marshall event win in the 50 free (24.14). She was followed by a Marshall winning streak:  Caroline Wanner  took first in the 400 IM (4:25.76) breaking a 2013 pool record, Megan Wolons 3 meter dive (260.70), and Maddie Schaffer 200 fly (2:06.04). Schaffer was followed by two Marshall teammates- Shir Wasserman and Wanner- to take the top three spots in the 200 fly.

After the Marshall winning streak, the Bearcats and Herd traded wins through the rest of the meet. Going into the final race of the meet, Cincinnati was leading by 4 points. As Marshall head coach Bill Tramel  stated in a press release, “It came down to winner-take-all.” Both teams knew that the final relay would determine the winner of the whole meet. Mashall was able to pull ahead in the final seconds to take the win.

Although it was not a high point scoring meet for VMI, there were still some key swims of note. McKenzie Raber set her 5th school record in the 400 IM (5:03.35). She bested the 10 year old school record by over 16 seconds. Furthermore, Rebecca Serrano broke the 100 breast school record by .01, touching in 1:14.96

Men’s Meet:

Cincinnati 206, VMI 27

Since Marshall does not have a men’s team, Cincinnati and VMI competed in a traditional dual. The Bearcats were very dominant, taking event wins in each event that was contested. Tyler Roehr took wins in both the 400 IM (4:08.60) and 200 breast (2:06.72). Another double event winner on the day was Louis Hunt, who took the 1 meter (241.95) and 3 meter (233.05).

Although VMI did not have any event wins, John Kelly stood out by taking 2nd in three events: 50 free (22.15), 100 free (48.64) and 400 free relay (3:16.45).

Next on the horizon for the teams:

• Cincinnati Men & Women vs. IUPUI on Oct 30th.
• Marshall vs. Davidson & Old Dominion on Oct 30-31st
• VMI Men &Women take on Manhattan on Nov 6th.