Miami University
MAC Championships
RedHawks Take Charge On Opening Day Of MAC Championships
2/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 26, 2004
OXFORD, Ohio - Miami University's women's swimming & diving team jumped out to the early lead at the 2004 Mid-American Conference Championships, winning two events in scoring 212 points on the day. The host RedHawks sit ahead of Akron (147 points) in second place, Eastern Michigan (145) in third and Ohio (131) and Ball State (116) rounding out the top five.
Senior Amy Miranda (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) got the day started, winning her third consecutive MAC Championship in the 500 free. Miranda, who took second as a freshman, touched the wall in a season-best 4:51.35, just 0.20 seconds ahead of sophomore Katie Forster (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) in second. The Red and White duo also took the top two spots in the preliminary heat. Junior Michelle Reynolds (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming) also qualified for the finals of the 500 free, taking 11th place.
The RedHawks ended the night with a win in the 400 medley relay. The relay, consisting of Forster, junior Trisha Lamb (Oregon, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy), sophomore Katie Unger (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) and redshirt freshman Maggie Bulla (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline), edged Bowling Green with a time of 3:50.08. The Falcons finished less than a second back, at 3:51.06.
Miami put three swimmers in the championship heat of the 200 individual medley, with a fourth RedHawk topping the consolation field. Sophomores Laura Armbruster (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton) and Unger led the way, taking third and fourth, respectively. Freshman Ashley Seymour (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) finished sixth, while junior Cortney Dice (Pittsburgh, Pa./Hampton) finished ninth as the winner of the consolation heat.
Sophomore Christin Eberst (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) was the leading point-scorer in the preliminaries of the one-meter diving before taking third in the final with 260.05 points. Senior Heidi Willemssen (Prior Lake, Minn./Lakeville) also scored from the one-meter board, taking ninth, while freshman Katie Meister (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) narrowly missed scoring in her first MAC Championships, taking 17th, just 0.21 points out of scoring range.
In the 50 free, junior Christel Frantz (Westlake, Ohio/Westlake) took sixth and classmate Andrea Hocevar (Richmond Heights, Ohio/Hawken School) finished 11th to score points for the Red and White. The sprinting duo teamed up with Unger and freshman Diana Zeleznikar (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) to take third in the 200 free relay. The Miami relay opened the evening session, finishing the distance in 1:35.74.
Miranda's 500 free championship is the sixth title of her career, having won each of the first three 1650 free events she has competed in, while the 400 medley relay championship is Miami's first relay championship since 2002. That year it topped the 400 free relay field, the only other blemish for Ohio, which has won every other relay MAC Championship over the past seven years.
Day two of the 2004 MAC Championships kicks off at 11 a.m. at the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center. The events scheduled for day two are the 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 backstroke, three-meter diving and the 800 free relay. Miami's Lamb is the defending MAC Champion in both the 100 and 200 back.
Players Mentioned
