Miami Men's Swim Team Faces Xavier In Home Opener
10/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Oct. 22, 2009
OXFORD, Ohio - The Miami men's swimming and diving hosts Xavier in the team's home opener Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Nixon Aquatic Center.
Head coach Pete Lindsay's RedHawks (1-1, 1-1 MAC) opened the season on the road on Oct. 9-10 against Mid-American Conference foes Evansville and Southern Illinois, beating the Purple Aces and losing to the Salukis.
The visiting Musketeers face Cincinnati on Friday in their first meet of the season before travelling to Oxford.
Last season the Red and White defeated Xavier 148-112, winning nine of the 14 events. Current senior and team captain Michael Carroll (Toledo, Ohio) led the way winning the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes. Other top returning top performers from last year's meet are sophomores Brendan Melling (Solon, Ohio) and Chris Gunnels (Chapel Hill, N.C.). Melling won the 200- and 500-yard freestyles while Gunnels won the 1000-yard freestyle and was a member of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay.
This year, the RedHawks expect an improved Xavier team to challenge them more. "They've got some guys who are very fast in some events," Miami assistant coach John Janszen said of his alma mater. "If we swim like I know we can, we could win every event. But they are going to be close in a lot of them and if we are just a little off, they could beat us in a number of races. We need to be at our best."
The divers will not compete at the meet because the Musketeers do not have a diving program. Miami's women's team will also be competing against Xavier's women in the meet.