Miami University
Miami Invitational
Miami Women Surge Into Lead at Miami Invitational
12/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Dec. 5, 2009
OXFORD, Ohio--A bevy of talented Miami freshman swimmers and divers helped the RedHawks take over first place in a big way Friday night at the 16th Annual Miami Invitational.
The Red and White have 1,218 points through day two, 470 points ahead of second-place Florida Gulf Coast (748). Emory is in third place (741), followed by Illinois (578), Denison (531), Oakland (509), Cincinnati (393), Wright State (366) and Wisconsin-Milwaukee (116).
The RedHawks wasted no time in taking the overall lead in the meet with a second- and sixth-place finish in the opening race, the 200-yard medley relay. A freshman-laden unit, anchored by senior Allison Way, swam the distance in a season-best time of 1:33.85, just two one-hundredths of a second behind Emory's winners. Three freshmen--Bekka Westrick, Maegan O'Connor and Katie Arlinghaus--accompanied Way.
The RedHawks extended their points lead in the 200-yard butterfly by taking five of the top eight spots, led by freshman Leah Thornton's second-place finish with a time of 2:01.90. It was Thornton's second freshman record of the day. O'Connor placed fourth (2:03.81), Brittney Rohr was fifth (2:03.90), Claire Dickmann was sixth (2:05.78) and Kelsey Mallon finished eighth (2:06.11).
Miami's Molly Tyler swam a career-best time in the 200-yard freestyle with a mark of 1:53.55, good for second place in the "C" final. Way was barely touched out in the "A" finals, finishing second in a team-best time of 1:51.49. Westrick placed sixth and sophomore Sarah Radke was seventh.
Kelsey Vehr broke her own meet-record from Friday's prelims in the 100-yard breaststroke, hitting the wall in NCAA Div. 1 B qualifying time of 1:02.26. Brunn moved up a spot to finish second behind Vehr with a season-best time of 1:03.22.
In the 100 backstroke final, Thornton swam a season-best race to take first place. Her 55.20 clocking was a Div. 1 B qualifying time. Miami's Nicole Roddenbery placed sixth and O'Connor was seventh in the 100 back.
The 400-yard individual medley saw Miami's Vehr and Brunn place third and fourth in respective times of 4:24.79 and 4:25.03. Brunn's time was a season best for her.
Westrick topped the 50-yard freestyle entries at 23.41, nipping her closest competitor by two one-hundredths of a second, a season-best time. Way placed fourth and O'Connor finished seventh.
In the women's three-meter diving competition, Miami freshman Corrine Bangs tallied a season-best 317.40 points to claim second place. Fellow freshman Danica Roskos was third.
In the final event for the women, Miami's 400-yard medley relay team knocked nearly five seconds off of their previous time clocking (3:45.71), just 24 one-hundredths of a second better than runner-up Oakland.
The Invitational concludes Saturday with preliminary races at 9 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. There also will be a special diving exhibition at 5:45 p.m. that features a touring group of Chinese Olympic hopefuls, several U.S. elite youth, former RedHawk all-star Chris Heaton, and members of Miami's varsity men's and women's diving teams.
Fans who are unable to come to the Nixon Aquatic Center can watch Saturday night's finals via streaming video on www.MURedHawks.com.
--www.MURedHawks.com--
