Miami Swimming Team Recaptures MAC Lead
2/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 27, 2009
Day 3 Team Scores 
Day 3 Results
PHOTO GALLERY from Friday afternoon
PHOTO GALLERY from Friday evening
BOWLING GREEN--More record performances by Miami University's women's swimming and diving team lifted the RedHawks to the lead after Friday's events at the Mid-American Conference Championships.
Miami is atop the team standings after the third day, totaling 430 points, but it remains a three-team race. Ohio (398.5) and Toledo (397.5) are right on the RedHawks' heels. The balance of the standings shows Eastern Michigan in fourth place (322.5), followed by Buffalo (233), Akron (226), Bowling Green (199) and Ball State (132.5).
Friday evening's action was capped by a thrilling RedHawk effort in the 400 medley relay. The unit of senior backstroker Malarie Schmidt (Batavia, IL), sophomore breaststroker Kelsey Vehr (Cincinnati), junior butterflyer Allison Way (Omaha, NE) and senior freestyle Allison Stevens (Laurel, MD) broke every record on the board, becoming the first MAC foursome to eclipse 3:40. Their time of 3:39.65 broke their own MAC standard (3:41.98), as well as the meet and pool records. Schmidt bounced back from a disappointing sixth-place finish in the 100 backstroke to give the RedHawks a first-leg lead (:55.48). Vehr followed up with a 1:00.57 time in the breaststroke to maintain the slim edge. Way's effort of :53.81 in the butterfly set the stage for an amazing :49.79 time by Stevens in the freestyle, and the victory and 40 additional team points belonged to Miami.
"The 400 medley relay performance was simply awesome," said Miami head coach Dave Jennings. "Malarie came back strong from earlier in the night. Kelsey and Allison held on with great efforts, and Allie brought us home. This capped a very good day for us. Now, we've just got to keep the momentum going on Saturday."
Vehr gave Miami its first individual title of the meet, winning the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:01.13, just 35/100ths of a second in front of Toledo's Kylie Gamelier. Vehr's win plus a fourth-place finish by sophomore Megan Brunn (Mansfield), an eighth-place finish by senior Paige Iversen (New Hope, PA) and a 14th-place effort by junior Claire Fogarty (Kettering) provided Miami with 49 team points.
Vehr was also a standout in the 400 individual medley, placing third in a time of 4:19.51.
In the 100 butterfly, Way finished fourth in a time of :54.61. Sophomore Nicole Roddenbery (Peachtree, GA) placed seventh , clocking :55.78.
The RedHawks got a particularly strong effort in the 200 freestyle, getting three top-eight finishes. Stevens clocked 1:47.69 to place second, senior Alyson Schmidt (Mainesville) finished third in a time of 1:48.05, freshman SARAH RADKE (Cincinnati) was sixth (1:48.69), freshman Chelsey Bruington (Mission Viejo, CA) was 12th (1:50.51) and senior Maggie French (Dunwoody, GA) was 13th (1:50.88). Altogether, they accounted for 55 team points.
In the 100 backstroke, Malarie Schmidt led the way for Miami in sixth-place (:56.12). Junior Kasey Carpenter (Cincinnati) placed ninth (:56.50), senior Tenley Marsteller (Erie, PA) was 12th (:56.71), and Roddenbery was 15th (:58.00). The four swimmers added 29 team points to Miami's total.
The MAC Championships conclude Saturday at Bowling Green's Student Recreation Center.
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