Miami University
Miami Invitational
Final Day of Miami Invitational Begins
12/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Dec. 3, 2011
OXFORD, Ohio - Junior Bekka Westrick, already a three-event winner over the weekend, qualified first in two more events Saturday morning to lead the Miami women at the Miami Invitational at the Nixon Aquatic Center. Westrick swam top times in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle while sophomore Dan Nemeth was the top qualifier for the Miami men, racing to seventh in the 100-yard freestyle.
Westrick (54.51) led the RedHawks to a sweep of the top three spots in the 100 fly as junior Maegan O'Connor (55.16) and senior Brittany Rohr (56.00) qualified second and third, respectively. Westrick's time is a career-best and the second-best in Miami history behind '09 graduate Allison Way, who holds the school record with a 54.41.
Nemeth finished second in his heat in a career-best time of 46.18 to qualify seventh in the 100 free. Freshman Joe Baumgartner and senior Chris Gunnels will also return for the men in the 100 free as Baumgartner turned in a time of 46.57 to earn 12th place and Gunnels went a 47.46 to qualify 21st.
Junior Leah Thornton, the meet champion in the 100-yard backstroke on Friday night, swam a season-best time of 2:00.20 to qualify first in the 200-yard backstroke. Thornton will also return for finals in the 200-yard IM after qualifying fourth.
Freshman Courtney Collett swam a career-best time of 4:56.85 in the 500-yard freestyle to earn the third spot. It was just the second time in her career that she has been under the 5-minute mark in the event.
Junior Stacie Clagg, who won the 100-yard breaststroke on Friday, qualified second in the 200-yard breaststroke and third in the 200 IM.
Other top qualifiers for the men were junior Alex Reinhardt, who came in 11th in the 500 free with a season-best time of 4:39.10, and fellow junior Anderson Whipp, who swam a lifetime-best 2:11.80 in the 200 breaststroke to earn the 15th spot.
Diving prelims will begin today (Dec. 3) at 2 p.m. with finals for both swimming and diving starting at 6 p.m. as the Miami Invitational wraps up.
Players Mentioned
