One family member’s heartbreak was another’s triumph at the Mid-American Conference Championships this weekend.
While Ohio freshman swimmer Tori Bagan watched her team come up just short in the competition, her sister McKenzie celebrated Toledo’s win.
Ohio coach Greg Werner said the Bagans were happy for their oldest daughter, a junior for the Rockets, but were disappointed as the Bobcats finished second.
The Bobcats got out to an early lead during day one of competition as Ohio cruised to a first-place finish.
But Toledo had a stronger second day than Ohio and scored 80 points in the second round as the Rockets climbed from third place to first. The Rockets never looked back, winning with 635.
The results were opposite what happened last year, when Ohio edged out Toledo in the tournament.
“We’re proud of what we accomplished, but we weren’t perfect by any means and we know we could have been a little bit better,” Werner said. “We knew that this competition had the potential to go all 20 events, and it certainly did.”
He credited the improvement he has seen in the MAC the past few years to the heated competition and said the conference is the best mid-major league in the country.
Werner told the team before the third day that for the first time all year Ohio did not have the target on its back, and Ohio responded with its best effort of the weekend.
The Bobcats went into the third day of competition trailing the Rockets by 11 points in the standings and won their first heats of the competition.
Despite a strong effort from sophomore Rachel Stearns, who won the 200-backstroke while breaking a conference record, and freshman Morgan Srail, it was not enough to push the Bobcats over the top.
Srail finished second in the three-meter diving competition and broke former Ohio diver Lindsey Hamilton’s program record.
Werner said the team would have liked to finish first, but overall it was a good team effort with several strong performances.
Tori Bagan finished fourth in the 100-yard backstroke Friday while her sister finished fifth in the 200-yard freestyle relay Saturday.
“While it stings not to be hoisting the championship trophy, they can be proud of their accomplishments,” Werner said. “Because of that, it just makes it a little bit easier to accept the fact that there was a team that was better than you up there.”
mk277809@ohiou.edu
