2004 marked the year in which the tsunami ravaged the Indian Ocean region, Athens, Greece hosted the 28th Summer Olympics, and Mark Zuckerburg founded Fackbook. This year also marked the start of Ohio’s winning streak against Marshall.
With a 167-116 dual-meet win in Huntington, W. Va., Ohio was able to expand its winning streak against Marshall to nine – the second-longest winning streak the Bobcats have against any team this season. More importantly, the Bobcats improved their record to 2-2 after starting 0-2.
Although Ohio coach Greg Werner warned last week that Marshall has a lot of good performers and that one never knows what will happen on the road, the Bobcats were not impressed at all.
The Bobcats easily won the first four of 16 events to go 51-15. Tori Bagan and Caroline Meyer joined Anastasia Bocharnikova and Laurin Williams on the A-relay for the 200-yard medley for the first time this year and started the meet with a win.
Only competing for the second time as a Bobcat, freshman Bianca Hauzer, from South Africa, won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:22.51, the fastest time any Bobcat has swum this year. Williams, in the meantime, received a break from long distances.
Also receiving a break from their usual distances were seniors Katey Brooks and Lauren Funk as they did not compete in the usual 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events but had to compete in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke, respectively.
Despite the lineup changes and having a new renowned coach in Bill Tramel, who was an associate coach at Minnesota, The Thundering Herd was not able to even get close to a win. Winning only six of 16 events wasn’t enough to threaten the Bobcats at any point in the meet.
Still, falling to Ohio by only 51 points instead of the 76-point margin a year ago, it felt like a win for Marshall.
“Our hard work is really starting to show,” Tramel said in a statement. “I felt like we won tonight.”
Coach Werner could not be reached for comment after the meet.
am794811@ohiou.edu
