Ohio (4-1, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) continued its success on Saturday for the team’s senior day, defeating Eastern Michigan (4-2, 2-1 MAC) by a dominant score of 272.5-79.5.
Ohio coach Mason Norman commented on the seniors' importance to the program and how the celebration of senior day helped Ohio dominate a fellow MAC opponent.
“These young ladies have been an integral part of building this program,” Norman said. “They’ve helped the program stay undefeated at home since November of 2020.”
The first event of the day was the 3-meter dive where sophomore Astrid Pichardo took first with a personal best of 306 points, followed by sophomore Stephanie Balthaser in fourth (245.33), freshman Camryn Quiggins in fifth (234.38) and senior Sophie Cooper in sixth at 222.54.
The first swim event of the day was the 200-meter medley race in which the Bobcats “A” team took first place with a time of 1:33.50 led by junior Allie Schrank, junior Casadie Dibetta, sophomore Zita Szoke and grad student Caroline Dunigan.
In the 1,000-yard freestyle, the Bobcats finished in the top two spots, with Ashley Sallows touching first at 10:18.35, followed by Maddie Berg in second at 10:28.29.
Dunigan easily took first in the 50-yard freestyle, crushing a personal best time of 22.82 seconds. Following her came sophomore Katie Buroker tied for third at 24.2, senior Julia Strine next in sixth with 24.39 and junior Alex Wayner finishing eighth at 24.46.
“(Dunigan’s) got a lot left in the tank; she’s great on relays, and she had the opportunity to be the top dog in that event and capitalized off,” Norman said. “She’ll be able to bring that energy into the MAC championship.”
Schrank took first in the 100-yard backstroke, clocking in at 54.79; following her came sophomore Melanie Schweikert in fourth (56.94), freshman Leah Guess in fifth (56.96) and freshman Sofia Matern in seventh, touching at 58.25.
Dibetta took first in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:01.22, followed by Strine in second (1:02.47), senior Edie Sawyer in third (1:03.33) and freshman AnnaLiess Stith finishing sixth at 1:05.87.
“We’ve been really working on (Dibetta’s) front-end speed, getting a clean dive off and it helped her shave three-tenths off what she went from her max last year,” Norman said. “She’s a defending MAC champion in the 100 and 200 Breastroke, and she showed it today.”
Szoke took first in the 100-yard butterfly, touching at 53.01, followed by Schrank in third (56.9), Wayner in fifth (58.47) and Guess clocking in at 58.9.
In the 200 freestyle, the Bobcats had four swimmers place in the top five, with Peyton Binnis finishing second (1:52.17), followed by Dunigan in third at 1:52.27, then Anna Mcgrath in fourth (1:52.29). Rounding out the group was Katie Burker in fifth at 1:53.88.
McKee took first in the 400 IM at 4:19.60, followed by junior Emily Ellsworth in second (4:24.92), junior Morgan Brown in third (4:26.70) and senior Raph Anglade finishing fourth finishing at 4:29.74.
In the final event of the day, the Bobcats “A” team took first in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:25.42 led by Szoke, Buroker, McGrath and Binnis.
The Bobcats will look to continue their success in Columbus for OSU’s Winter Invite taking place Feb. 14-16.
