Ohio’s loss to Miami came with a silver lining, in the final meet of the regular season.
Although Ohio returned to compete at the Aquatic Center for the first time October, the Bobcats fell to the Redhawks Saturday during Senior Day.
The Bobcats, which have only won one of their nine dual meets this season, lost 172-126. Despite the final result, there were bright spots for Ohio with four Bobcats recording personal season-best times.
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“They swam so well and their individual performances were great,” coach Rachel Komisarz-Baugh said. “You really can’t be disappointed the scoreboard didn’t come out like we would want it to.”
The 200-yard medley relay of Addison Ferguson, Tori Bagan, Laura Dawson and Liz Murphy won convincingly with a time of 1:42.72, nearly five seconds ahead of second place.
Ferguson, a junior, won two other individual events Saturday. She finished first in the 100-yard backstroke with a season-best time of 55.16 seconds and won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.30 seconds.
Ferguson is looking forward to the Mid-American Conference Championships, where she could potentially earn a NCAA Zone Championships berth.
Dawson, a sophomore, also excelled individually after being a part of the winning relay team: She finished first in the 200-yard butterfly and the 200-yard backstroke with times of 2:04.38 and 2:00.23, respectively.
Dawson has won 13 of her last 15 events, but is keeping a team-first attitude in mind.
“It’s like, yeah, you’ve won this and you’ve won whatever, but I’m just trying to work on myself and trying to help the team out,” she said.
Bagan made the most of her Senior Day, adding to her relay win by finishing first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:02.56. She was honored alongside her fellow seniors: Michelle Gasior, Haleigh Bartlett and Stephanie Gyurke.
Bagan said he was going to miss competing with her teammates, which she calls her family. Although Komisarz-Baugh is only in her first season as a coach of the Bobcats, she’s known Gasior for almost a decade.
“I know I haven’t been here for very long, but I feel like I’m really close with (Bagan and Gasior),” Komisarz-Baugh said. “I’ve actually known Michelle since she was like 10 years old and gave her swim lessons way back in the day.
“It’s really hard to see them go. I always wanted a chance to coach Michelle again, so I’m glad that even though I’ve only had one year that I had that opportunity.”
Other notable finishes for Ohio includes junior Haley Clark and redshirt junior Bianca Hauzer, who posted two season-best times in the 500 and 1,000-yard freestyles. Hauzer finished first in the 500 and second in the 1,000.
Clark picked up two second-place finishes, including a personal best in the 50-yard freestyle in 24.16 seconds.
The Bobcats will continue to practice before traveling to Ypsilanti, Michigan, for the MAC Championships on Feb. 26.
“I think we’re in great position going into the MAC Championships right now,” Komisarz-Baugh said. “Our preparation is really to peak at the MAC Championships, so we’re not looking to peak at our dual meets or out-swim anybody.
“It’s really coming down to the MAC Championships and what we can do there. And we are right on track and ready to go.”
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