Beginning the season with its third coach in a calendar year, Ohio had some first-meet jitters Saturday against Ohio State.
First year coach Rachel Komisarz-Baugh guided the Bobcats to their first dual meet of the season in the Aquatic Center, and despite gaining momentum early, the Bobcats lost 206-92.
Ohio’s fast start was largely due to the quartet of sophomore Laura Dawson, senior Tori Bagan, sophomore Carrie Dukes and junior Haley Clark, who finished first in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:47:55.
The momentum continued into the following event when redshirt junior Bianca Hauzer took a second-place finish in the 1000-yard freestyle. Ohio found itself back in first place in the fourth and fifth events of the day, as junior Addy Ferguson took home the top spot in the 100-yard backstroke and Bagan finished in front of the pack in the breaststroke.
The Bobcats only had three first-place finishes in 14 swimming events, however.
“I think the girls showed a lot of heart,” Komisarz-Baugh said in an interview with Ohio Athletics. “Overall, I’m very pleased with their performances. We definitely had some highlights, and it definitely showed us where we have things to work on.”
Komisarz-Baugh said the final result was not how they anticipated to start the year, but proved they are strong in some areas.
There were just two diving events Saturday, and senior Morgan Srail took the top spot of the three-meter dive with a score of 304.5, while freshman Karrisa Conner finished fourth with a score of 197.62. In the one-meter dive, Srail finished third with a score of 239.47.
Diving coach Russ Dekker was happy with his two divers, especially Conner.
“For a first meet, you don't really know what to expect. I thought they did a good job,” Dekker said in an interview with Ohio Athletics. “Karrisa [Conner] really improved from what she's been doing. She was nervous, so it was nice to see her start to relax and dive a bit more like she does in practice.”
One of the key themes surrounding this weekend was nerves, but the strong performances in some events may help the Bobcats focus on improving throughout the year.
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