Saturday, February 26
Athens, Ohio
TBA
Bowling Green State University
at
MAC Championships Day 4 (@ Athens, Ohio)
Photo by: BGSU Photography
Falcons Swim To Potential NCAA Berths At MAC Championships
February 27, 2011 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Several Bowling Green State University athletes will spend the coming first week of March anxiously awaiting an NCAA announcement. The result of that announcement could be a trip to Austin, Texas.
No, this has nothing to do with Selection Sunday or basketball; it has everything to do with swimming and how the Falcon swimming team performed at the 2011 Mid-American Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.
Over the four-day championship meet at the Aquatic Center in Athens, Ohio, the BGSU swim team earned five different times that beat the NCAA “B” standards for entry into the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Those will be held March 17-19 in Austin, Texas.
Those who meet the “A” standards receive automatic berths to the NCAA meet. The NCAA then takes a certain number of “B” qualifiers, based on the event in question. If you want to compare it to basketball, it's like being on the at-large “bubble” for the NCAA tournament.
Alexis Kain, a sophomore from Cincinnati, Ohio, has perhaps the best opportunity for an NCAA berth. In fact, she will have two chances. First, Kain beat the “B” standard in the 100 breaststroke. In the preliminary round, she earned a time of 1:02.05. She then raced the 100 in 1:02.27 in the final for a fourth place finish. The preliminary time is a new BGSU record.
On Saturday night, Kain absolutely destroyed her previous best in the 200 breaststroke. Her career-best to date was 2:19.80. In Saturday's final, she eclipsed that by seven seconds and set another BGSU record in the process. Kain placed fourth, finishing in 2:12.78. In 2010, the NCAA invited swimmers with times of 2:12.11 and better.
In the same race, fellow Cincinnati native Amanda Rom qualified for the “B” standard by swimming the 200 in 2:16.16. The time earned a fifth-place finish for Rom, who also placed in the 100 breaststroke. She finished in 1:03.25 for tenth place.
Vicky Yu, who has a gold medal and multiple BGSU records to her name, wanted to join in the fun. Thus, on Saturday, Yu met the “B” standard and came within a whisker of breaking her own BGSU record in the 200 butterfly. Yu flew to the finish in 2:00.42; her record in the event is 2:00.26.
Sarah Burston, a senior in her final MAC championship event, earned points for the Falcons by placing 11th overall with a time of 2:02.93.
However, the highlight of the entire meet was perhaps the 200 freestyle relay. In that event, the team of Brittany Szekely, Carrie Enright, Emily Bennet and Sarah Reinink combined to break the BGSU record for the event and eclipse the “B” standard time for the NCAA championship meet. The group also earned the team's only medal of the meet, placing second to grab the silver. Reinink, the final leg of the relay, touched the finish after a total time of 1:32.37.
The Falcons broke a fourth school record in the 400 medley relay. Alexis Kain, the second leg of the relay, was again involved in a record-breaking event. She was joined by Alexa Harris, Sarah Burston and Emily Bennet. The four combined for a time of 3:44.47 and a fourth-place finish.
Saturday's action included four other events. In the 1650 consolation final, Megan Bomicino and Kristina Roop earned points for Bowling Green. Bomicino placed 13th (17:01.70), while Roop finished three spots behind in 16th.
Sophomore Alexa Harris competed well in the 200 backstroke. She earned a spot in the championship final with a preliminary race of 2:00.23. She turned that time into 2:00.88 in the final and placed seventh.
Three Falcons placed in the 100 freestyle event. Brittany Szekely closed out her first MAC championship meet in eighth place, completing the swim in 51.32 seconds. Emily Bennet and Sarah Reinink finished back-to-back in 15th and 16th place, respectively.In the final race of the championships, the Orange and Brown earned sixth place in the 400 freestyle relay. As the second leg, Carrie Enright swam her last laps as a Falcon. She was joined by Szekely, Reinink and Bennet.
As a team, Bowling Green secured 312.5 points to tie for sixth with Akron. The two schools were 50 points ahead of last-place Ball State. Fifth-place Buffalo was only 16 points ahead of the Falcons and Zips. Eastern Michigan earned a spot in the top half of the standings with 385 points.
Ohio University, host of the championship meet, won the 2011 MAC Championship with 669.5 points. Defending champion Toledo took second place after a 630.5 point showing.
Complete results from the MAC Championships can be found HERE. We here at BGSUFalcons.com will be watching for the NCAA's announcement regarding entries into the 2011 NCAA championship meet. Check back with us to find out if Bowling Green's swimming season will continue in Austin, Texas.
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