Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Northwestern TYR Invitational
Swimming Faces Big Ten Challenge at TYR Invitational
November 14, 2012 | Women's Swimming & Diving
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University swim team hits the road for its first major invitational this weekend, traveling to Evanston, Ill. to compete in the TYR Invitational hosted by Northwestern University. A strong field, including two Big Ten teams, will be in attendance to push the Falcons in preparation for the U.S. Short Course Nationals later this month.
LIVE RESULTS (Courtesy of Northwestern)
Bowling Green and Northwestern will join Illinois, North Dakota, Illinois-Chicago and Kenyon College in the three-day event, with preliminary races each morning and finals in the afternoon. This format mirrors the environment of a championship event, with athletes having to stay warm and peak across a number of days and multiple swims.
Head coach Petra Martin hopes the experience will better prepare the Falcons to swim against the top teams in the nation at the Short Course Nationals and also to perform well at the Mid-American Conference Championships in February.
"We want our team to step up and not just earn a lot of second swims in the finals sessions, but also be able to go even faster in the finals," Martin said. "We are anticipating some of our athletes will be racing twelve to thirteen times during the three day period. We are looking for them to race hard, beat the people next to them and get some great in-season times."
The Falcons have already faced similar situations this year, swimming in back-to-back dual meets against Miami and Ball State earlier this month. While the Falcons stumbled in both of those meets, the team left confident that they were becoming a more seasoned group in preparation for several challenging meets down the road.
Bowling Green has relied on strong performances from its veteran swimmers this year, as seniors Emily Bennet, Jen Beatty, Alexis Kain and Alexa Harris form a diverse and talented core for the team. A strong junior class has emerged, led by newcomer Joëlle Scheps, who won two races in the dual against Miami and has already added her name to the Bowling Green record books, reaching the sixth-best mark in school history in the 200 freestyle - a 1:51.34 against Wayne State and Ashland. Emily Waller has been a bright spot, recording multiple wins and top finishes in the distance events, while Brittany Szekely has come on strong as a sprinter. A large freshman class adds depth to the Falcon roster, with Jordan Bullock making an immediate impact swimming butterfly.
Competition at the TYR Invitational begins Friday at 9 a.m. CT with prelims in the 50 breaststroke, 500 freestyle, 200 IM and 50 freestyle. See below for a full schedule of events.
SCHEDULE - TYR INVITATIONAL
Friday, Nov. 16
9 a.m. CT - Prelims (50 breast, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free)
5 p.m. CT - Finals (200 free relay, 50 breast, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 400 medley relay)
Saturday, Nov. 17
9 a.m. CT - Prelims (400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back)
5 p.m. CT - Finals (200 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 800 free relay)
Sunday, Nov. 18
9 a.m. CT - Prelims (50 fly, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 50 back, 200 fly)
3 p.m. CT - Finals (1650 free, 50 fly, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 50 back, 200 fly, 400 free relay)