Falcons Show Mettle on First Day of 2018 MAC Championships

Wednesday, February 21

Athens, Ohio

ALL DAY

Bowling Green State University

Mid-American Conference Championships

Photo by: BGSU Marketing and Communications

February 21, 2018 | Women's Swimming & Diving

By: by Matthew Daley, Athletic Communicationis Assistant

ATHENS, Ohio – Two of the best relays in BGSU history marked the start of the 2018 Mid-American Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at the Ohio Aquatic Center on Wednesday night (Feb. 21). Swimmers from Bowling Green State University beat their seed time and found a place on the school's all-time top ten list in both the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays. The Falcons took fourth place in the 200 and sixth place in the 800 to end the first day of the meet in a tie for fifth.

LINKS (ALL PDF)
Day One Results
BGSU 2017-18 Performance List
BGSU All-Time Records
MAC Top Times (individual)
MAC Top Times (Relays)
MAC Top Dives (1-meter)
MAC Top Dives (3-meter)
MAC Record Book

The opening event of the championship meet was the 200 medley relay. Elodie Schreiber was the first Falcon in the pool and completed the backstroke in 25.91 seconds. Nikki Borgerding and Sarah Hennings followed with the breaststroke and butterfly, and Maria Galic swam the freestyle anchor. Galic finished her leg in a scintillating 22.93 seconds. For comparison's sake, the school record in the 50 free is 23.02. The team's final time (1:41.07) beat their seed time by 1.24 seconds and was fifth-best in program history.

In the second race, the Falcons competed in the 800 freestyle relay. Maddy Andrews, Franziska Wohlert, Emily Verbrugge, and Natalie Criswell comprised BGSU's squad, and they took sixth place in 7:21.06. The group shaved 12.20 seconds off their seed time; only Eastern Michigan (12.25) did better. This was the fourth-fastest 800 free relay in BGSU annals. Wohlert (1:48.71) had the fastest 200-yard time.

BGSU returns to the pool for a full day of competition on Thursday. The preliminaries in the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, and one-meter diving will be held in the first session. The finals in those events, as well as the 200 freestyle relay, will be held in the evening session.

HEAD COACH MATT ENSE SAYS…
"We had a great first night of competition with some great relays to start off the Championships. It is great to have these first two relays to get the nerves settled and get everyone excited and ready to race tomorrow."

MEET STANDINGS AFTER DAY ONE
1. Akron – 80
2. Buffalo – 66
3. Eastern Michigan – 62
4. Toledo – 58
5. BGSU – 56
5. Miami – 56
7. Ohio – 50
8. Ball State – 44

200 MEDLEY RELAY RESULTS
1. Akron (1:37.20)
2. Eastern Michigan (1:38.58)
3. Buffalo (1:40.88)
4. Bowling Green (1:41.07)
5. Toledo (1:41.31)
6. Ohio (1:41.57)
7. Miami (1:41.91)
8. Ball State (1:42.92)

800 FREESTYLE RELAY RESULTS
1. Akron (7:09.92)
2. Buffalo (7:15.48)
3. Miami (7:17.42)
4. Toledo (7:18.65)
5. Eastern Michigan (7:20.83)
6. Bowling Green (7:21.06)
7. Ohio (7:27.71)
8. Ball State (7:38.09)

500 FREE PREVIEW

Natalie Criswell set the BGSU record at last year's MAC Championships and could reach the championship final after ranking 11th in the MAC (4:54.11).
Maddy Andrews also has a chance for a point-earning swim, entering the prelims 19th in the MAC.

200 IM PREVIEW

Jordan Andrusak ranks fourth in the MAC with a school-record 2:00.72 set at the Zippy Invitational.
Emily Verbrugge (2:05.02) and Franziska Wohlert (2:05.73) are also in the MAC's top 25 and seek to vault into the top 16 in Thursday's prelims.

50 FREE PREVIEW

Maria Galic (23.50) was the Falcons' best and ranked 15th in the MAC during the regular season.
However, Galic swam the 50 in 22.92 during tonight's 200 medley relay.

1-METER DIVING PREVIEW

BGSU's Talisa Lemke is a championship contender, ranking second in the MAC this year (305.15).
The Falcons also have chances for more points with three others in the MAC's top 24 (Bosco #18, Stam #20, White #24).

200 FREE RELAY PREVIEW

The Falcons' season best time (1:33.94) was three weeks ago against Toledo.
That time ranks fifth in the MAC entering this week and was a half-second shy of becoming a top-ten time in BGSU history.