Falcons Claim Fifth Place on Final Day of 2018 MAC Championships

ATHENS, Ohio – Another school record and several other personal records fell for the Bowling Green State University swimming and diving team on Saturday (Feb. 24), as the Falcons completed their four-day odyssey at the Ohio Aquatic Center. Sophomore Talisa Lemke capped an award-winning season with by breaking her own school record in the three-meter diving, while nine other BGSU athletes established new standards of their own. The team ended the 2018 Mid-American Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships in fifth place with 333 points. Both marks are an improvement over their sixth-place, 294-point performance in 2017.

LINKS (ALL PDF)
Results: Day One (Finals) – Day Two (Prelims) / (Finals)
Results: Day Three (Prelims) / (Finals) – Day Four (Prelims) / (Finals)
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

Once again on Saturday, the diving team provided a consistent source of points for the Falcons. Talisa Lemke led the effort by shattering her own BGSU record in the three-meter finals. After a 314.00 in the preliminaries, she earned a 366.45 in the finals. The second-place score beat her previous record (339.22) by 27 points. Earlier in the meet, Lemke won the one-meter MAC championship with a school-record performance, and following the meet, she was named Co-MAC Diver of the Year. Claire Stam also qualified for the three-meter finals with a personal-record score (283.55) and ultimately finished in eighth place.

The 200-yard breaststroke event was BGSU's other primary point-earner on Saturday. Nikki Borgerding swam the eighth-fastest time in school history in the prelims to qualify for the championship race, where she placed seventh. Jordan Andrusak and Emily Verbrugge earned places in the consolation final, and they placed 12th and 13th, respectively. Verbrugge's finals time (2:17.90) was her best of the season.

Two other Falcons, seniors Maria Galic and Natalie Criswell, tallied points on Saturday in their final races for BGSU. Galic placed 13th (2:01.90) in the 200 backstroke, while Criswell posted a 16:47.13 and finished ninth out of 22 in the 1650 freestyle.

Overall, the 2018 MAC Championships were one of many highlights for Bowling Green. The team produced a MAC champion, two school records, 33 separate personal records, five other season bests, and 25 appearances in individual championship or consolation heats. However, the season is not over for select Falcon divers; Talisa Lemke (1-meter and 3-meter), Claire Stam (3-meter), and Ashley White (1-meter) have earned scores this season that qualify for next month's NCAA Diving Zones. That event will be held in Columbus, Ohio from March 8-10.

HEAD COACH MATT ENSE SAYS…

"We had a great team effort this week. The team had so much energy over the four days of competition, and that resulted in many lifetime best performances in the pool and on the board. As a team, we moved up a position in the team rankings over last season and were able to score 49 more points. This weekend was a great learning experience for our 14 newcomers to learn how to handle a seven-session Championship meet. It was also the last time our seniors will wear the Falcon on their cap in competition. I cannot thank our four graduating seniors enough for the legacy they have left on our program. Thank you to Amanda Washko, Natalie Criswell, Maria Galic, and Kylie Bosco for being great leaders of our program."
"Talisa Lemke being named MAC Diver of the Year was an impressive accomplishment, as she beat seven-time MAC champion and NCAA runner-up Pei Lin. Coach Grant is transitioning the diving program into one of the best in the conference. We were able to score 51 points on the boards this year, and with everyone combing back along with four new divers coming in next year, the future is very bright on the boards."

FALCONS IN THE 200 BACKSTROKE (MAC CHAMP: Casey Gavigan, EMU – 1:55.93)
13. Maria Galic (2:01.90, final; 2:01.81, prelims)
18. Franziska Wohlert (2:03.68, prelims)
19. Lauren Sullivan (2:03.82, prelims)
23. Sarah Fergus (2:05.00, prelims) - *personal record*
24. Elodie Schreiber (2:06.01, prelims)
25. Gabrielle Loeck (2:06.05, prelims) - *personal record*

FALCONS IN THE 100 FREESTYLE (MAC CHAMP: Megan Burns, Buffalo – 48.61)
19. Ashleigh Franks (51.84, prelims) - *personal record*
24. Maddy Andrews (52.22, prelims) - *personal record*
25. Amanda Washko (52.46, prelims)
28. Monona Martin (53.36, prelims)
--. Noelle Lavigne (53.71, prelims)
--. Shaunna Jones (53.76, prelims) - *personal record*
--. Kristen Puthoff (54.57, prelims) - *personal record*

FALCONS IN THE 200 BREASTSTROKE (MAC CHAMP: Paloma Marrero, Akron – 2:09.13)
7. Nikki Borgerding (2:17.62, final; 2:17.06, prelims) - *personal record (prelims); 8th in BGSU history*
12. Jordan Andrusak (2:17.63, final; 2:17.42, prelims)
13. Emily Verbrugge (2:17.90, final; 2:20.43, prelims) - *season best (final)*
--. Kasie Perretta (2:28.34, prelims) - *personal record*

FALCONS IN THE 200 BUTTERFLY (MAC CHAMP: Mackenzie Vargas, Akron – 1:57.05)
18. Sarah Hennings (2:04.77, prelims)
--. Michaela Ruddock (2:08.04, prelims) - *personal record*

FALCONS IN THE 1650 FREESTYLE (MAC CHAMP: Nicole Swartz, EMU – 16:18.82)
9. Natalie Criswell (16:47.13, final)
18. Mary Edwards (17:16.91, final) - *season best*

FALCONS IN THE 3-METER DIVING (MAC CHAMP: Pei Lin, Miami – 402.55)
2. Talisa Lemke (366.45, final; 314.00, prelims) - *SCHOOL RECORD*
8. Claire Stam (252.15, final; 283.55, prelims) - *personal record*
25. Ashley White (202.75, prelims)
27. Kylie Bosco (190.20, prelims)

FALCONS IN THE 400 FREESTYLE RELAY (MAC CHAMP: Akron – 3:18.92)
7. Andrusak, Wohlert, Franks, Galic (3:25.08) - *10th fastest in BGSU history*

FINAL MEET STANDINGS
1. Akron – 827.5
2. Eastern Michigan – 590.5
3. Buffalo - 573
4. Miami – 516
5. BGSU – 333
6. Toledo - 254
7. Ohio - 253
8. Ball State – 158

2018 MAC POST-SEASON HONORS
MAC Swimming Coach of the Year: Brian Peresie, Akron
MAC Diving Coach of the Year: Buck Smith, Eastern Michigan
Most Outstanding Swimmer: Paloma Marrero, Akron and Nicole Swartz, Eastern Michigan
Most Outstanding Diver: Talisa Lemke, Bowling Green and Pei Lin, Miami
Most Outstanding Senior: Pei Lin, Miami
Freshman Swimmer of the Year: Paulina Nogaj, Akron
Freshman Diver of the Year: Mikela Schempf, Eastern Michigan

2018 ALL-MAC FIRST TEAM
Talisa Lemke, Bowling Green
Paloma Marrero, Akron
Sadie Fasekas, Akron
Madison Myers, Akron
Paulina Nogaj, Akron
Ellie Nebraska, Akron
Jackie Pash, Akron
Mackenzie Vargas, Akron
Megan Burns, Buffalo
Hannah Miller, Buffalo
Delaney Duncan, Eastern Michigan
Nicole Swartz, Eastern Michigan
Casey Gavigan, Eastern Michigan
Ella Moynihan, Miami
Pei Lin, Miami
Corrin Van Lanen, Ohio

2018 ALL-MAC SECOND TEAM
Paula Garcia, Akron
Anne Lochridge, Akron
Morgan Waggoner, Akron
Brittany Beetcher, Buffalo
Eve Costen, Buffalo
Andrea Ernst, Buffalo
Nicole Roitenberg, Buffalo
Brielle Johnston, Eastern Michigan
Claire Young, Eastern Michigan
Emma Bradley, Miami
Izzy Herb, Miami
Carolyn Junger, Miami
Holly Schuster, Miami
Emily Zimcosky, Ohio
Izzy Jones, Toledo

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Maddy Andrews

Jordan Andrusak

Nikki Borgerding

Mary Edwards

Sarah Fergus

Ashleigh Franks

Sarah Hennings

Shaunna Jones

Noelle Lavigne

Talisa Lemke

Kasie Perretta

Kristen Puthoff

Michaela Ruddock

Elodie Schreiber

Claire Stam

Lauren Sullivan

Emily Verbrugge

Ashley White

Franziska Wohlert

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