Freshmen and Sophomore Falcons Take Flight as the Orange and Brown Take Eighth at the MAC Championship

Wednesday, February 28

Athens, Ohio

All Day

Bowling Green State University

MAC Championships

Freshmen and Sophomore Falcons Take Flight as the Orange and Brown Take Eighth at the MAC Championship

March 02, 2024 | Women's Swimming & Diving

Full Meet Results (PDF)

By: by Brady Shick BGSU Strategic Communications

ATHENS, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University swimming and diving team completed the MAC Championships today. The Falcons finished 8^th with a team score of 149 points.

In the morning session the Falcons had three swimmers advance to finals all of whom were sophomores. The 200 Backstroke was headlined by Morgan Sokol and Emily McNicol all earning a second swim in the first prelim of the day. Morgan Sokol swam to a time of 2:01.49 and a 14^th place finish. On her heels was fellow Falcons Emily McNicol who improved her seed time by 2.73 seconds on way to a 15^th place finish in prelims thanks to a time of 2:02.41. During finals McNicol took 16^th earning points in a second event thanks to a time of 2:04.87. Morgan Sokol then in finals was able to swim to a 12^th place finish with a time of 2:00.71.

For the second straight night Grace Bodrock swam in a butterfly final. Tonight, it was the 200 Butterfly. This is the second year in a row Bodrock has made it to the B final in the event at MAC Championships. In prelims Bodrock swam to a 13^th place finish and a time of 2:04.41. Bodrock was able to improve on her seeding in finals by placing 12^th with a time of 2:04.41. This is an improvement from last year's finals where Bodrock placed 13^th.

In her first final freshman Falcon Blanca Sanz was able to capture some points for the Falcons. During the first final of the night Sanz was able to snag 11^th place in the 1650 Freestyle. Sanz did so swimming the mile in 17:06.77. This finish was a result of 6.11 seconds resulting in Sanz improving her seed placement by one.

Natalia Mayorga continued her strong freshman campaign in the 3-Meter Dive finals of the MAC Championship. After one day prior capturing the 5^th seed in the championship final Mayorga placed 4^th and was the highest finishing Falcon in any event during this year's MAC Championship. Mayorga took flight to a fourth-place finish thanks to a time of 275.05. By placing fourth Mayorga ties school record holder Talisa Lemke with the highest finish by a freshman Falcon diver in the 3-Meter Dive at a MAC Championship.

Featured Falcons
1650 Freestyle – 11. Blanca Sanz 17:06.77
200 Backstroke – 12. Morgan Sokol 2:00.80, 16. Emily McNicol 2:04.87
100 Freestyle – N/A
200 Breaststroke – N/A
200 Butterfly – 12. Grace Bodrock 2:04.41
3-Meter Dive – 4. Natalia Mayorga 275.05
400 Freestyle Relay – 8. Elayna Krupp, Julianna Petrak, Grace Bodrock, Emily McNicol 3:27.19

Rickey's Reactions
"It wasn't the finish we had hoped for but a lot of good happened. We scored more points as a team, we had more A finalists, more lifetime and season bests times compared to last year at MACs. Our underclassmen were strong with the majority of the scoring coming from them. We made a progress as a team and I am happy about it."

Up Next
The Falcon swimmers return to the pool on March 14^th for the National Invite Championships in Ocala, Florida. Meanwhile the divers will be returning to the boards at NCAA Diving Zones in Louisville, Kentucky on March 14^th.

Follow the Falcons
Be sure to follow Falcons swimming and diving team throughout the season on social media.
Twitter – @BGAthletics and @FalconSwimDive
Instagram – 'bgfalcons' and 'falconswimdive'
Facebook – 'BGSU Athletics'
YouTube – 'Falcon Athletics'