Ross, Bryant Headline `Canes in Day One of OSU Invite
Dec. 5, 2008
Complete Results | Complete Results in PDF Format 
Columbus, Ohio – The University of Miami divers Kelci Bryant and Reuben Ross headlined Friday’s action for the Hurricanes at the Ohio State Invitational at the McCorkle Aquatics Center in Columbus. UM had five qualifying times to advance to the finals led by Britta Boesing and Annika Saarnak.
After the first day of action, the Hurricanes are in fifth place with a score of 104 after the opening day of swimming/diving. Minnesota leads by a commanding score of 406, while Penn State (231), Notre Dame (149) and Ohio State (132) round out the competitors ahead of the Orange and Green.
Defending National Champion and two-time All-American Reuben Ross finished third in the men’s 1-meter springboard with a final score of 371.80. Ross was seventh after the preliminary round of diving with a score of 305.30. It was a team-best mark for Ross in the 1-meter event, and a season-best as well.
Purdue’s David Boudia claimed the first place award with a score of 419.85, while second place awards went to Hugh Showe III (Ohio State) who claimed a total mark of 395.05.
In the women’s diving well, freshman Kelci Bryant took second place in the 3-meter springboard after climbing back from a fourth place preliminary score of 300.75. Bryant’s final of 346.35 was a season-best mark for her, and the second-best score for any Hurricane diver in the 3-meter event this year.
Christina Loukas of Indiana took top honors with a score of 363.90.
In swimming action, the UM 200 Freestyle Relay team took a fifth place time of 1:35.79 en route to posting a season-best time for the event. They eclipsed the old mark by over two seconds. The team was comprised of Annika Saarnak, Lauren Jacoby, Lizzi Torres and Kirsten Pomerleau.
Boesing started off the action for the Hurricanes by qualifying for the 200 IM with a time of 2:06.05. Boesing followed up with a season and team-best time of 2:03.35 in the finals. Teammate Deidre Novotny also qualified in that event with a finishing time of 2:06.08. Novotny fell a little in the finals by posting a mark of 2:06.65.
Boesing, a senior from Germany, captured a season-best mark for herself in the 200 IM, and paced a new team-best time in that event on the year. She eclipsed her old mark of 2:06.22 set in the finals of a tri-meet against UMBC and NC State on Oct. 11.
The other three qualifications for the Orange and Green came in the 50-yard freestyle, led by sophomore Annika Saarnak, competing in just her second 50 free all season. Her time of 23.71 seconds led all Hurricanes performers as she finished in the top 15.
For Saarnak, her time was a season-best performance in the 50 free, and now stands as a team-best mark heading into tomorrow’s finals. However, in the finals, the Estonia native slipped to a time of 23.98 to still collect a top 15 finish.
Behind her were teammates Lauren Jacoby (23.95) and Kirsten Pomerleau (24.10) also setting qualifying finishing times. Jacoby continued her success in the finals with a personal-best time of 23.83 seconds to finish among the top 15.
Lizzi Torres finished just one spot out of a qualifying mark with a time of 24.18 seconds.
In the 400 Medley Relay squad took a time of 3:50.54 to finish 10th on the day, but still registered a season-best time with the team of Boesing, Dana Hatic, Novotny and Saarnak. The “B” team for the event and the `Canes, made up of Erin Simpson, Katie Eason, Cori Lallier and Jacoby, finished 12th touching the wall at 3:52.14.
For complete information on this weekend’s events/schedule and live scoring throughout the weekend, please locate your internet browser to www.OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
