Miami Swimmers Finish Fifth at OSU Invitational
Dec. 6, 2009
Columbus, Ohio – The University of Miami swimming team concluded its three-day affair in the Ohio State Invitational on Sunday, ending the weekend with 302 points and a fifth place finish among 15 participating teams in this year’s event, hosted by OSU at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion Columbus, Ohio.
Head swimming coach Christie Shefchunas and her team prepared well for this weekend’s event, and the results were exactly what the fourth-year head coach was seeking. Overall, Miami turned in more than 15 personal- and season-best performances through the 35-event invitational, including preliminaries.
The Hurricanes began the final day with Ryann Labreche securing a season-best mark in the 1650-yard freestyle, as she set a mark of 17:29.36. Behind her was Gina Mayer with a season-best performance of her own (17:43.23).
In the 200-yard backstroke, Deidre Novotny claimed a time of 2:04.00, a season-best performance in the event. It was just 0.02 seconds away from a career-best time for Novotny. Teammate Roxanne Meyer went 2:04.07 in the 200 back, and freshman Hannah Kling finished first in the C finals with a time of 2:03.02.
Junior Annika Saarnak, set to travel to Istanbul, Turkey for the European Short Course Swimming Championships on Monday morning, completed a time of 51.52 in the 100-yard freestyle. The time allowed her to finish sixth overall. Lauren Jacoby had a mark of 51.77 in the race, a season-best for her–allowing her to finish fourth in the B finals.
Freshman Christine Anderson finished first in the C finals of the 200-yard breaststroke, touching the wall at 2:22.40. Just behind her in second was fellow newcomer Sofia Johansson with a time of 2:22.42. Meanwhile, sophomore Dana Hatic registered a season-best mark of 2:20.45.
Erin Simpson had the top performance for the `Canes in the 200-yard butterfly, claiming a time of 2:07.45–a team season-best performance. Behind her was Taylor Grenda with a time of 2:07.55, while Haley Nicholson finished third in the C finals (2:11.00).
The final race of the weekend for the `Canes was the 400-yard freestyle relay. Miami claimed fifth in the race with a mark of 3:29.91 in the first 400 FR of the year for the `Canes. UM swam the team of Saarnak (leadoff), Jacoby, Kling and Novotny (anchor).
The `Canes also fielded another team in the race, claiming a time of 3:35.58 behind the swims of Hagar Elgendy (leadoff), Susan Smiddy, Kayla Smith and Johansson (anchor).
Miami will break for the remainder of the fall for winter break, before returning to the pool in the Hurricanes first home meet of the 2009-2010 season against ACC opponent Maryland on January 2. The meet will be held at the Norman A. Whitten University Center Pool at 11 a.m.
For more information on the University of Miami Swimming & Diving team, please log on to www.hurricanesports.com. Once there, you will find up-to-date news, results and information regarding the Hurricanes Swimming & Diving program.
