Bowling Green vs. Toledo

TOLEDO, Ohio, January 28. FOR the six senior members of the Toledo swimming and diving team, their last home meet would prove to be a memorable one, as the Rockets downed the Bowling Green Falcons in grand fashion, 180-95, at the UT Student Recreation Center Friday night.

"All six of our seniors performed well tonight," said Head Coach LIz Hinkleman. "They're going to be a hard group to lose for next year, in personality, leadership and skill. They have definitely left big shoes to fill."

Two seniors, Kelsey Atchison and Amanda Thompson, helped start the meet on a positive note, teaming with freshman Christina Noens and junior Laura Lindsay to win the opening 400 Medley Relay (3:50.02). Thompson would go on to win the 100 Fly (56.86) as part of a 1-2-3-4 Rocket finish later in the meet, while Atchison logged two third-place finishes in the 100 (1:06.43) and 200 (2:24.32) Breaststroke.

"Everyone swam great, especially for coming down with the last of our hard training this season," said Thompson. "We're looking forward to competing tomorrow at Miami."

Fellow senior Jacy Dyer joined Thompson with a first-place performance, winning the 500 Free (4:57.93) as part of a 1-2-3 Rocket finish. Claire Leichty (4:59.11) and Louise Smyth (5:07.22) rounded out the top three.

The Rockets went on to win all but one of the sixteen events, with freshman Rachel Johnson taking second in the 100 Back (58.73) by just under .4 seconds.

A big moment in the meet came when Lindsay took first in the 100 Breaststroke in just 1:02.55, setting a new pool record for the UT Student Recreation Center. She also went on to win the 200 Breaststroke (2:17.95) to continue her dominance in the events this season.

Sophomore Carly Harter also had an impressive performance against the Rocket rivals. Harter took first in the 50 Free (24.11), 100 Free (52.13) and 200 Free (1:51.51), while also teaming with Johnson, Atchison and Thompson to take first in the 200 Free Relay (1:37.11) in the final event of the meet.

In diving, the Toledo duo of Kristy Richart and Nikki Schropp competed head-to-head against one another, and the friendly competition resulted in their best performances of the season. Richart and Schropp both logged season-best scores in the 1M and 3M diving competitions, with Richart edging out her teammate in both events by narrow margins with scores of 259.43 (3M) and 232.50 (1M).

"Overall, I thought the girls performed at a high level tonight," said Hinkleman. "I think that all you want to see as a coach, especially at the back half of the season is continued improvement. I think there were some close races, and the girls really competed their hearts out."

For the six seniors – Atchison, Dyer, Megan Friedli, Laura Heckroth, Katie Jackson, and Thompson – their last meet evoked strong emotions and fond memories of their time at UT.

"It's been a long road, and was one of things where I never thought I'd get here, but here we are," said Thompson. "It's bittersweet but I'm so proud of my teammates and friends, and I'm really going to miss it."

Though the six Rocket may have participated in their last home swim meet, the season is not yet over for the Toledo swimmers. The Rockets will have little time to savor their victory as they take to the road on Saturday to take on Miami (OH) in Oxford, OH.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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