The BG swimming and diving team’s 11-first place finishes helped them pick up their first win of the year. The Falcons (1-5) defeated Buffalo (0-6) at Cooper Pool on Saturday, but getting a win on their record isn’t the most important thing to the team.
“It’s not what you do at dual meets, it’s what you do at the end,” coach Keri Buff said.
“We’re always the team that always surprises everybody at the end of the year,” senior co-captain Caroline Keating said, “we’re kind of like the secret weapon of the MAC.”
For Keating and fellow co-captain Brit O’Connor, the 181-119 victory was their final home meet. The two seniors contributed five top-three finishes. Both athletes were proud of how they performed for the home crowd.
“It’s nice to go out on top,” O’Connor said.
“It was a good way to go out,” Keating said, “I swam the fastest I swam all year so I was really happy.”
Keating and Alisha Yee paced the Falcons with two and three wins respectively. Keating finished first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:54) and was followed by two other Falcons. She also won the 500-yard freestyle (5:06) for the fourth time this season. Yee won the 100-yard (59.03) and 200-yard (2:06) backstrokes and the 400-yard IM (4:35).
Sami Jordan won her first race of the season in 100-yard freestyle (53.5) and Frankie Houck won the 50-yard freestyle (24.7). Michael Carriaga won the 100-yard butterfly (58.07) and Kim Albin paced the 200-yard breaststroke (2:27).
The 200-yard medley relay team: Yee, Meg Richardson, Chelsea Lopus and Houck, (1:48.5) and the 400 yard freestyle relay team: Jen Wright, Houck, Jordan, and Keating, (3:36) both finished first.
The divers also brought in four top three finishes.
“They all really did a nice job,” Buff said, “Any win that we had today was a really good swim.”
It’s a tough road ahead for BG as they travel to Oxford to take on Miami next Friday. Miami (6-0) just notched their 45th consecutive Mid-American Conference win this weekend against Ohio University. The Falcons will then focus on the MAC Championship.
“All the fun starts here,” Keating said, “The MAC [Championships] are amazing.”
