If there is one thing that BG’s women’s swimming and diving team is proud of, its relay teams would be it.

“It’s really expected for us to improve because we’ve been working so hard,” freshman Carrie Enright said. “The upperclassmen said that this year is the hardest we’ve ever worked.”

After last weekend’s Ohio State Invitational, assistant coach Mark Howard said he believes the relay teams will be competing with the top three schools in the Mid-American Conference when the championship meet comes along.

This comment came after many of the BG relay teams performed well against bigger schools from around the nation at OSU by setting in-season best times.

In the season’s first meet at Eastern Michigan, the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Alisha Yee, Meg Richardson, Chelsea Lopus and Sami Jordan finished just 0.13 seconds behind EMU’s squad with a time of 3:38.70.

The following week versus Ohio, the same relay team had a different look and better results. Jen Wright, Frankie Houck, Enright and Jordan finished second again with a time of 3:35.33.

At OSU, Yee replaced Enright, and the team swam to a seventh place finish in 3:32.13 while beating the ‘A’ team from Illinois.

“[Changing the line-ups] gives us a good indication of what we need to do for specific people,” Howard said.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team has also seen improved times each time out.

The team got its first chance to race in the second meet of the year at Ball State. Houck, Richardson, Enright and Jordan swam the race in 1:39.90 but lost to BSU by 0.46 seconds.

A week later versus Miami, the team again narrowly missed a win. The same four combined for a time of 1:38.61, just .2 seconds behind Miami’s squad.

At OSU, Yee replaced Richardson, and the team again posted a season best. The four swan to a seventh place finish in 1:37 again beating Illinois’ ‘A’ team.

“[The 200-yard freestyle relay] is the most exciting relay,” Enright said. “We have to get really excited because it’s the fastest relay.”

The 200-yard medley relay team is the third Falcon relay squad that has posted in-season bests each time out.

At BSU, the team of Yee, Richardson, Lopus and Houck took the victory in 1:48.80 by almost two seconds.

Against Ohio, the end result was the same. The same four won the race in 1:47.15 and won by nearly two seconds.

This past weekend, the team changed its look as Christina Vaca, Liz Harper, Enright and Jordan took BG to an eighth place finish in 1:46.93.

“I probably wouldn’t do as well in the relays if I didn’t have my teammates standing there with me,” Enright said.

The team is hopeful this trend will continue, and that they will finish in the top three at the MAC Championships because the relays are worth twice as many points there.

“Any time they give you a single event with double points, you need to take advantage,” Howard said.

“Top three finishes are a goal for the MAC Championships,” Enright said.