The curtain fell on another swimming season this weekend as the Falcons hosted the Mid-American Conference Championships. The Miami RedHawks took home top team honors defeating two-time defending MAC Champion Ohio University by 28 points. For the RedHawks, it was their first MAC Championship since 2005, and it secured them a place in the upper echelon of MAC swimming. The University of Toledo finished the meet in third while Eastern Michigan was able to secure the fourth spot. Buffalo, BG and Akron filled out the remaining three spots. ‘Seventh place was really disappointing,’ coach Keri Buff said. ‘We are a young team and made some mistakes that only experience can correct. The new suits were not a benefit to us either.’ For the Falcons, a seventh-place finish may seem like a disappointment for the young team, but strong personal performances will help soften the blow. In her first MAC Championship, freshman Vicky Yu captured the gold medal in the 200-yard butterfly, while her teammate Sarah Burston finished a close third for the Falcons. ‘It takes some special attributes to be a MAC champion; there is a lot that goes into it.’ Buff said. ‘You see the potential in these girls, but nothing is expected. What Sarah and Vicky did was amazing.’ Other standout performances on the weekend were the senior backstroke duo of Sami Jordan and Alisha Yee, who both scored points for their team in both the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes. For Yee, the moment was the culmination of a brilliant career at the University where she has earned her spot as one of the best of all time. ‘Those two girls led our team,’ Buff said. ‘They threw down.’ In the breaststroke, freshman Amanda Rom shouldered the responsibility for the Falcons finishing the 100-yard swim in 13th place and the 200 in ninth. The young Rom has plenty to look forward to in future years as she was the third fastest freshman in each swim. ‘We worked harder than any of us are used to,’ Rom said. ‘And we all dropped tons of time.’ Tons of time is right. The Falcons dropped more combined time than any other team at the meet, proving Buff’s tapering philosophy is a winner. Buff was also impressed with Rom’s performance. ‘Amanda had blind faith in the program,’ Buff said. ‘She swam beyond her years and was able to see a big payoff at the end.’ Junior Meg Richardson, one of the team’s best freestyle swimmers, also made an impressive showing in the 100-yard backstroke, swimming a 1:04.26; good enough for 16th place. Richardson also swam well in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles, finishing 11th and 10th respectively, producing the only points for the Falcons in the freestyle sprint events. Assistant coach Mark Howard enjoyed watching his sprinter swim so well. ‘Meg dropped huge time on the last day of the event,’ Howard said. ‘She practiced and prepared for every thing that happened.’ Where the Falcons faltered was not in quality but in depth. In fact, the team broke 11 of 19 school records at the meet, including all five relays. Overall the Falcons dropped more that 100 seconds off their personal best times as a team, and finishing seventh will only serve as motivation for next year. ‘The girls had a fire in their eyes after the meet. They know what it’s like, and they know what to do,’ Howard said.