Several Falcon swimmers had strong showings at the Mid-American Conference Championships, which concluded Saturday evening in Oxford, Ohio.
The team finished in seventh place with 241 points.
Senior captain Meg Richardson swam the last events of her career in stunning fashion as she broke three individual school records and contributed to a new school record in the 800-yard freestyle relay.
Richardson now shares part of all five BG relay records. She was named Second Team MAC.
Richardson felt the team’s hard work and close bond propelled many of her teammates to a strong finish this season.
“We all came together and we were really behind each other the whole year,” Richardson said. “We really focused this year on working hard and training hard and I think it paid off for a lot of us.”
Six Falcon swimmers posted season-best times in their respective events on Saturday, including sophomore Amanda Rom, who finished sixth in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:17:07.
Freshman swimmer Emily Waller posted her season-best time of 17:22:05 and took 16th place in the 1650-yard freestyle.
Sophomore Megan Bomicino also recorded her season-best time in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:27:82.
Bomicino was pleased with how hard her teammates fought.
”Our team was tough and fought every race until the time they touched the wall,” Bomicino said. “We all had so much fun and swam well. It was a great way to end a wonderful season.”
Assistant coach Mark Howard thought the team made a strong push toward being a dominant force in the MAC in the near future.
”The younger swimmers are without a doubt the future of this program heading in a winning direction,” Howard said. “They’re very determined, goal-oriented and extremely hard working.”
With only one senior on this year’s team, BG will be returning a lot of experienced swimmers next season.
Howard has high expectations for next year’s team.
“This conference has become decidedly faster in the past few years, and we as coaches have set our sights on even harder work and more quality time spent with the athletes to reach an even higher level than we have achieved in the past,” Howard said.
Sophomore Sarah Reinink will be returning next year as an experienced leader of a BG swimming team with a desire to continue improving.
”It is apparent that hard work pays off and that if we continue what we are doing, good things will come in the next couple years,” Reinink said. “I am very proud of how much work we put in and how everyone swam this weekend.”
