On Friday, the Bowling Green swim and dive teams returned to Cooper Pool for their first home matchup of the year, facing the Miami RedHawks.

Despite falling to Miami 79-164, BGSU shined in with individual performances by Rayah Blood, Evie Long, Ava Vial, and Grace Bodrock.  

Here’s how it happened.  

For the first diving event, Long represented the Falcon divers, placing first in the 1-Meter Dive, her first event of 2024 and officially logging her lifetime best record (276.90). Following right behind Long was another familiar face, senior Grace Ellis, who placed second in the event (261.23). Later in the day, Blood kicked off the 2024 homestand with first place in the 3-Meter Dive with a strong 291.00 score. Close behind Blood were Sarah Butt in third (256.73) and Long in the fourth place spot (254.33).  

Looking at the swimmers, Bowling Green reached the podium in the 200 Yard Medley/Freestyle Relay, placing third in these group events. Where the Falcons stood out was their individual performances where many placed somewhere in the top three.  

This matchup saw five Falcon swimmers place second in various events:  

• Freshman Joanna Robertson (200 Yard Freestyle – 1:54.87) 
• Vial (200 Yard IM – 2:07.75) 
• Bodrock (100 Yard Butterfly – 58.70)  
• Junior Elayna Krupp (100 Yard Freestyle – 52.60)  
• Sophomore Emily McNicol (100 Yard Backstroke – 57.40)  

In addition, Bowling Green had 19 finishes break the top five across all thirteen events.  

Up next, both teams will travel to Ypsilanti to continue their Mid-American Conference portion of the schedule, facing Eastern Michigan on Jan. 26 with a 5 p.m. start time.  

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