BGSU swim and dive made history on Sunday, Jan. 26, by claiming victory at the 16th annual Butler Invitational held at Fishers High School Natatorium in Fishers, Indiana.
The Falcons outscored their opponents swimmingly.
Bowling Green secured first place, notching 1,322 points, outpacing Xavier (1,136), Butler (899), Valparaiso (684), and IU Indianapolis (45). Bowling Green’s triumphant win marks its first in a meet featuring four or more teams in over 15 years.
Five individual victories were recorded from five swimmers, perfectly capturing the Falcons’ dominant performance.
Emily McNicol placed first in the 100 backstroke (57.35). Ava Vial claimed the 100 breaststroke (1:06.38). Grace Bodrock triumphed in the 200 butterfly (2:05.75). Abby Toepfer excelled in the 500 freestyle (5:13.48). Taylor Devorace secured the 200 IM (2:07.28).
The Falcons were assisted by their strength at depth. Four Bowling Green swimmers placed in the top eight in half of the 12 events.
Devorace earned a runner-up finish in the 200 freestyle (1:53.64), and Vial placed third in the 100 butterfly (58.05).
The 50 freestyle performances from BGSU were outstanding.
Five Falcons placed in the top ten out of 26 swimmers. Samia Becdach led the way with a second-place finish (24.26), joined by Riley McNichols, Annie Berrow, Elayna Krupp, and Sierra Newton.
Additional notable results included second-place finishes by Becdach in the 100 backstroke (57.55), McNichols in the 100 butterfly (57.19), and Grace Perlberg in the 200 breaststroke (2:24.52).
Newton, in the 100 freestyle (53.00), Madison Bond, in the 200 breaststroke (2:25.43), and Perlberg, in the 200 IM (2:10.68), delivered third-place efforts.
Bowling Green continued their success in distance events.
Lourdes Manderfield finished third in the 500 freestyle (5:16.07), and Hannah Ehrman earned third in the 1,650 freestyle (18:05.11). Both the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relay teams placed third.
The Falcons’ next challenge is a two-day tri-meet against Toledo and Buffalo to finish the regular season. Senior Day festivities will kick off on Friday, Jan. 31, at 6 p.m. at Cooper Pool, with the second half of the meet at Toledo’s Student Recreation Center the following day at 11 a.m.
