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Eastern Michigan Takes First Day Lead at MAC Meet

Michael McDowell

BUFFALO, NY – After the first day of competition at the Mid-American Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, Eastern Michigan has jumped out to a hefty lead over the rest of the pack as the Eagles scored wins in four of the six events Thursday night. The three-day meet is being held at the University at Buffalo's Alumni Arena Natatorium.

Eastern Michigan scored 328 points to take the first night lead. Miami is second with 233.5 with Ohio (160.5), UB (112) and Ball State (107) following in the five-team competition.

UB's Michael McDowell (Rush, NY/Rush-Henrietta) scored a second-place finish in the one-meter diving finals for the Bulls' top place of the evening. McDowell scored a total of 320.20 points for his six-dive session in the finals. McDowell topped all divers in Thursday's preliminary round with a total 295.00 points.

Eastern Michigan's Dan Wohl won his fourth consecutive 200-yard individual medley title on Thursday night, clocking a 1:49.80 in the finals, breaking the UB pool record set in 1990 by one-hundredth of a second. Wohl is the also the MAC's three-time defending champion in the 400-yard individual medley which will be raced on Friday.

Miami's Paul Ricard set a MAC, MAC Championship Meet and UB pool record in winning the 500-yard freestyle. Ricard, last season's MAC Swimmer of the Year, touched the wall in 4:21.84, breaking the MAC marks of 4:23.04 set by Mark Leonard of Eastern Michigan in the 1998 league meet and the UB pool record of 4:24.81, set at the 2003 MAC Championships by Toledo's Lorent Divald.

Eastern Michigan's Derick Roe led a quartet of Eagles to the top spots in the 50-yard freestyle in 20.23. Roe was also part of both of EMU's winning relay squads, the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:21.18) and the 400-yard medley relay (3:21.70).

Miami diver Chris Heaton won the 1-meter springboard title with a total score of 338.20 points to edge UB's McDowell by just 18 points. Heaton, who swept last season's dive events at the MAC meet and was named Diver of the Year, broke his own meet record from the year before and established a new UB facility record as well for his six-dive program.

Zach Ruske

Besides McDowell's heroics on the diving board, UB picked up championship final points from sophomore Zach Ruske (Superior, CO/Monarch) in the 200-yard individual medley. Ruske scored a fourth-place finish in 1:53.87 after reaching the championship round by posting a lifetime-best swim of 1:53.82 in the preliminaries.

Senior Luke Adams (Quinnesec, MI/Kingsford) finished 11th overall and third in the consolation final of the 500-yard freestyle in 4:39.98. Adams posted a lifetime-best of 4:38.74 in the preliminaries. In all UB swimmers posted five lifetime-bests on the day.

Competition continues on Friday with the meet concluding on Saturday. Preliminaries start at noon both days with finals beginning at 7:00 pm.

Team scores: Eastern Michigan 328, Miami 233.5, Ohio 160.5, Buffalo 112, Ball State 107.

Thursday's champions

200 Freestyle Relay: Eastern Michigan (Derick Roe, Ethan Crabtree, Michael Rowland, Preston Revere) 1:21.18

500 Freestyle: Paul Ricard (Miami) 4:21.84

200 Individual Medley: Dan Wohl (Eastern Michigan) 1:49.80

50 Freestyle: Derick Roe (Eastern Michigan) 20.23

1-Meter Diving: Chris Heaton (Miami) 338.20

400 Medley Relay: Eastern Michigan (Andrzej Olesinski, Dan Wohl, Preston Revere, Derick Roe) 3:21.70