Seven members of the Eastern Michigan University women's swimming and diving team qualified in the prelims session of the MAC Championships Saturday, Feb. 25, in Oxford, Ohio. The championship then ended with Akron in the lead, while EMU fell second with a total of 600 points.
The women posted four top-12 ranked times in the Backstroke. Freshman Claire Young had the fourth-ranked time of 1:57.64, while senior Alexis Mitcheltree claimed the fifth-ranked time in prelims at 1:58.76. Freshman Casey Gavigan's career best time was the sixth-fastest. Sophomore Erika Guenther also made it into the consolation final, after clocking in with a time of 2:01.95, ranking her in twelfth in the final session.
Senior Sierra Wagner qualified for the finals in the 100 Freestyle. Wagner turned in a career best time to make it to the consolation final with the thirteenth ranked preliminary time.
During the 200 Breaststroke, sophomore Delaney Duncan came in with the fourth ranked time, while senior Genna Worthley will now be placed in the consolation final after clocking in at 2:17.5
Later, senior Carly Jackson and sophomore Emilie Desnoyers qualified for the finals with the fourth and fifth-best times in the 200 Butterfly.
The championships heats soon began with the 1650 Freestyle, where sophomore Nicole Swartz won the MAC title after clocking in at 16:20.08.
Senior Alexis Mitcheltree came in fourth-place in the 200 Backstroke, setting the Eastern Michigan record with a career-best time of 1:56.74.
Senior Sierra Wagner came in sixth and twelfth place in the 100 Freestyle for the consolation final. Later, sophomore Delaney Duncan completed the 200 breaststroke finals. She clocked in with a career-best time of 2:14.01, to capture a fourth place finish.
In the 200 butterfly, senior Carly Jackson and sophomore Emilie Desnoyers were top-eight finishers. Jackson came in third while Desnoyers placed seventh.
In the 3-meter diving event , EMU placed five divers inside the top-16. Junior Molly Miller placed fifth with Brielle Johnston seconds behind her. Junior Alli Shereda placed seventh, while sophomore Gabrielle Mace, freshman Sophia Tsafantakis and junior Emily Tubbs also turned in great scores for the event.
The meet ended with EMU getting a fourth place finish in the 400 free relay, clocking in at 3:21.87, which was also recorded as a season-best. Eastern Michigan also honored Head Diving Coach, Buck Smith, as the MAC Diving Coach of the Year. EMU also honored five swimmers: Mitcheltree, Duncan, and Swartz as First Team All-MAC, while Van Allen and Young were Second Team All-MAC honorees.
