Miami (Ohio) University RedHawks opened its season by hosting Purdue University Boilermakers at the Nixon Aquatic Center in Oxford, Ohio, in the first meet of 2013-14 for both teams.
Purdue started off with a win in the 200 medley relay with Meagan Lim, Francesca Marr, Kylie Vogel and Carly Mercer touching in 1:45.03. Miami’s Brianna Fujan, Stephanie Lemire, Emma Szczupakiewicz and Cynthia Donovan were second in 1:45.74.
In the 1000 Purdue’s Allie Davis and Lizzie Lyon finished 1-2 with 10:15.69 and 10:22.18, respectively. The top RedHawk in the event was Aubrey Kluth who touched a half a second in front of teammate Stephanie Pearce.
Purdue swept the 200 free: Carly Mercer (1:49.85) was first, Nika-Karlina Petric (1:52.64) second, and freshman Gracie Hernandez (1:52.94) third in her first meet as a Boilermaker.
The 100 back was a close race – the top three were all within .30 of each other. Purdue freshmen Hannah Manger and Meagan Lim were out first but Miami’s Katie Bootsma nearly caught them with the fastest second half in the field. At the end it was Manger (57.64), Lim (57.71) and Bootsma (57.94).
The 100 breast brought the RedHawks their first victory as freshman Stephanie Lemire clocked a 1:03.92 to beat Purdue’s Francesca Marr and Megan Gallagher.
Rhiannon Sheets of Purdue cruised to an easy victory in the 200 fly with 2:02.11, three seconds in front of teammate Stephanie Schlobohm. In an exciting race for third, Miami’s Emma Szczupakiewicz was first to the wall, only .08 in front of fellow RedHawk Katie Blodgett.
Purdue sprint specialist Carly Mercer won her second event of the night with a 23.12 in the 50 free. Miami’s Cynthia Donovan took second in 23.73. Once again, it was anyone’s race for third. Boilermaker Carly Marshall was the first to the wall, though, as her 24.00 beat out both Annie Marquiss (24.03) and Elise Campbell (24.06) of Miami.
Purdue swept the top three spots in the 1-meter with Michelle Cabassol, followed by Casey Matthews, and Mackenzie Tweardy.
Gracie Hernandez won her first event as a Boilermaker in the 100 free. Her 51.85 was just out of reach for freshman Elise Campbell of Miami and her teammate Sara Krueger. They went 52.22 and 52.95, respectively.
The 200 back went to Purdue’s Trish Regan in 2:04.20. RedHawk Katie Bootsma was second with 2:06.86; teammate Shannon Ahearn, third in 2:09.59.
The lone point scorer for Purdue in the 200 breast was event winner Francesca Marr (2:18.06). RedHawks finished second through fifth, including Stephanie Lemire (2:19.79) and Clare Mongenas (2:27.13) at second and third, respectively.
Allie Davis of Purdue made it two-for-two in the distance events by taking the 500 free. Her 4:56.57 was the only sub-5:00 swim. Miami teammates Julia Campbell and Courtney Collett went 2-3, both swimming 5:01s. Collett negative split her race, with a stong last 100 that nearly caught freshman Campbell. But she ran out of pool and Campbell touched second with 5:01.83, while Collett’s 5:01.89 was good for third.
Purdue freshman Meagan Lim won the 100 fly in 55.63, over two seconds ahead of the field. Miami’s Emma Szczupakiewicz came in second (57.95) ahead of her teammate, freshman Kathleen Dodson (58.68).
Senior RedHawk Nikki Craft won 3-meter diving, ahead of Michelle Cabassol of Purdue and Taylor LeCount of Miami.
In the final individual event of the afternoon, Stephanie Schlobohm of Purdue took the 200 IM in 2:06.86. She won with a comfortable margin over Miami teammates Aubrey Kluth and Stephanie Lemire.
In the last event of the contest, Purdue’s 200 free relay of Carly Mercer, Rhiannon Sheets, Carly Marshall and Gracie Hernandez won an exciting race against the host team’s Kathleen Dodson, Sara Krueger, Elise Campbell and Annie Marquiss. Mercer’s half-second lead was nearly erased by Miami’s Krueger in the second leg. Then Purdue’s Marshall outsplit Campbell, but Marquiss very nearly caught Hernandez at the end, and Purdue finished only .06 ahead of Miami.
Purdue 177 – Miami (OH) 116