Women's Swimming and Diving Finishes Runner-up at MAC Championships

Complete Results

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Eastern Michigan University's women's swimming and diving team closed out the 2015 Mid-American Conference with a second-place finish after accumulating 555 points throughout four days of action. The runner-up finish is the best for the Green and White since the 2006-07 season, when the Eagles won the MAC title with 665 points. Winning the overall title was Akron with 650 points, while Bowling Green finished third with 507 points and was trailed by Buffalo (477), Miami (443), Ohio (359.5), Toledo (343.5), and Ball State (170).

The finals session started out with the 1650 free, in which Audra Burtch (Goshen, Ind.-Concord) paced the Eagles in 17:02.17 for 12th. Shortly after Burtch was Grace Van Allen (Indianapolis, Ind.-North Central), taking 14^th in 17:04.59, while Sarah Dombkowski (Canton, Mich.-Plymouth) touched in at 17:17.93.

In the 200 back prelims, Alexis Mitcheltree (Moon Twp., Pa.-Moon Area) set a personal record in 1:59.35, becoming just the second Eagle in program history to swim a sub-two-minute mark in the event. With her time, Mitcheltree earned a spot in the championship final, while Haley Shaw (Fenton, MIch.-Fenton) qualified for the consolation final in a season-best 2:03.37, good for eighth on EMU's all-time list. Mitcheltree finished eighth in the championship heat, clocking a 2:00.22, the second-fastest swim of her career. In the B final, Shaw touched in fifth for 13^th overall in 2:04.29.

The Eagles qualified one swimmer to the championship heat of the 100 free as well as two swimmers to the consolation final. Sara Ghaffari (Bolinas, Sweden-Torsbergsgynasiet) swam a personal-best 50.68 to qualify to the A final, recording an even faster time of 50.65 to finish fifth. Her mark stands as the sixth-fastest in program history. Mary Kate MacLean (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-Detroit Country Day) and Sierra Wagner (Huntsville, Texas-Huntsville) represented the team in the consolation final, qualifying in 50.93 and 51.11 seconds, respectively. MacLean went on to win the B final in a personal-best 50.50, the fifth-fastest time in the EMU record books, while Wagner took fourth in the consolation final in 51.23.

Eastern once again had one in the championship final and two in the consolation final for the 200 breast. Monica Dorszewski (Palatine, Ill.-Palatine) claimed a championship seed in a personal-best 2:14.98 and improved upon that even further to claim the bronze medal in 2:14.13. With the time, Dorszewski remains second on EMU's all-time list. The pair of Genna Worthley (Portland, Maine-Deering) and Emily Wimmer (Hammond, Ind.-Munster) swam in the B final after finishing first and second in their heats in 2:19.27 and 2:20.55. Brooke Rowe (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) finished third in their heat, just missing out on the consolations in 2:20.64. In the B final, Worthley recorded a personal record of 2:17.82 to finish second in the heat, good for ninth on EMU's all-time top-10 list, while Wimmer also had a career best in 2:19.30, claiming sixth and 14^th overall.

The Eastern fly group sent two athletes to the championship heat of the 200 fly, led by the fresh 100 fly record holder Carly Jackson (La Porte, Ind.-La Porte) with a 2:00.61 going into the heat while Jessie Godlewski (Apex, N.C.-Apex) qualified in 2:01.68. The defending MAC champion Godlewski went on to claim runner-up in 1:59.21 in an extremely tight race, while Jackson finished fourth in a personal record of 1:59.76. Her time ranks second on EMU's all-time list behind Godlewski, and she is just the third Eagle to post a time below two minutes.

Following the individual events, five Eagles competed for the championship crown in the 3-meter dive. Becky Deacon (Sherwood Park, Alberta-Vimy Ridge Academy) claimed the silver medal behind Miami's Pei Lin, with 333.60 points. Deacon's best dive came from a reverse 2.5 somersault, for which she was awarded 67.20 points. Fellow freshman Alli Shereda (Fraser, Mich.-Fraser) earned fourth with 296.70 points, bolstered by a back 2.5 somersault and a reverse 2.5 somersault that were both awarded 58.80 points apiece. Following Shereda was Lauren Dark (Chelsea, Mich.-Chelsea) and Karly Taylor (Munster, Ind.-Munster) with 294.50 and 281.70 points, respectively. Melynee Saya (Nashua, N.J.-Nashua) rounded out the quintet with 267.40 points.

The diving was able to bolster Eastern's score enough to slip into second-place overall going into the final event of the meet. In the 400 free relay, Wagner, MacLean, Godlewski, and Ghaffari combined for a time of 3:23.04 for the bronze finish. Finishing the first leg of the relay in fifth, MacLean was able to get the Eagles to fourth with her swim, after which Godlewski made a move that put the Green and White in first overall after cruising past Miami, Buffalo, and Bowling Green. Eastern stayed near the top of the pack, but the anchors from Buffalo and Miami overpowered the Green and White as the Ghaffari touched in with a final mark of 3:23.04.

With the relay, Eastern was able to stay in second to close out the meet for its highest finish in eight years. Following the meet, the meet superlatives were awarded. Buck Smith was named the diving coach of the year, the seventh of his career with the women's team. Additionally, Jackson was named to the All-MAC First Team while Deacon, Ghaffari, Godlewski, and MacLean received second team honors.

A handful of Eagles notched NCAA consideration marks throughout the meet, and must wait to see if they make the cut for the NCAA Championships, March 19-21. The divers will head to the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships in two weeks, March 13-14.

All-MAC First Team
Jessica Powers, Buffalo
Spencer Rodriguez, Buffalo
Megan Burns, Buffalo
Pei Lin, Miami
Addy Ferguson, Ohio
Stephanie Lemire, Miami
Laura Dawson, Ohio
Paloma Marerro-Munoz, Akron
Hannah Raspopovich, Akron
Erin Seiler, Akron
Victoria Griffin, BGSU
Estela Davis-Ortiz, BGSU
Franziska Wohlert, BGSU
Carly Jackson, EMU
Ashley Niznick, Akron

All-MAC Second Team
Jessie Godlewski, EMU
Ashley Drazkowski, Akron
Elise Campbell, Miami
Laura Savariau, Akron
Kristin Filby, BGSU
Katrin Streicher, Toledo
Jordan Bullock, BGSU
Tara Capouch, BGSU
Ludwika Szynal, Akron
Becky Deacon, EMU
Sara Ghaffari, EMU
Mary Kate MacLean, EMU
Brittney Walters, Buffallo
Kara Kaulius

Coach of the Year: Brian Peresie, Akron
Diving Coach of the Year: Buck Smith, EMU
Oustanding Senior of the Year: Spencer Rodriguez, Buffalo
Oustanding Diver of the Year: Pei Lin, Miami
Oustanding Swimmer of the Year: Laura Dawson, Ohio

EMU Individual Results (* signifies a personal best)

	Finals	Prelims
3-meter Diving
2. Deacon, Becky	333.60*	282.95
4. Shereda, Alli	296.70*	267.30
5. Dark, Lauren	294.50	286.85
6. Taylor, Karly	281.70	278.70
8. Saya, Melynee	267.40	289.90

1650-yard Freestyle
12. Burtch, Audra	17:02.17
14. Van Allen, Grace	17:04.59
21. Dombkowski, Sarah	17:17.93*

200-yard Backstroke
8. Mitcheltree, Alexis	2:00.22	1:59.35*
13. Shaw, Haley	2:04.29	2:03.37

100-yard Freestyle
5. Ghaffari, Sara	50.65*	50.68
9. MacLean, Mary Kate	50.50*	50.93
12. Wagner, Sierra	51.23	51.11*
17. Detro, Becca		51.37

200-yard Breaststroke
3. Dorszewski, Monica	2:14.13* B	2:14.47
10. Worthley, Genna	2:17.82*	2:19.27
14. Wimmer, Emily	2:19.30*	2:20.55
17. Rowe, Brooke		2:20.64*

200-yard Butterfly
2. Godlewski, Jessie	1:59.21 B	2:01.68
4. Jackson, Carly	1:59.76*	2:00.61
18. Garringer, Makenzie		2:06.86*

400-yard Freestyle Relay
Wagner, MacLean, Godlewski, Ghaffari	3:23.04

Women's Swimming and Diving Finishes Runner-up at MAC Championships

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Audra Burtch

Lauren Dark

Becky Deacon

Sarah Dombkowski

Monica Dorszewski

Sara Ghaffari

Jessie Godlewski

Carly Jackson

Mary Kate MacLean

Alexis Mitcheltree

Brooke Rowe

Melynee Saya

Haley Shaw

Alli Shereda

Karly Taylor

Mary Grace Van Allen

Sierra Wagner

Emily Wimmer

Genna Worthley

Eastern Michigan Athletics