Swim & Dive Set for Ohio, NCAA Zone C Championships

Swimming & Diving at Ohio, NCAA Zone C Championships
Date	Saturday, March 6 - 11 a.m. \| Sunday-Tuesday, March 7-9 - All Day
Venue	Athens, Ohio - Ohio University Aquatic Center \| Lexington, Ky. - Lancaster Aquatic Center
Preview Info	Swimming Notes \| Diving Notes
Live Results	MeetMobile \| DiveMeets.com
Twitter	@EMUSwimDive \| @EMUAthletics

ATHENS, Ohio & LEXINGTON, Ky. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University swimming and diving team will head to the Buckeye State for a matchup with Mid-American Conference opponent Ohio University, March 6. Action from the Ohio University Aquatic Center is set to begin at 11 a.m. In addition, diving seniors Bethany Berger and Micaela Schempf will take part in the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships, March 7-9, in Lexington, Ky.
   Results will for Saturday's meet will be available via MeetMobile. Zone C results can be found on DiveMeets. Fans can also follow the team's Twitter account, @EMUSwimDive, for updates throughout both meets.

SCOUTING OHIO: Ohio enters the weekend holding a 4-1 record, and 1-0 mark in its lone Mid-American Conference matchup, defeating Toledo, 217-82. The Bobcats have also picked up wins over Youngstown State, Marshall, and finished first at the Miami Invitational. The only blemish to the Bobcats' record was against Akron, falling 207.5-92.5 to the defending MAC Champions.

SERIES HISTORY: The Bobcats lead the all-time matchups, 23-12. Since the 1998-99 season, Eastern has gone 7-10 in its meetings with Ohio. The Eagles have won the last four meetings between the two sides, most recently 190-110, Nov. 3, 2018 at Jones Natatorium.
   Since the first meeting between the two sides during the 1976-77 season, EMU has gone 5-11 in Athens, and has won the last two straight in the Buckeye State (Oct. 29, 2016 & Oct. 27, 2012).

HOME AT JONES: Hosting its first invitational-style meet since the 2017-18 season, the Eagles welcomed Bowling Green, Oakland, and Toledo to Jones Natatorium for the EMU Last Chance Meet, Feb. 26-27.
   Senior Riley Hofmann swept the 400 IM, winning the preliminary (4:23.53) and final (4:21.86) heats, while adding a career-best swim in the 500 free (5:01.03).
   Fellow senior Ali Staver won the prelims in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:03.08, while also recording a new personal standard in the 200 back at 2:05.04.
   Classmate Meike Staffeldt won the 50 free prelims with a season-best time of 23.58, while sophomore Abigail Wenger swam a career-best 1:06.09 in the finals of the 100 breaststroke.
   Three-time MAC Diver of the Week Bethany Berger continued her strong showing in 1-meter, posting scores of 288.10 and 310.15 to claim both the prelim and finals crown for her eighth win of the season. In 3-meter, freshman Camryn Hughes claimed her first collegiate victory, winning the prelims with a mark of 293.10, and setting a new personal-best with a score of 300.15 in the finals.

NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE: For the third time in four weeks, the Mid-American Conference announced that Eastern Michigan senior diver Bethany Berger as the Diver of the Week, Feb. 24.
   The Batavia, Ohio native swept the award in back-to-back weeks, Feb. 3 and 10, after sweeping the diving events in consecutive meets (at Bowling Green - Jan. 29, at Oakland - Feb. 5). Feb. 19 at the UB Diving Invite, Berger finished at the top of the conference field in 1-meter, while placing second in 3-meter to notch her third award of the season.

OUTING IN OAKLAND: Eastern's outing at Oakland, Feb. 5, saw four wins and seven new season or career-best times or marks from the Green and White. On the springboard, senior Bethany Berger won both diving events (288.75 & 302.93, respectively), while sophomore Keira Veltigian set then-career-bests in 1-meter and 3-meter (286.65, 283.35).
    Senior Avrie Stewart (2:05.46) set a new season standard in the 200 backstroke, while classmate Kaitlynd Scanlan finished the 500 free in 5:13.74 to mark a season-best. Senior Abby Rapien swam 1:56.10 in the 200 free, followed by classmates Riley Hofmann and Carlee Jones finishing the 200 IM in 2:08.15 and 2:12.72, respectively, to round out the season-best showings for EMU.

SENIOR DIVING DUO: The senior diving duo of Micaela Schempf and Bethany Berger have won all but two diving event so far this season for the Eagles, making themselves reliable point-scorers for the Green and White.
   Schempf won the 1-meter vs. Toledo, Nov. 6, and 3-meter vs. Akron, Nov. 20. Berger won the second 1-meter flight against Toledo, Nov. 6, 1-meter against Akron, Nov. 20, both 1-meter and 3-meter at Bowling Green and Oakland, Jan. 29 and Feb. 5, and 1-meter at the UB Diving Invite, Feb. 19, and EMU Last Chance Meet, Feb. 26.

MAKE IT FOUR: Seniors Bethany Berger and Micaela Schempf will each be making their fourth apperance at the NCAA Zone C Championships when they compete, March 7-9.
   At the 2020 event, Berger qualified for the final round of 1-meter diving before the event was called due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while Schempf finished 32nd.

SENIORS SHOW OUT AGAINST FALCONS: A quintet of seniors paved the way for Eastern Michigan, Jan. 29, as it downed Bowling Green, 188.5-179.5, for its first conference win in 2021. Bethany Berger kicked things off, sweeping the diving events and posting her first NCAA Zone C qualifying mark of the season in 3-meter. Riley Hofmann posted career-best performances in the 200 and 500 free to win the pair of events, while Meike Staffeldt won the 100 free. Abby Rapien took the top spot in the 1000 free and Ali Staver won the 200 fly title to round out the individual wins.

JUST KEEP SWIMMING: Eastern wrapped the fall portion of its 2020-21 schedule against Akron, Nov. 20. Despite it resulting in a 204-96 setback, EMU earned two individual wins and had five Eagles post career-best performances. The senior diving duo of Bethany Berger and Micaela Schempf won 1-meter (276.83) and 3-meter diving (244.20), respectively. Also on the springboard, Keira Veltigian had a career-best day in 1-meter with a 255.90 score.
   Elsewhere in the pool, senior Carlee Jones picked up a new personal-best in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:06.29 swim, while senior Abby Rapien recorded a new individual standard in the 1000 free with a time of 10:18.36. Sophomores Kayla Whitehead and Kelsi Hill added new career-bests in the 200 breaststroke with times of 2:24.78 and 2:27.53, respectively. Hill added another personal-best with a 4:41.03 showing in the 400 individual medley to round out the afternoon.

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK: In her second meet donning the Green and White, sophomore Lainie Bell cracked the top-10 all-time performance list in the 100 backstroke, ranking seventh with a time of 54.96 against Akron, Nov. 20.
   At the UB Diving Invite, Feb. 19-20, senior Bethany Berger etched her name on the all-time top-10 lists, landing in the fifth spot for 1-meter (310.30) and seventh for 3-meter (329.50) for the six-dive championship format scoring.
   At the EMU Last Chance Invite, Feb. 26-27, senior Riley Hofmann improved her sixth-place time in the 400 IM frmo 4:22.53 to 4:21.86.
   In the 2019-20 season, Eastern Michigan saw nine entries on the top-10 list be added or improved. Joining the list for the first time was then-freshman Savanna Mouat, who currently sits seventh all-time in the 500 free (4:49.64) and fifth all-time in the 1,650 free (16:35.44). Hofmann also found herself on the list for the first time, ranking fifth in the 200 fly (2:01.02). Then-junior Ali Staver added her name to the top-10 100 back performances, swimming to fifth (54.89), while also improving her standings in the 100 fly from sixth to third (54.49) and 200 fly from eighth to fourth (2:00.02). Lastly, classmate Alyssa Shugarman posted quicker marks in the 500 free (4:44.51) to move from fifth to second all-time, and in the 1,650 free (16:27.88) to improve to third place from eighth.

ON THE HORIZON: Continuing Mid-American Conference action, the EMU swimming and diving team will travel to Buffalo, N.Y. to take on the University at Buffalo Saturday, March 27 at 11 a.m.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lainie Bell

Bethany Berger

Kelsi Hill

Riley Hofmann

Camryn Hughes

Carlee Jones

Sav Mouat

Abby Rapien

Kaitlynd Scanlan

Micaela Schempf

Alyssa Shugarman

Meike Staffeldt

Ali Staver

Avrie Stewart

Keira Veltigian

Abigail Wenger

Kayla Whitehead

Eastern Michigan Athletics