March 1, 2004
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This Week: Miami University's men's swimming & diving team travels to Ypsilanti, Mich., for the 2004 MAC Championships, March 4-6. Eastern Michigan is the host school and defending champion.
Scouting the Field: Joining the RedHawks and Eagles in Ypsilanti is Ball State, Buffalo and Ohio. Miami (3-1) finished the regular season in second place behind Eastern Michigan (4-0). Buffalo and Ball State finished 2-2 and 1-3, respectively, while Ohio ended the season 0-4 against MAC schools.
Last Time Out: Competing with just four swimmers, Miami swam to a sixth-place finish at the Midwest Conference Classic. The RedHawks were led by freshman Kyle Melling (Solon, Ohio/Solon), who posted a pair of third-place finishes on the weekend.
The 2003 MACs: At last year's MAC Championships, MU swam to a fourth-place finish, led by senior Andrew Keefe (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) and junior Peter Donohue (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin). Keefe qualified for the championship heat in all three of his events and posted a pair of fourth-place finishes. A diver, Donohue took second from the one-meter board, and placed fourth in the three-meter event.
Playing Spoiler: Eastern Michigan has won 19 of the last 21 MAC Championships, dating back to 1983. In 1997, Miami ended the Eagles' 17-year stranglehold on the conference title, before winning it again in 1999. Overall, EMU and MU rank first and third in MAC history in conference crowns. The RedHawks have won six, compared to Eastern Michigan's 23.
Miami assistant coach Todd Foley swam on the 1997 MAC Championship team.
In Their Blood: A couple RedHawks attempt to follow in the footsteps of older siblings this weekend. Sophomore Pat Carroll's (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales) older brother, John, tied the school record with nine MAC titles from 1999-2002, having won the 400 individual medley all four years, 500 freestyle his last three seasons and the 200 butterfly as a junior and senior.
Steve Pater, older brother to Mike Pater (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier), won the 1995 100 backstroke title for Miami, as well.
Great MAC Champs: John Carroll was just the latest in a series of Miami greats at the MAC Championships. He is one of three RedHawks with nine career MAC titles, and one of four MU swimmers to win an event all four years. From 1966-68, John Russell swept the 100 and 200 butterfly, as well as the 200 IM. Former Olympian Bill Mulliken won nine titles, in six events and three different strokes between 1959 and 1961.
Other Miamians to sweep an event all four years are Tom Grant (1978-81, 50 free), Bob Walter (1979-82, 100 fly) and Tim Winans (1982-85, 100 breaststroke).
SOW's: For his efforts at the Midwest Conference Classic, Kyle Melling earned MAC Swimmer of the Week honors on Feb. 24 from the conference office. Melling posted a pair of third-place finishes as Miami took sixth place, despite having just four athletes competing.
Melling followed classmate Paul Ricard (Bowling Green, Ohio/Bowling Green), sophomore Scott Robson (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard South) and upperclassman Andrew Keefe and Peter Donohue. Keefe and Donohue won the award in back-two-back weeks (Nov. 3 & Nov. 10), as Ricard won it two weeks later (Nov. 24). Robson had been the latest honoree, taking the honor Feb. 3.
Mid-Major: Miami currently sits in fourth place in the most recent CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Poll. Among teams that have entered their team scores, the RedHawks are fourth with 243.15 points behind Western Kentucky (3rd place- 245.47 points), Southwest Missouri State (2nd- 245.47) and last year's MAC Champions, Eastern Michigan in first with 249.85 points. The Mid-Major Poll consists of 22 conferences that are excluded from lucrative football and basketball television contracts.
Up Next: With the exception of any NCAA qualifiers, the MAC Championships mark the end of the RedHawks 2003-2004 campaign.
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