Oct. 11, 2007

OXFORD, Ohio - The 55th season of Miami University men's swimming and diving kicks off this weekend when the Redhawks travel to Evansville and Southern Illinois in a pair of dual meets. Miami hits the pool for a co-ed meet with Evansville on Friday at 5 p.m. and faces Southern Illinois Saturday at 11 a.m.

WHO IS BACK: Coming off a 2006-07 season in which the RedHawks finished second in the Mid-American Conference, Miami returns two individual MAC champions and 14 letterwinners. Top returnees include Paul Ricard and Chris Heaton, the defending MAC Swimmer and Diver of the Year, respectively. As a junior, Paul Ricard completed one of the most impressive season's in program history, as he was named the MAC Swimmer of the Year for the second straight season and won three MAC titles in the 200, 500 and 1,650 freestyle events. Ricard set a pair of school records at the conference meet (500 and 1,650 freestyle) and was one of four Miamians named to the All-MAC Academic Team. He has been named to the All-MAC First Team in each of his three seasons at Miami. Rounding out his list of accomplishments, Ricard finished 18th in the 1,650 freestyle at the NCAA championships and Ricard finished ahead of 11 swimmers in the event, including four Big Ten swimmers, two Atlantic Coast Conference swimmers and a pair of swimmers from the Southeastern Conference. Junior Chris Heaton swept the MAC diving titles for the second consecutive season , earning MAC Diver of the Year. Placing first in three 3-meter dive with a score of 329.45, Heaton completed a Miami sweep of the boards for the third straight season.

ABOUT EVANSVILLE: Zach Brown, Geoff Keller, Phil Lubbehusen, Erik Richardson and Jeff Yoder are Evansville five seniors this season. Keller is the Aces' top diver, while Lubbenhusen gives Evansville versatility as he can swim the breast, free and individual medley. Last season, Lubbenhusen placed first in the 100 breast twice and had second place finished in the 100 free, 100 back and 200 IM.

ABOUT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS: The Salukis are coming off a dual-meet win over Evansville last weekend. The Salukis swept all the events against the Aces. The meet is scheduled to begin at noon (CT) at the Rec Center Pool in Carbondale, Ill.

GUESS WHO ELSE IS BACK: Alongside Ricard and Heaton, four All-MAC performers return to the RedHawk squad. Junior Nick DuPuis finished as the MAC runner-up in the 200 backstroke (1:49.49) last season, which earned him First Team All-MAC honors. Sophomore Matt Grubb, senior Ryan McHugh and senior Blake Norman earned Second Team All-MAC accolades last year.

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