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March 1, 2002

Complete Results

YPSILANTI, Mich. - The stage is set for one of the most dramatic conclusions to the Mid-American Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, as Miami leads two-time defending champion Ohio, 499-488, entering the final day of competition. Senior Emily Nayes (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) was the RedHawks' lone winner on the evening, capturing the 400 individual medley title.

Nayes finished the race in 4:22.95, breaking the school mark she set last year at the MAC Championships by almost a full second and also meeting the NCAA Provisional Qualifying Standard. Also in the 400 IM, freshman Trisha Lamb (Oregon, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) took fifth with a time of 4:25.51.

After sitting out a good part of the season while recovering from knee surgery, junior Lyndsay Barnes (Lexington, Ky./Dunbar) displayed the form that made her a second-team all-MAC selection last year, finishing runner-up in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.33. She also swam a leg of the third-place 200 medley relay, which also included Lamb and seniors Colleen Rambasek (Kettering, Ohio/Alter) and Kelly Janura (Barrington, Ill./Barrington), that touched the wall in 1:45.13 and took seventh in the 100 fly with a time of 57.25.

Placing second in three-meter diving was freshman Sara Gonso (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central), whose score of 466.55 not only broke the 19-year-old Miami standard but also automatically qualifies her for the NCAA Sectional Championships. Sophomore Heidi Willemssen (Prior Lake, Minn./Lakeville) qualified for sectionals as well with her sixth-place total of 426.45. Eastern Michigan's Anca Tilea ran away with the event, amassing a MAC- and meet-record 521.70 points.

Rounding out the RedHawk runners-up is the 800 free relay team comprised of junior Jackie Hiltman (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West), sophomore Amy Miranda (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) and freshmen Cara Magee (Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon) and Michelle Reynolds (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming). It finished in 7:30.99, breaking the school record by almost 1.5 seconds.

Miranda placed fourth in the 200 free for the second straight year. She was followed in the event by Hiltman (fifth), Magee (seventh), Janura (eighth) and freshman Andrea Hocevar (Richmond Heights, Ohio/Hawken School), who came in 12th.

Pulling through with a sixth-place finish in the 100 fly was Reynolds, while Rambasek and junior Heather Kelley (Milwaukee, Wisc./Divine Savior Holy Angels) placed 10th and 13th, respectively.

Rounding out Miami's finalists on Day Two are sophomore Kristen Connolly (Louisville, Ky./Atherton), who finished 11th on the three-meter board, sophomore Casey Mangano (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula), who took 14th in the 100 breast, and Rambasek, who earned a 15th-place finish in the 100 back.

Competition on the final day gets underway at 11 a.m. with the swimming preliminaries, then continues with the 10-meter diving prelims at 1 p.m., and finally the swimming and diving finals at 7 p.m.