March 7, 2010

OXFORD, Ohio – Kelsey Vehr (Cincinnati), Miami University’s breaststroker extraordinaire, will advance to the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at Purdue University, March 18-20.

Vehr has qualified for the 100 and 200 breaststroke events and the 400 individual medley, but will likely only concentrate on her specialty in the meet at West Lafayette, Indiana. She is the only MAC swimmer who has qualified for the NCAA meet.

Preliminary races in the 100 begin March 19 at 11 a.m., with the finals at 7 p.m. Prelims in the 200 start March 20 at 11 a.m., with the finals at 7 p.m.

The St. Ursula Academy product won both breaststroke titles at last weekend’s Mid-American Conference meet, setting pool, varsity and league marks in each. Vehr’s time of 1:00.62 in the 100-yard event ranks 16th best nationally. Her clocking of 2:11.70 in the 200 is 24th best among NCAA swimmers.

First-through-eighth-place finishes would earn Vehr All-America honors, while ninth-through-16th result in honorable mention All-America kudos. Only three previous Miami swimmers--CAMILLA JOHANSSON (14th, 200 backstroke, 1994), CAROLINE KELLEY (11th, 10-meter diving, 1996) and TISH BUCHER (10th, 200 IM, 1982, AIAW Meet)--have earned honorable mention status.

RedHawk COREY BANGS (Monument, CO) will compete at the NCAA Zone C diving competition from March 12-14 at Purdue’s Boilermaker Aquatic Center.

Zone C includes divers from the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. The top nine women in both the one-meter and three-meter will advance to the NCAA Championships on March 18-20.