Dec. 30, 2009

OXFORD, Ohio - Miami University's women's swimming and diving team has jumped to No. 1 on the latest College Swimming Coach's poll among Mid-Major schools.

Coach Dave Jennings's RedHawks moved from third place to first place, jumping ahead of the poll's previous leader, Boston University. Miami finished the fall semester at 5-3 in duals and had a convincing team win at its own Miami Invitational.

The balance of the Mid-Majors top five has Towson University at No. 3, Oakland University at No. 4 and Wisconsin-Milwaukee at No. 5.

The Mid-American Conference leads all conferences with three teams placed among the top ten.

Miami also has the respect of Division I swimming as a whole, earning a vote in the Division I poll to rank among the nation's top 50.

Miami's men's swimming and diving team is ranked 23rd among Mid-Major schools and has a 3-4 record in dual meets.

Currently, both the RedHawk women's and men's teams are training in Florida.

The women swimmers will participate in the Saint Andrews "Scots" Relay Meet on Saturday (Jan. 2) against Illinois, North Carolina State and Maryland-Baltimore County. Coach KR LI's RedHawk divers will compete in the Coral Springs Diving Invitational.

Coach Pete Lindsay's men's swimmers will take part in the Ed Kennedy Invitational Meet at Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday (Dec. 31). The men's divers join the women in the Coral Springs event.

The women's next dual meet is against Cincinnati on January 15 at 5 p.m. at the Nixon Aquatic Center. The men will battle the Bearcats that same day in Oxford at 6 p.m.