’Hawks hit road to face rival Ohio

By Ben Vandertill, For The Miami Student

The Miami University women's swimming and diving team travels to take on Ohio University 1 p.m. Saturday in Miami's final Mid-American Conference regular season meet.

The Ohio-Miami rivalry has brewed for more than 200 years. For Miami head coach Mark Davis, the Ohio rivalry stands as a great task ahead for his team.

"It is the big rivalry meet," Davis said. "If you go back to the olden days they would do all kinds of crazy stuff for the Ohio meet. Ohio-Miami is a great tradition, and always an exciting one, too."

The RedHawks have stayed red-hot through January, and into February, winning six of their last seven duel meets for a 6-2 duel meet record.

The Bobcats hold a 2-6 duel meet record and are coming off two very close losses. Ohio lost heartbreakers to University of Toledo (151-147) and West Virginia University (155-143).

Even with their inferior record, Davis is not over looking the Bobcats' talent.

"They've improved a lot over the course of the year," Davis said. "They've gotten pretty strong so it will be a great meet."

Last season's matchup turned out well for the RedHawks. Delivering a powerful performance in the Nixon Aquatic Center, the RedHawks came away with a 186-111 victory.

Sophomore Julia Campbell believes the rivalry will bring out the best in her teammates, and has faith the hot streak will continue.

"Definitely an important meet being our last home meet and another MAC meet," Campbell said. "We want to go out with a win, and try and beat them by a lot in their home pool. It's a big rivalry, especially with football and other sports like that. We want to keep it up for the swimmers who swam before us."

The men's swimming and diving team is staying in Oxford this week, as they take on Ball State University 1 p.m. Saturday in the Nixon Aquatic Center. The men's team has dropped meets recently, but hope to bounce back against Ball State heading into the MAC Championships. Ball State has had a solid year, but will have to overcome Miami to break its .500 dual meet record (2-2). With a win over the Cardinals, the RedHawks would improve their record to 3-4.

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Both meets mark the final step before the MAC Championship meets. The women's will be held at in Ypsilanti, Michigan from Feb. 25-28. The men's will be held in Geneva, Ohio from March 5-7.